Facing a global water waste crisis, where losses in some parts of Palestine reach 62%, our project, “EDM: Every Drop Matters,” offers an innovative, integrated solution. Our system combines an underground smart sensor network for immediate leak detection with an autonomous above-ground robot that uses AI to prevent future damage by removing invasive roots. Upon leak detection, the pump is automatically shut down and an immediate alert is sent to the authorities. This holistic, low-cost approach not only detects problems but addresses their causes, offering a practical and sustainable solution to advance the SDGs and protect our most precious resource.
This is how I came up with the idea for this project:Water leakage leads to significant water loss, worsening the already difficult access to clean water faced by many Palestinians. In places like Anabta, almost half of the water simply disappears due to leaks, some of which have gone unnoticed for decades, causing real damage to communities and infrastructure. In the West Bank and Gaza, many families struggle daily with irregular water supply, while illegal connections and aging networks make the problem worse. This situation is not unique to Palestine; cities around the world, from Bangalore to Tokyo, are also fighting to protect their precious water resources. This harsh reality inspired us to create a project that not only detects leaks early but also prevents future damage, helping our communities save every precious drop.
EVERY DROP MATTERS (EDM) ROBOTleakage (Anabta Municipality, 2021), including a 20-year-old undetected leak that caused a street collapse. In the West Bank, non-revenue water reached 62% in Anata due to illegal connections, and 51–55% in other areas such as Jenin and Bal’a due to leaks. In Gaza, losses reached 58% in Al-Maghraqa. Globally, cities like Bangalore and Tokyo suffer from significant leak-related losses, highlighting the urgent need for innovative solutions like our project. Our project is built on a two-part ecosystem designed to work in synergy: an underground monitoring network and an above-ground prevention robot. The underground network consists of autonomous sensor nodes distributed along pipelines, each equipped with three sensors for flow, vibration, and moisture. These nodes analyze data locally, and if all three leak conditions are met, they send an immediate alert. The above-ground robot is a mobile unit equipped with a camera and a servo arm, using a trained AI model to identify and proactively remove harmful seedlings that threaten the pipelines. To avoid false alarms, our system doesn't rely on a single sensor. A leak is confirmed only when three conditions are met simultaneously: abnormal moisture around the pipe, a sudden drop in water pressure, and an illogical change in flow rate. Our tests in a simulated environment showed this approach reduces the probability of false alarms by up to 55% compared to single-sensor reliance. What makes our project unique is that it doesn't stop at detecting leaks; it addresses both the current problem and a primary cause, root intrusion, simultaneously. It is also designed for accessibility, using low-cost, globally available components to create a powerful solution that is practical and scalable for the developing communities where it is needed most.
