The detection of illegal tapping at an early stage is crucial to guarantee both the continuity and the integrity of your pipeline infrastructure. Soil remediation and expensive excavation are additional challenges that need to be avoided at all costs. Unfortunately, in most cases, the theft has already occurred before the illegal tap is detected. In fact, the pipeline owner might not even be aware at all of these illegal activities.
With these threats, it still is inevitable that the pipeline market raises the demand for a different and better approach to detect leaks in an accurate, economic, fast and efficient way. So how do you go from a reactive to a proactive detection method?
Measurement equipment can be effective but also has its limitations. Technology meets nature, however, when measurement equipment is used in parallel with sniffing dogs. Both methods have their capabilities and limitations but combined it is a win-win situation.
An overview:
| Parameters | Equipment | Sniffing dogs |
| Accuracy | – Parts Per Million (PPM) detection level – Large leaks only – Small detection range (only underneath) | – Parts Per Billion (PPB) detection level due to the dog’s sensing capabilities – Small leaks are also found – Large detection range |
| Environment | – Difficult to use in harsh weather conditions – Difficult to use in rural areas | – Capable of working in harsh weather conditions – Access to rural, difficult to reach areas |
| Substances | – (Odorless) gass – Oil products (fluids, only intrusive) – Treated water (only intrusive) | – (Odorless) gass – Oil products (fluids) – Treated water |
| Efficiency | – More people with equipment used | – Few dog handlers and dogs needed |
| Prevention | – Reactive detection method | – Proactive detection method |
For more information about the capabilities of sniffing dogs, simply download our recent publication titles ‘Sniffing out Solutions’.
