Leak location estimation system

Abstract

To provide a water leakage point estimation system which can reduce an inspection load of water leakage.SOLUTION: A water leakage point estimation system 1 for estimating a water leakage suspicious part where there is possibility of water leakage in a duct for supplying clean water to consumers, comprises: a first acquisition unit which can acquire a first report which is an autonomous report of symptoms about the water leakage from an object person; an extraction unit 23 which can extract a symptom generation place in which the symptoms about the water leakage has been generated, on the basis of the first report; a request unit which can request a report of the symptoms about the water leakage, to a report request object person selected on the basis of the symptom generation place extracted by the extraction unit 23; a second acquisition unit which can acquire a second report which is a report according to the request from the request unit from the report request object person; and an estimation unit 24 which can estimate the water leakage suspicious part, on the basis of at least the second report.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a technology for a water leak location estimation system that estimates a suspected water leak location in a pipeline that supplies clean water to consumers. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, techniques for treating water leakage in pipelines that supply clean water to consumers have been publicly known, as described in Patent Document 1, for example.

[0003] The system described in Patent Document 1 includes a map and water supply-related database and a display control unit. The map and water supply-related database stores the details of complaints and the causes of water leakage accidents in association with location coordinate data on a map. The display control unit is configured to be able to display the details of the complaints, etc. on a map displayed on a display.

[0004] By using the system described in Patent Document 1, water utilities can determine the possibility of a water leak, for example, based on the content of a complaint. However, even if the content of the complaint can be determined as in Patent Document 1, it is not possible to identify the actual location of the leak, and therefore water utilities cannot narrow down the scope of their water leak inspections. This means that water utilities are required to inspect a wide range of areas for water leaks, which could impose a burden on them. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 3163085 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] One aspect of the present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above-described situation, and the problem it aims to solve is to provide a water leak location estimation system that can reduce the burden of water leak inspection. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The problem to be solved by one embodiment of the present disclosure has been described above, and next, the means for solving this problem will be described.

[0008] In one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a water leak location estimation system that estimates a suspected water leak location in a pipeline that supplies clean water to a consumer, the system comprising: The system includes a server that performs various calculation processes in response to requests from external devices, the server including a storage unit that stores pipeline information, which is information related to the pipeline; Obtaining a first report from the subject, which is a voluntary report of symptoms related to water leakage. do A first acquisition unit extracts a symptom occurrence location where a symptom related to a water leak occurs based on the first report. do An extraction unit and a report request target person selected based on the symptom occurrence location extracted by the extraction unit are requested to report the symptom related to the water leakage. do A request unit and a second report, which is a report in response to a request from the request unit, are obtained from the report request target. do a second acquisition unit and at least the second report; and the pipeline information stored in the storage unit. Based on this, the suspected leak location is estimated. do An estimation unit; The pipeline includes a plurality of distribution pipes connected by branching sections and a plurality of water supply pipes that distribute clean water from the distribution pipes, and the report request target person includes a person who is in a location connected to the distribution pipe via the water supply pipe in the vicinity of the location where the symptom occurred. It is something. According to one aspect of the present disclosure, the burden of inspecting for water leaks can be reduced. Furthermore, the location of symptom occurrence can be efficiently extracted.

[0009] In one aspect of the present disclosure, A water leak location estimation system for estimating a suspected water leak location in a pipeline that supplies clean water to a consumer, the system includes a server that performs various calculation processes in response to requests from an external device, the server including a storage unit that stores pipeline information, which is information about the pipeline, a first acquisition unit that acquires a first report, which is a voluntary report of a water leak symptom, from a subject, an extraction unit that extracts a symptom occurrence location where a water leak symptom is occurring based on the first report, and a system that sends a report request target selected based on the symptom occurrence location extracted by the extraction unit, the report request target selected based on the symptom occurrence location extracted by the extraction unit, the water leak suspected location estimation system. The system includes a request unit that requests a symptom report, a second acquisition unit that acquires a second report, which is a report in response to the request from the request unit, from the person requested to report, and an estimation unit that estimates the suspected water leak location based on at least the second report and the pipeline information stored in the storage unit, wherein the pipeline includes a plurality of distribution pipes connected by branching sections and a plurality of water supply pipes that distribute clean water from the distribution pipes, and the person requested to report includes a person who is in a location connected via the water supply pipe to a system of the distribution pipes that connects the symptom occurrence location to a water purification plant and a water distribution plant in the shortest distance. It is something. According to one aspect of the present disclosure, This reduces the burden of leak inspections and also makes it possible to efficiently obtain reports on leak symptoms.

[0010] In one aspect of the present disclosure, a request unit that requests report requestees selected based on the symptom occurrence location extracted by the extraction unit to report on the water leakage symptoms; a second acquisition unit that acquires from the report requestees a second report that is a report in response to a request from the request unit; and an estimation unit that estimates the suspected water leakage location based on at least the second report and the pipeline information stored in the memory unit, wherein the report requestees include people who are located in a location where the length of the pipeline from the symptom occurrence location is equal to or shorter than a predetermined threshold. It is something. According to one aspect of the present disclosure, This reduces the burden of leak inspections. It is possible to efficiently obtain reports of leak symptoms.

[0011] In one aspect of the present disclosure, A water leak location estimation system that estimates a suspected water leak location in a pipeline that supplies clean water to consumers, the system comprising: a server that performs various calculation processes in response to requests from external devices; a storage unit that stores pipeline information, which is information about the pipeline; a first acquisition unit that acquires a first report, which is a voluntary report of a water leak symptom, from a subject; an extraction unit that extracts a symptom occurrence location where a water leak symptom is occurring based on the first report; a request unit that requests a report request subject selected based on the symptom occurrence location extracted by the extraction unit to report a water leak symptom; a second acquisition unit that acquires a second report, which is a report made in response to a request from the report request subject, from the report request subject; and an estimation unit that estimates the suspected water leak location based on at least the second report and the pipeline information stored in the storage unit; the report request subject includes a person who is in a location where the number of pipeline branchings from the symptom occurrence location is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold. It is something. According to one aspect of the present disclosure, This reduces the burden of leak inspections and also makes it possible to efficiently obtain reports on leak symptoms.

[0012] In one aspect of the present disclosure, A water leak location estimation system for estimating a suspected water leak location in a pipeline that supplies clean water to a consumer, the system including a server that performs various calculation processes in response to a request from an external device, the server including a storage unit that stores pipeline information, which is information related to the pipeline; a first acquisition unit that acquires a first report, which is a voluntary report of a water leak symptom, from a subject; an extraction unit that extracts a symptom occurrence location where a water leak symptom is occurring based on the first report; a request unit that requests a report request subject selected based on the symptom occurrence location extracted by the extraction unit to report the water leak symptom; The system includes a second acquisition unit that acquires a second report, which is a report, from the person requested to report, and an estimation unit that estimates the suspected water leak location based on at least the second report and the pipeline information stored in the storage unit, wherein the pipeline includes a plurality of distribution pipes connected by branching parts and a plurality of supply pipes that distribute clean water from the distribution pipes, and the estimation unit extracts, from the plurality of distribution pipes, a first distribution pipe that distributes clean water via the supply pipe to a number of symptom occurrence locations equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, and is capable of estimating, as the suspected water leak location, the first distribution pipe and a second distribution pipe that is connected to the first distribution pipe with a number of branches equal to or less than a predetermined number. It is something. According to one aspect of the present disclosure, The burden of leak inspection can be reduced. In addition, the first water distribution pipe, which has a relatively high possibility of leaking, and the surrounding second water distribution pipe can be estimated as suspected leak locations, allowing for accurate estimation of suspected leak locations.

[0013] In one aspect of the present disclosure, A water leak location estimation system that estimates a suspected water leak location in a pipeline that supplies clean water to a consumer, the system comprising: a server that performs various calculation processes in response to requests from an external device; a memory unit that stores pipeline information, which is information about the pipeline; a first acquisition unit that acquires a first report, which is a voluntary report of a water leak symptom, from a subject; an extraction unit that extracts a symptom occurrence location where a water leak symptom is occurring based on the first report; a request unit that requests a report request subject selected based on the symptom occurrence location extracted by the extraction unit to report a water leak symptom; a second acquisition unit that acquires a second report, which is a report in response to a request from the report request subject, from the report request subject; and an estimation unit that estimates the suspected water leak location based on at least the second report and the pipeline information stored in the memory unit; and the server further comprises a calculation unit that is capable of calculating the probability of a water leak occurring at the suspected water leak location using a trained learning model. It is something. According to one aspect of the present disclosure, This reduces the burden of leak inspection and improves convenience.

[0014] In one aspect of the present disclosure, a request unit that requests a report requestee selected based on the symptom occurrence location extracted by the extraction unit to report on the water leakage symptoms; a second acquisition unit that acquires from the report requestee a second report that is a report in response to a request from the request unit; and an estimation unit that estimates the suspected water leakage location based on at least the second report and the pipe information stored in the memory unit, wherein the report includes at least one of tap water pulsation, a change in tap water pressure, the inclusion of foreign matter in tap water, discoloration of tap water, water outage, and increase in water charges. It is something. According to one aspect of the present disclosure, This reduces the burden of inspecting for water leaks. In addition, it is possible to accurately estimate suspected water leak locations based on the pulsation of tap water, etc.

[0015] In one aspect of the present disclosure, The extraction unit is capable of extracting the symptom occurrence location based on the second report, and the water leakage point estimating system repeats the extraction of the symptom occurrence location by the extraction unit and the request for the report by the request unit multiple times. It is something. According to one aspect of the present disclosure, This improves the accuracy of estimating suspected leak locations.

[0016] In one aspect of the present disclosure, The report request recipients include people who are located at a distance from the symptom occurrence location that is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold. is. According to one aspect of the present disclosure, It is possible to efficiently obtain reports of leak symptoms.

[0017] In one aspect of the present disclosure, The report request recipients include people in the area surrounding the location where the symptoms occurred. It is something. According to one aspect of the present disclosure, It is possible to efficiently obtain reports of leak symptoms. [Effects of the Invention]

[0021] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, the burden of inspecting for water leaks can be reduced. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0022] [Figure 1] FIG. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a water leakage location estimating system according to a first embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of message exchange when reporting a water leakage symptom. [Figure 5] 10 is a flowchart showing a suspected location estimation process for estimating a suspected water leak location. [Figure 6] 10 is a flowchart showing a questionnaire sending process for sending a questionnaire. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a questionnaire. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the range in which a questionnaire is sent. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing how a questionnaire is repeatedly sent. [Figure 10] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing areas where symptoms occur in a concentrated manner. [Figure 11] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a message notified to a target person by a notification unit. [Figure 12] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram regarding the length of a pipe in the second embodiment. [Figure 13] 13 is a flowchart showing a suspected portion estimation process according to the third embodiment. [Figure 14] 13 is a flowchart showing a suspected portion estimation process according to the fourth embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0023] The following describes a water leakage point estimating system 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

[0024] The water leak location estimation system 1 is for estimating a suspected water leak location in a pipeline K that supplies clean water to consumers (households, etc.). First, the pipeline K will be described with reference to FIG.

[0025] The pipeline K includes a water supply pipe K1 and a water distribution pipe K2. The water supply pipe K1 distributes clean water from the water distribution pipe K2. A water meter and the like are provided midway through the water supply pipe K1. The water supply pipe K1 in this embodiment is a pipeline in which the amount of clean water used is managed by the water meter.

[0026] The distribution pipe K2 is used to conduct drinking water from the water distribution plant H to the water supply pipe K1. In FIG. 1, multiple distribution pipes K2 are connected in a grid pattern. In this embodiment, a branch point B is defined as a point where one distribution pipe K2 branches into two or more pipes. In this embodiment, each distribution pipe K2 connected via a branch point B is defined as "one distribution pipe K2." In other words, even if a distribution pipe K2 is formed by connecting multiple pipes, if it does not branch midway, the distribution pipe K2 is considered to be "one distribution pipe K2." Note that the distribution pipe K2 may be any pipe capable of conducting drinking water to the water supply pipe K1, and the arrangement of the distribution pipe K2 is not limited to the grid pattern shown in FIG. 1. The distribution pipe K2 may be arranged arbitrarily depending on the location of the consumer, the topography, the shape of the road, etc.

[0027] In pipeline K, water leaks may occur due to deterioration of the water supply pipe K1 and the water distribution pipe K2 over time. One method for finding the location of the leak (leak location P in Figure 1) is to detect the sound of the leak using, for example, a listening rod. However, because the water supply pipe K1 and the water distribution pipe K2 are laid over a wide area, the inspection burden will increase unless the inspection area is narrowed to a certain extent.

[0028] The water leak location estimation system 1 of this embodiment is for estimating a suspected water leak location based on a report of a water leak symptom. A waterworks administrator (such as a waterworks bureau) can easily determine the location for a water leak inspection based on the suspected water leak location.

[0029] Note that the symptoms related to water leakage are symptoms that may occur as a result of the occurrence of a water leak. More specifically, when a water leak occurs, it is thought that symptoms such as pulsation of tap water (clean water), changes in tap water pressure, contamination of tap water with foreign matter, discoloration of tap water, water outage, and increases in water charges may occur around (especially downstream of) the leak location P. In this embodiment, the suspected leak location is estimated based on reports of symptoms (water leakage symptoms) such as tap water pulsation.

[0030] The configuration of the water leakage point locating system 1 will be described below with reference to Fig. 2. The water leakage point locating system 1 includes a terminal 10 and a server 20.

[0031] The terminal 10 is a device capable of communicating with the server 20. The terminal 10 is configured as a smartphone, a tablet, a PC, or the like. An application for communicating with the server 20 is installed in the terminal 10. An existing message application 11 is installed in the terminal 10 of this embodiment, and the terminal 10 is configured to communicate with the server 20 via the message application 11.

[0032] The message application 11 is equipped with an upload function for uploading images and videos and a preview function for displaying uploaded images, etc. Note that an existing message application 11 does not necessarily need to be installed on the terminal 10, and for example, a unique message application may be installed. Also, it is sufficient for the terminal 10 to have an application installed that is capable of communicating with the server 20, and that application does not necessarily need to be a message application.

[0033] The server 20 is for performing various arithmetic processes in response to requests from external devices. The server 20 includes an arithmetic device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a storage device such as a memory, and is configured to be able to execute arithmetic processes related to the operation of the water leak location estimating system 1. The server 20 is also configured to be able to communicate with external devices. The server 20 includes an acquisition unit 21, a transmission unit 22, an extraction unit 23, an estimation unit 24, a calculation unit 25, a notification unit 26, and a storage unit 27.

[0034] The acquisition unit 21 is for acquiring a report of symptoms related to water leakage (hereinafter referred to as a "symptom report") from a subject T (see FIG. 4). The subject T refers to a person who can make a symptom report by operating the terminal 10. The subject T includes, for example, a resident living in a house, a person related to a corporation that uses an office, etc.

[0035] The transmission unit 22 is for requesting a predetermined person to report symptoms. In this embodiment, the transmission unit 22 is configured to request a symptom report by transmitting a questionnaire about tap water (clean water).

[0036] The extraction unit 23 is for extracting a location where a symptom related to water leakage has occurred (hereinafter referred to as a "symptom occurrence location") based on the symptom report acquired by the acquisition unit 21.

[0037] The estimation unit 24 is configured to estimate a suspected water leak location based on the symptom report acquired by the acquisition unit 21. In this embodiment, the estimation unit 24 can estimate at least one pipe from among a plurality of water distribution pipes K2 and a plurality of water supply pipes K1 as a suspected water leak location.

[0038] The calculation unit 25 is for calculating the probability of occurrence of water leakage at a suspected water leakage location. In this embodiment, the calculation unit 25 can calculate the probability of occurrence of water leakage using a learning model 27c, which will be described later.

[0039] The notification unit 26 communicates with an external device to notify the device of information. The notification unit 26 can notify the administrator of information by communicating with a device owned by the administrator (for example, a server on the administrator's side, etc.). The notification unit 26 can also notify the target person T of information by communicating with the terminal 10. For example, the notification unit 26 can notify the target person T of information by displaying a predetermined message in the message application 11. Note that the means of notification by the notification unit 26 is not particularly limited. The notification unit 26 may be configured to be able to notify the target person T of information by email, for example.

[0040] The storage unit 27 is a part for storing various types of information, and stores therein location information 27a, pipeline information 27b, and a learning model 27c.

[0041] The location information 27a is information that can identify the location of the subject T. The location information 27a stores, for example, the identification information (such as the name) of the subject T and the address of the home or office of the subject T in association with each other.

[0042] The pipeline information 27b is information relating to the pipeline K. The pipeline information 27b includes information that allows the layout of the water supply pipe K1 and the water distribution pipe K2 to be determined (e.g., a pipeline diagram, etc.), and individual information about the water supply pipe K1 and the water distribution pipe K2 (e.g., pipe diameter, flow rate, and years since installation, etc.).

[0043] The learning model 27c is used to calculate the probability of a leak occurring at a suspected leak location based on predetermined parameters. The predetermined parameters vary depending on the probability of a leak occurring. The predetermined parameters include, for example, at least one of the following: the distance from the symptom occurrence location to the suspected leak location, the number of pipe branches in the pipeline K from the symptom occurrence location to the suspected leak location, the leak-related symptoms (pulsation, etc.), the severity of the symptoms, the frequency of the symptoms, the pipe diameter, the pipe flow rate, and the number of years the pipe has been installed.

[0044] The distance from the symptom occurrence location to the suspected leak location may be the straight-line distance from the symptom occurrence location to the suspected leak location, or may be the length of the pipeline K from the symptom occurrence location to the suspected leak location.

[0045] The number of branches indicates the number of branches (branch B) of the distribution pipe K2 in the pipeline K from the symptom occurrence location to the suspected leak location. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, two branches B1 and B2 are located between the building T1 and the distribution pipe K23, so the number of branches between the building T1 and the distribution pipe K23 is "2." Note that the definition of the number of branches is an example, and for example, the connection (P1) between the water supply pipe K1 and the distribution pipe K2 may also be counted as the number of branches. In this case, the number of branches between the building T1 and the distribution pipe K23 is "3."

[0046] The frequency of occurrence of the symptom indicates the frequency of past reports of the symptom at the suspected symptom location. The diameter, flow rate, and age of the pipe indicate the diameter, flow rate, and age of the water supply pipe K1 and the water distribution pipe K2 that are estimated as the suspected leak locations.

[0047] The parameters for calculating the probability of water leakage may be any parameters that change depending on the probability of water leakage, and are not limited to the distance to the suspected water leakage location, as described above.

[0048] The learning model 27c shown in Fig. 2 is configured to be able to calculate the probability of water leakage occurring according to the feature quantities of the parameters (such as the number of branches) through machine learning performed in advance. For example, parameters for when a water leakage occurs and parameters for when a water leakage does not occur are prepared, and the relationship between the presence or absence of a water leakage and the parameters is learned through supervised learning, thereby constructing the learning model 27c. When the parameters are input to the learning model 27c, the probability of water leakage occurring according to the feature quantities of the parameters is output.

[0049] The learning model 27c may calculate other information that enables the administrator to grasp the possibility of a water leak, rather than the probability of a water leak. For example, the learning model 27c may calculate whether or not there is a possibility of a water leak. The learning model 27c may also calculate the degree of the possibility of a water leak, such as whether the possibility of a water leak is high, medium, or low.

[0050] For example, if subject T notices symptoms such as pulsation while using the water supply at home, he or she can voluntarily report the symptoms to the server 20 via the message application 11 of the terminal 10. An example of a process for subject T to voluntarily report symptoms (reporting symptoms related to water leakage) will be described below. In this embodiment, subject T can report symptoms by exchanging messages with the server 20 using the message application 11. The details of this process will be described below with reference to FIG. 4.

[0051] The subject T operates the terminal 10 to send a message to start reporting the symptoms. The server 20 receives the message and sends a message inquiring about the details of the symptoms related to the water leak (such as pulsation in the tap water). For example, the server 20 sends a message including symptom selection items 11a that allow the subject T to select whether pulsation has occurred, a drop in water pressure, foreign matter has entered the tap water, the color of the tap water has changed, or there has been a water outage or an increase in the water charge.

[0052] When the subject T selects a corresponding symptom (the occurrence of pulsation in FIG. 4) from the symptom selection items 11a, the server 20 transmits a message inquiring about the severity of the symptom. For example, the server 20 transmits a message including a severity selection item 11b that allows the subject T to select the severity of the symptom.

[0053] When the subject T selects the appropriate level (medium in FIG. 4) from the level selection items 11b, the server 20 sends a message to the subject T requesting images and videos of the symptoms. The subject T can upload the images and videos by using the upload function of the message app 11 (upload button 11c shown at the bottom of the page in FIG. 4).

[0054] The acquisition unit 21 stores information from the subject T in the message exchange as described above, thereby being able to acquire voluntary reports (contents, extent, images and videos of symptoms related to water leakage) from the subject T. In addition, the subject T can check the uploaded images and videos using the preview function of the message application 11.

[0055] Note that the contents of the symptom report message exchange shown in Figure 4 are one example, and are not particularly limited as long as the subject T can voluntarily report the symptoms related to water leakage. For example, the symptom report may be completed by reporting the presence or absence of symptoms related to water leakage, reporting the severity of the symptoms, and / or uploading images, etc. Furthermore, in the symptom report, the subject T may report various other information in addition to the presence or absence and severity of the symptoms.

[0056] The server 20 of this embodiment executes a suspected location estimation process in response to a symptom report (a voluntary symptom report from the subject T) acquired by the acquisition unit 21 as described above. The suspected location estimation process is a process for estimating a suspected water leakage location. The suspected location estimation process will be described below with reference to Figs. 4 to 7.

[0057] Here, it is assumed that the symptom reports include reports from locations where there are no particular problems (where no water leakage symptoms have occurred) due to misunderstandings or operational errors by the subject T. Therefore, as shown in Fig. 5, after executing the suspected location estimation process, the server 20 proceeds to step S10 to closely examine the symptom report from the subject T, and by the process of step S20 described below, if the report is from a location where no water leakage symptoms have occurred, the suspected water leakage location will not be estimated. An example of the process content will be described below.

[0058] In step S10, the extraction unit 23 of the server 20 examines the symptom report to determine whether or not a symptom related to a water leak has actually occurred. For example, the extraction unit 23 determines whether or not a symptom has occurred based on images and videos uploaded by the subject T. For example, in a report about tap water pulsation, if a video of tap water coming out of a faucet is uploaded, the extraction unit 23 analyzes the video and determines whether or not the tap water is pulsating to the extent that there is a possibility of a water leak.

[0059] When the extraction unit 23 determines that the tap water is pulsating to such an extent that there is a possibility of a water leak, it extracts the location of the subject T who reported the symptom based on the location information 27a stored in the storage unit 27. In this way, the symptom occurrence location (the location where the symptom related to the water leak is occurring) is extracted in step S10.

[0060] On the other hand, if the extraction unit 23 determines that the tap water is not pulsating to the extent that there is a possibility of a water leak, it does not extract the location of the subject T who reported the symptom. In this way, if a report is made from a location where no symptoms related to a water leak have occurred, the location where the symptom occurred is not extracted in step S10. When the server 20 completes the processing of step S10, it proceeds to step S20.

[0061] Note that the processing for examining the symptom report in step S10 is not limited to processing based on images and videos. The extraction unit 23 can appropriately examine the symptom report even when images and videos are not included in the symptom report. An example of processing for examining the symptom report when images and videos are not included in the symptom report will be described below.

[0062] If the first symptom report does not include images or videos, the symptom report is considered to be relatively unreliable, and therefore the extraction unit 23 temporarily determines that no water leakage symptoms have occurred for that symptom report. Hereinafter, this symptom report will be referred to as an "initial report." If there are multiple reports of the same symptoms as the initial report in the same area or on the water distribution pipe K2 during the same time period as the initial report, the extraction unit 23 determines that a water leakage symptom has occurred for the initial report, and extracts the location where the symptom occurred.

[0063] In this way, when multiple similar symptoms are reported in locations relatively close to the location of the initial report, the extraction unit 23 can determine that a water leakage symptom has occurred. Note that the criteria for determining that the symptom has occurred are not limited to when all of the above-mentioned conditions are met: the same time period, the same area or water pipe K2, and the same symptoms, but can also be set arbitrarily, such as when any of these conditions are met.

[0064] The extraction unit 23 may also perform a detailed examination based on the number of symptom reports for symptom reports that include images and videos. The extraction unit 23 may also prioritize the result of the detailed examination based on the number of symptom reports over the result of the detailed examination based on images and videos.

[0065] In step S20, if the server 20 determines that a symptom related to a water leak has occurred in step S10 (if the symptom occurrence location has been extracted, step S20: Yes), it proceeds to step S30. On the other hand, if the server 20 determines that a symptom related to a water leak has not occurred (step S20: No), it ends the suspected location estimation process. In this way, if the symptom report is due to a misunderstanding or an operating error by the subject T, the server 20 ends the suspected location estimation process without estimating the suspected location of a water leak.

[0066] In step S30, the server 20 executes a subroutine of a questionnaire transmission process for transmitting a questionnaire, and proceeds to step S110 shown in Fig. 6. In step S110, the transmission unit 22 of the server 20 transmits the questionnaire based on the symptom occurrence location extracted in the routine that executed the subroutine.

[0067] As will be described later, in this embodiment, the questionnaire transmission process is executed recursively. Therefore, in the first questionnaire transmission process, the questionnaire is transmitted based on the symptom occurrence location extracted in step S10 of Fig. 5. In addition, in the second and subsequent questionnaire transmission processes, the questionnaire is transmitted based on the symptom occurrence location extracted in step S140, which will be described later. The processing content of step S110 of Fig. 6 will be described below.

[0068] In step S110, the transmission unit 22 first selects recipients of the questionnaire (survey recipients). More specifically, the transmission unit 22 selects people who are within a predetermined distance from the symptom occurrence location as the survey recipients. At this time, the transmission unit 22 extracts multiple subjects T whose addresses are registered within a radius R km from the symptom occurrence location based on the location information 27a of the storage unit 27. That is, the transmission unit 22 considers the pre-registered address of the subject T as the location of the subject T. The transmission unit 22 simultaneously transmits the questionnaire to the selected survey recipients. Note that, if there is only one subject T who is located within a radius R km from the symptom occurrence location, the transmission unit 22 may transmit the questionnaire to the single subject T, or may expand the range and transmit the questionnaire to multiple subjects. Furthermore, when expanding the range, the transmission unit 22 may set an upper limit (threshold) on the number of surveys to be sent and expand the range until the upper limit is reached.

[0069] In this embodiment, a questionnaire about tap water, such as that shown in FIG. 7, is transmitted to the terminal 10 (messaging app 11) of a subject T who lives within a predetermined distance from the symptom occurrence location, and to the terminals 10 of office associates and the like who are located within the predetermined distance. It is assumed that the tap water used by the survey subject may not exhibit any symptoms related to water leakage. Therefore, the survey allows the subject to report that the symptoms are not present. The survey subject can respond to the questionnaire by exchanging messages with the server 20, similar to the case of a voluntary symptom report as shown in FIG. 4. Based on this message exchange, the acquisition unit 21 can acquire responses to the questionnaire (reports in response to a request from the transmission unit 22) from the subject T who is near the symptom occurrence location.

[0070] As shown in FIG. 6, once the transmission unit 22 transmits the questionnaire, the server 20 proceeds to step S120. In step S120, the server 20 determines whether or not a termination condition for the questionnaire transmission process is met. For example, the server 20 determines that the termination condition is met when a predetermined time has passed since the acquisition unit 21 last acquired a questionnaire response (step S120: Yes). In this case, the server 20 terminates the questionnaire transmission process. On the other hand, if the server 20 does not determine that the termination condition is met (step S120: No), the server 20 proceeds to step S130. Note that the termination condition in step S120 is not limited to that in this embodiment. For example, the server 20 may determine that the termination condition is met when the transmission of the questionnaire has been executed a predetermined number of times or when more than a predetermined number of responses have been obtained.

[0071] In step S130, if the acquisition unit 21 does not acquire a response to the questionnaire (symptom report) (step S130: No), the server 20 proceeds to step S120. In this way, the server 20 accepts responses to the questionnaire until the termination condition is met. On the other hand, if the acquisition unit 21 acquires a response to the questionnaire (step S130: Yes), the server 20 proceeds to step S140.

[0072] In steps S140 and S150, the server 20 performs substantially the same processing as steps S10 and S20 shown in FIG. 5. That is, in step S140, the extraction unit 23 closely examines the symptom report based on the response (uploaded images, videos, etc.). In step S150, if the server 20 determines that no water leakage symptoms have occurred in the examination in step S140 (step S150: No), the server 20 proceeds to step S120. On the other hand, if the server 20 determines that a water leakage symptom has occurred in the examination in step S140, the server 20 executes a questionnaire sending process (step S150: Yes, step S30). As a result, a questionnaire is sent to the survey recipients according to the symptom occurrence locations extracted in step S140 (step S110).

[0073] In this embodiment, the questionnaire transmission process is executed recursively in this manner. This allows the server 20 to repeat the extraction of the symptom occurrence location (step S140) and the transmission of the questionnaire (step S110) multiple times. In this manner, in this embodiment, the scope of transmission of the questionnaire is expanded stepwise, starting from the symptom occurrence location extracted in step S10 of Fig. 5 (the symptom occurrence location in response to the voluntary symptom report).

[0074] When the questionnaire transmission process of step S30 shown in Fig. 6 is completed, the server 20 proceeds to step S40 of Fig. 5. In step S40, the estimation unit 24 of the server 20 estimates the suspected water leak location based on the symptom report (the voluntary report from the subject T shown in Fig. 4 and the questionnaire response shown in Fig. 7). At this time, the estimation unit 24 estimates the suspected water leak location based on the symptom occurrence location and the pipeline information 27b stored in the memory unit 27. The process of estimating the suspected water leak location will be explained in a specific example below. When the process of step S40 is completed, the server 20 proceeds to step S50.

[0075] In step S50, the calculation unit 25 of the server 20 calculates the probability of water leakage occurring at the suspected water leakage location estimated in step S40, using the learning model 27c stored in the storage unit 27. When the processing of step S50 is completed, the server 20 proceeds to step S60.

[0076] In step S60, the notification unit 26 of the server 20 notifies the administrator (such as a waterworks bureau) of the suspected water leak location estimated in step S40 and the water leak occurrence probability calculated in step S50. When the processing of step S60 is completed, the server 20 proceeds to step S70.

[0077] In step S70, the notification unit 26 of the server 20 determines whether there is a possibility of a water leak within the premises (the area within which the consumer is responsible for repairing the water supply pipe K1). For example, the notification unit 26 determines whether the suspected water leak location includes the water supply pipe K1. If the suspected water leak location includes the water supply pipe K1 (step S70: Yes), the notification unit 26 proceeds to step S80. On the other hand, if the suspected water leak location does not include the water supply pipe K1 (step S70: No), the notification unit 26 ends the suspected location estimation process.

[0078] In step S80, the notification unit 26 of the server 20 notifies the subject T that there is a possibility of water leakage. When the process of step S80 ends, the server 20 ends the suspected portion estimation process.

[0079] Note that the survey subjects selected in step S110 shown in Fig. 6 are not limited to people who are within a predetermined distance from the symptom occurrence location. A modified example of the process for selecting survey subjects will be described below.

[0080] For example, the transmission unit 22 can select a subject T who is on a water distribution pipe K2 closest to the symptom occurrence location as the survey subject. Here, the closest water distribution pipe K2 is a water distribution pipe K2 that is connected to the symptom occurrence location via a single water supply pipe K1. A subject T who is in a location connected to the water distribution pipe K2 via the water supply pipe K1 becomes a subject T who is on the water distribution pipe K2 closest to the symptom occurrence location.

[0081] 3 is the symptom occurrence location, the nearest water distribution pipe K2 is the water distribution pipe K21 connected to the building T1 via the water supply pipe K1. The transmitter 22 can also transmit a questionnaire to a subject T who is in a location connected to the water distribution pipe K21 via the water supply pipe K1. This makes it possible to transmit the questionnaire to a subject T who is likely to be experiencing symptoms such as pulsation, and to efficiently extract the symptom occurrence location.

[0082] Furthermore, the transmission unit 22 can select, for example, a subject T in a location where clean water is supplied from a system of water distribution pipes K2 that connects the symptom occurrence location to the water purification plant and water distribution plant H in the shortest route, as a survey subject. Here, the system is a combination of water distribution pipes K2 that connects the symptom occurrence location to the water purification plant and water distribution plant H with the fewest number of branches. A subject T in a location connected to the water distribution pipe via a single water supply pipe K1 becomes a subject T in a location where clean water is supplied from the system.

[0083] In addition, when the water distribution pipes K2 are arranged in a grid pattern as in this embodiment, it is assumed that there are multiple systems of water distribution pipes K2 that connect the symptom occurrence location to the water distribution plant H in the shortest distance. In this case, the transmission unit 22 can select the subjects T in locations where clean water is supplied from each system as survey subjects. By transmitting the survey to the subjects T who are upstream from the symptom occurrence location in this way, it is possible to efficiently obtain survey responses and efficiently extract the symptom occurrence location.

[0084] Furthermore, the transmission unit 22 can select, for example, a subject T who is in a neighborhood of the location where the symptom occurred as a survey subject. A neighborhood area refers to an area that can be determined to be close to the location where the symptom occurred. The neighborhood area includes, for example, an area defined by a local government, such as a city, town, or block, as well as an area arbitrarily defined for estimation processing by the server 20. By transmitting the survey to the subject T who is in a neighborhood of the location where the symptom occurred in this way, it is possible to efficiently obtain survey responses and efficiently extract the location where the symptom occurred.

[0085] A specific example of the suspected location estimation process described above will be described below with reference to Figures 8 to 11. In this specific example, it is assumed that a subject T in building T1 shown in Figure 8 voluntarily reports symptoms. It is also assumed that building T1 is extracted as the location where the symptoms occurred based on the symptom report.

[0086] In this specific example, the transmission unit 22 transmits a questionnaire to survey subjects within a radius R km from building T1 (within range R1 shown in FIG. 8) (step S20: Yes, steps S30 to S110). A subject T in building T2 shown in FIG. 9 responds to this questionnaire, and the extraction unit 23 further extracts building T2 as a symptom occurrence location (step S120: No, step S130: Yes, steps S140 and S150: Yes in FIG. 6). The transmission unit 22 also transmits the questionnaire to survey subjects within a radius R km from building T2 thus extracted (within range R2 shown in FIG. 9) (step S30).

[0087] Here, survey subjects within range R2 include subject T to whom a survey has already been sent (within range R1). The transmission unit 22 may send additional surveys to such subject T to whom a survey has already been sent, or may exclude such subject T from survey recipients. When sending additional surveys, it is desirable to provide more detailed survey content each time the survey is sent. For example, the transmission unit 22 may inquire about the presence or absence of water leakage symptoms in the first survey, and inquire about the presence or absence of images and videos of the symptoms and the time of onset in the second survey. This makes it possible to obtain detailed information from subject T who is close to multiple symptom occurrence locations (buildings T1 and T2) and is relatively likely to be experiencing water leakage symptoms, making it easier to identify the suspected water leakage location.

[0088] In this specific example, the estimation unit 24 estimates the suspected leak location based on the responses to the questionnaire sent multiple times in this manner (step S40). For example, the estimation unit 24 overlays the symptom occurrence locations on a pipe diagram and extracts area A where the symptom occurrence locations are concentrated, as shown in FIG. 10. The estimation unit 24 then estimates the suspected leak location based on the arrangement of the distribution pipe K2 and the water supply pipe K1 in area A. For example, the estimation unit 24 estimates the distribution pipe K2 (distribution pipes K21, K22, K31, and K32 in FIG. 10), at least a portion of which is located within area A, as the suspected leak location. This allows the suspected leak location to be estimated with high accuracy.

[0089] The process for estimating the suspected water leak location is not limited to this specific example. For example, the estimation unit 24 may estimate the water supply pipe K1 in the area A as a suspected water leak location in addition to the water distribution pipe K2 in the area A where the above-mentioned symptom occurrence locations are concentrated.

[0090] In addition, when estimating the suspected leak location, the estimation unit 24 may estimate as the suspected leak location a water distribution pipe K2 within area A that is connected to the symptom occurrence location with a number of branches that is less than a predetermined number.

[0091] Furthermore, when estimating a suspected water leak location, if a predetermined number or more symptoms related to water leakage occur in one water distribution pipe K2, the estimation unit 24 may estimate that one water distribution pipe K2 is a suspected water leak location.

[0092] Furthermore, the estimation unit 24 can estimate that the water supply pipe K1 is a suspected water leak location by detecting a specific situation when a water leak occurs in the water supply pipe K1.

[0093] More specifically, if a water leak occurs in the water supply pipe K1, there is a possibility that the water bill of the customer will rise excessively. Therefore, if the water bill at the symptom occurrence location has risen excessively, the estimation unit 24 can estimate that the water supply pipe K1 at the symptom occurrence location is a suspected water leak location.

[0094] Furthermore, if a leak occurs in the water supply pipe K1, it is likely that no leak-related symptoms will be reported in the vicinity of the symptom occurrence location. Therefore, if no leak-related symptoms are reported within a predetermined distance from the symptom occurrence location, the estimation unit 24 can estimate that the water supply pipe K1 at the symptom occurrence location is a suspected leak location.

[0095] The calculation unit 25 calculates the probability of water leakage from the suspected water leakage location estimated in this way (step S50 in FIG. 5). In this specific example, the calculation unit 25 calculates the probability of water leakage from each of the distribution pipes K21, K22, K31, and K32. In this case, the calculation unit 25 acquires parameters (such as the diameter of the distribution pipe K21) that can be input to the learning model 27c from the pipeline information 27b in the storage unit 27, and inputs the parameters to the learning model 27c. As a result, the learning model 27c calculates feature amounts, and outputs the probability of water leakage according to the feature amounts.

[0096] The notification unit 26 associates the probability of water leakage output from the learning model 27c with the suspected water leakage location and notifies the manager (steps S50 and S60). Furthermore, if there is a possibility of water leakage within the premises (water supply pipe K1), the notification unit 26 notifies the relevant target person T of the possibility of water leakage (steps S70: Yes, S80). In this specific example, the notification unit 26 sends a message about the water leakage using a message application 11, as shown in FIG. 11. The notification unit 26 may also display a button 11d on the terminal 10 that enables collaboration with a plumbing repair company. This allows the target person T to easily request a water leakage inspection from a plumbing repair company, thereby improving convenience. When the notification by the notification unit 26 is completed, the suspected location estimation process in this specific example ends.

[0097] According to the suspected location estimation process of this embodiment, the manager can easily decide the location to inspect for water leaks based on the notification from the notification unit 26. For example, the manager can inspect the suspected leak locations (distribution pipes K21, K22, K31, K32) and their surrounding areas based on the notification from the notification unit 26. This narrows down the inspection target range from the wide area of ​​the pipeline K where pipes are laid, thereby reducing the inspection burden for water leaks. Furthermore, when multiple suspected leak locations are notified, the order in which to inspect for water leaks can be determined taking into account the probability of water leakage at each suspected leak location. This improves convenience.

[0098] The estimation unit 24 estimates the suspected leak location based on symptom reports (voluntary symptom reports and questionnaire responses) from the subject T. The symptom reports are made using the existing message app 11. With this configuration, the suspected leak location can be estimated without using special equipment (such as a vibration sensor that detects vibrations in water pipes), which reduces implementation costs.

[0099] The server 20 may further train the learning model 27c using the results of the leak inspection by the administrator, thereby making it possible to accurately determine the probability of a leak occurring.

[0100] As described above, the water leak location estimating system 1 of this embodiment is a water leak location estimating system 1 that estimates a suspected water leak location (such as a water distribution pipe K21 in this embodiment) in a pipeline K that supplies clean water to a consumer, and includes a first acquisition unit (acquisition unit 21) that can acquire a first report (see Figure 4) that is a voluntary report of water leak symptoms from a subject T, an extraction unit 23 that can extract a symptom occurrence location where a water leak symptom is occurring based on the first report, a request unit (sending unit 22) that can request a report request subject (questionnaire subject) selected based on the symptom occurrence location extracted by the extraction unit 23 to report a water leak symptom, a second acquisition unit (acquisition unit 21) that can acquire a second report (answer to the questionnaire shown in Figure 7) that is a report in response to a request from the request unit from the report request subject, and an estimation unit 24 that can estimate the suspected water leak location based on at least the second report.

[0101] By configuring in this way, it is possible to easily determine the location for conducting a water leak inspection based on the estimated location of the suspected water leak, thereby reducing the burden of water leak inspection. In addition, if there is a possibility of a water leak (if the location where the symptoms occur has been extracted), a request can be made to report the symptoms related to the water leak, making it easier to estimate the suspected location of the water leak based on the report in response to the request (answer to the questionnaire).

[0102] In addition, the extraction unit 23 can extract the location where the symptom occurred based on the second report (answer to the questionnaire), and the water leak location estimation system 1 repeats multiple times the extraction of the location where the symptom occurred by the extraction unit 23 and the request for the report by the request unit (sending the questionnaire by the sending unit 22) (see Figure 6).

[0103] This configuration makes it possible to obtain more reports of symptoms related to water leakage (questionnaire responses), thereby improving the accuracy of estimating suspected water leakage locations.

[0104] The report request recipients (questionnaire recipients) also include people who are located at a distance from the symptom occurrence location that is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold (see, for example, ranges R1 and R2 shown in FIG. 9).

[0105] By configuring in this way, it is possible to ask people near the symptom occurrence location to report on the symptoms related to water leakage (to answer the questionnaire), thereby making it possible to efficiently obtain reports on the symptoms related to water leakage.

[0106] In addition, the pipeline K includes a plurality of distribution pipes K2 connected by branching sections B, and a plurality of water supply pipes K1 that distribute clean water from the distribution pipes K2, and the report request subjects (survey subjects) include people who are in a location connected to the distribution pipe K2 via the water supply pipe K1, which is closest to the location where the symptoms occurred.

[0107] By configuring in this way, the location where the symptom occurs can be extracted efficiently.

[0108] In addition, the pipeline K includes a plurality of distribution pipes K2 connected by branching section B, and a plurality of water supply pipes K1 that distribute clean water from the distribution pipes K2, and the report request recipients (survey recipients) include people who are in a location connected via the water supply pipe K1 to the system of distribution pipes K2 that connects the location where the symptoms occurred to the water purification plant and water distribution plant H in the shortest possible time.

[0109] By configuring in this way, it is possible to efficiently obtain reports on symptoms related to water leakage.

[0110] The report request recipients (survey recipients) include people who are in the area surrounding the location where the symptom occurred.

[0111] By configuring in this way, it is possible to efficiently obtain reports on symptoms related to water leakage.

[0112] Furthermore, the estimation unit 24 can estimate the suspected water leakage location based on the symptom occurrence location and information about the pipeline K (step S40).

[0113] This configuration allows for accurate estimation of suspected leak locations. For example, if symptom occurrence locations are concentrated in a specific area A, the pipes in area A can be estimated as suspected leak locations (see Figure 10).

[0114] The water leakage location estimating system 1 further includes a calculation unit 25 that can calculate the probability of water leakage occurring at the suspected water leakage location using the trained learning model 27c (step S50).

[0115] By configuring it in this way, convenience can be improved.

[0116] The report also includes at least one of the following: pulsation of tap water, change in tap water pressure, contamination of tap water with foreign matter, discoloration of tap water, water outage, and increase in water charges (see Figures 4 and 7).

[0117] By configuring in this manner, it is possible to accurately estimate the location of a suspected water leak based on reports of tap water pulsation, etc.

[0118] The acquisition unit 21 according to this embodiment is an embodiment of the first acquisition unit and the second acquisition unit according to the present invention. The transmitting unit 22 according to this embodiment is an embodiment of a request unit according to the present invention.

[0119] Although the first embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above configuration, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention described in the claims.

[0120] For example, the transmission unit 22 has been described as selecting recipients of the questionnaire by regarding the residential or office address of the subject T as the location of the subject T, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the transmission unit 22 can also acquire the current location of the subject T and send the questionnaire to people who are actually within a distance of a predetermined threshold or less from the location where the symptoms occurred. In this case, the transmission unit 22 can acquire the current location of the subject T by using, for example, a GPS (Global Positioning System) function of the terminal 10.

[0121] By sending the questionnaire based on the current location of the subject T in this way, it is possible to obtain symptom reports not only from places that the subject T uses on a daily basis (such as his / her home), but also from other places (for example, other people's homes, public facilities, etc.). This makes it possible to determine if water leak symptoms are occurring in places other than pre-registered addresses (such as a residence or office), making it easier to estimate the suspected location of the water leak.

[0122] Furthermore, although the calculation unit 25 calculates the probability of occurrence of a leak at the suspected leak location in step S50 of Fig. 5, it is also possible to calculate other information related to the suspected leak location. For example, the estimation unit 24 can calculate the amount of water leakage at the suspected leak location based on the symptoms related to the leak and the diameter of the water distribution pipe K2, etc. The administrator can determine the order of leak inspections taking the amount of water leakage into consideration, thereby improving convenience.

[0123] Furthermore, although the calculation unit 25 calculates the probability of occurrence of a water leak using the learning model 27c, it is not necessary to calculate the occurrence probability using the learning model 27c. For example, the calculation unit 25 can also calculate the occurrence probability by substituting information about the suspected water leak location (such as the diameter of the pipe) into a predetermined formula that can calculate the occurrence probability of a water leak.

[0124] Furthermore, the estimation unit 24 estimates the suspected water leak location based on the location of the water leak and the pipeline information 27b, but it is also possible to estimate the suspected water leak location by taking other information into consideration.

[0125] For example, the estimation unit 24 can estimate the suspected leak location using the direction of water flow (direction of tap water flow) as a feature. In this case, the estimation unit 24 can estimate the suspected leak location to be upstream of the symptom occurrence location. This makes it possible to narrow down the suspected leak locations, effectively reducing the burden of leak inspection. It is also possible that the direction of water flow in pipeline K may change depending on the usage status of each consumer. It is desirable for the estimation unit 24 to identify the direction of water flow based on such usage status, location, etc.

[0126] The estimation unit 24 can also estimate suspected leak locations using the results of scoring according to the leak symptoms and the severity of the symptoms. For example, the estimation unit 24 assigns a relatively high score to symptom locations where the leak symptoms are relatively severe, and a relatively low score to symptom locations where the leak symptoms are relatively mild, and stores the scores in association with the symptom locations. The estimation unit 24 can extract areas with a high total of the stored scores and estimate the areas as suspected leak locations. This allows the estimation unit 24 to accurately estimate suspected leak locations, taking into account the severity of the symptoms. The estimation unit 24 can also estimate suspected leak locations by inputting the scores into a predetermined learning model.

[0127] In this embodiment, the survey is sent multiple times while changing the survey's transmission range, but the survey's transmission range is not particularly limited. For example, the sending unit 22 can send the survey multiple times to the same range. In this case, the sending unit 22 can also make the survey content more detailed each time the survey is sent.

[0128] Furthermore, the notification unit 26 notifies the subject T of the possibility of a water leak (see FIG. 11), but it is also possible to notify other information. For example, the notification unit 26 may periodically notify the subject T of the water charge, or may notify the subject T of information on areas where water supply has been cut off in the event of a disaster. This can further improve the convenience of the water leak location estimation system 1.

[0129] Furthermore, the transmission unit 22 is configured to terminate the questionnaire transmission process (step S30) in accordance with the time elapsed since the questionnaire responses were obtained, the number of questionnaire responses, etc., but the conditions for terminating the questionnaire transmission process are not limited to conditions related to the questionnaire. For example, the transmission unit 22 can also terminate the questionnaire transmission process in accordance with conditions related to the estimation of the suspected water leak location. An example (variant) of this will be described below.

[0130] In the modified example, the estimation unit 24 estimates the suspected water leak location as in step S40 each time a symptom occurrence location is extracted from the questionnaire responses. The estimation unit 24 then determines whether the estimation result is good or bad. If the estimation result by the estimation unit 24 is good, the transmission unit 22 ends the questionnaire transmission process. This allows the transmission unit 22 to repeat the questionnaire transmission process until a good estimation result is obtained.

[0131] The water leakage point estimating system 1 according to the second embodiment will be described below.

[0132] In the second embodiment, the survey subjects in the survey transmission process shown in Fig. 6 are different from those in the first embodiment. More specifically, the transmission unit 22 in the second embodiment transmits the survey to a subject T who is located in a location where the length of the pipeline K from the symptom occurrence location is relatively short.

[0133] For example, if the building T1 shown in Figure 12 is the location where the symptoms occurred, the transmission unit 22 will send a questionnaire to the subject T in building T11 if the length of the pipeline K (water supply pipe K11, distribution pipes K21-K21, water supply pipe K12) from the building T1 to building T11 is less than a predetermined threshold.

[0134] The transmitting unit 22 calculates the length of the pipeline K from the symptom occurrence location for each subject T stored in the position information 27a, and transmits the questionnaire to the subject T who satisfies the condition of the length of the pipeline K. This allows the acquiring unit 21 to acquire questionnaire responses from subjects T who live in houses where the length of the pipeline K is relatively short.

[0135] Here, if the length of the pipe K from the symptom occurrence location is relatively short, it is considered that there is a relatively high possibility that a water leak-related symptom (such as pulsation in tap water) is occurring. Therefore, the transmission unit 22 of the second embodiment is considered to be able to efficiently (with a high probability) obtain questionnaire responses and efficiently extract the symptom occurrence location. This makes it easier for the estimation unit 24 to estimate the suspected water leak location.

[0136] As described above, in this embodiment, the report request recipients (those to whom the questionnaire is sent) include people who are located in a location where the length of the pipeline K from the location where the symptoms occurred is less than a predetermined threshold.

[0137] By configuring in this way, it is possible to efficiently obtain reports of symptoms related to water leakage (questionnaire responses).

[0138] Although the second embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above configuration, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention described in the claims.

[0139] For example, the transmitting unit 22 has been described as selecting recipients of the questionnaire by regarding the residential or office address of the subject T as the location of the subject T, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the transmitting unit 22 can also obtain the current location of the subject T and send the questionnaire to people who are actually in a location where the length of the pipe K from the location where the symptoms occurred is less than a predetermined threshold.

[0140] The transmitting unit 22 can also transmit the questionnaire based on the number of branches in the pipeline K, rather than the length of the pipeline K. For example, the transmitting unit 22 can transmit the questionnaire to a subject T for whom the number of branches in the pipeline K to the building T1 (water supply pipe K11) shown in FIG. 12 is N or less. This makes it possible to transmit the questionnaire to a subject T for whom the number of branches is relatively small. Even when the number of branches is relatively small, as in the present embodiment, it is considered that there is a relatively high possibility that symptoms related to water leakage (such as pulsation in tap water) are occurring. Therefore, by transmitting the questionnaire based on the number of branches, responses to the questionnaire can be obtained efficiently.

[0141] As described above, the report request recipients (those to whom the questionnaire is sent) include people who are in a location where the number of branches of the pipeline K from the symptom occurrence location is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold.

[0142] The water leakage point estimating system 1 according to the third embodiment will be described below.

[0143] The water leakage location estimating system 1 of the third embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that a questionnaire is periodically sent. The above differences will be specifically described below with reference to Fig. 13 showing the suspected location estimating process in the third embodiment.

[0144] In this embodiment, the server 20 periodically performs the suspected portion inferring process (for example, once every two months). When the suspected portion inferring process starts, the server 20 proceeds to step S310. In step S310, the transmission unit 22 simultaneously transmits the questionnaire.

[0145] Note that the survey subjects (report request subjects) in step S310 are not particularly limited. For example, the transmission unit 22 may send the survey to subjects T within a range requested by an external party (such as a local government), or may send the survey to all subjects T stored in the location information 22b. The content of the survey is not particularly limited as long as it is capable of extracting the symptom occurrence location. For example, the survey may inquire about water leakage symptoms as shown in FIG. 7 via the message app 11, or may be different from that shown in FIG. 7. When the processing of step S310 is completed, the server 20 proceeds to step S320.

[0146] In step S320, the server 20 determines whether to end the acceptance of responses to the questionnaire. For example, if a predetermined amount of time has passed since the questionnaire was sent in step S310, the server 20 ends the acceptance of responses to the questionnaire (step S320: Yes) and proceeds to step S350. On the other hand, if the server 20 does not end the acceptance of responses to the questionnaire (step S320: No), the server 20 proceeds to step S330. Note that the condition for ending the acceptance in step S320 is not limited to that in this embodiment.

[0147] If there are responses to the questionnaire in step S330, the server 20 proceeds to step S340 and examines the responses to the questionnaire in the same manner as in step S140 shown in Fig. 6. After completing the processing of step S340, the server 20 proceeds to step S320. In this way, the server 20 repeatedly extracts symptom occurrence locations based on the responses to the questionnaire until the server 20 finishes accepting responses to the questionnaire in step S320.

[0148] In step S350, the estimation unit 24 determines whether N or more cases of water leakage symptoms have been reported for one water pipe K2.

[0149] More specifically, it is assumed that multiple symptom occurrence locations are extracted through steps S320 to S340 described above. The estimation unit 24 identifies which distribution pipes K2 the water supply pipes K1 at the multiple symptom occurrence locations thus extracted are connected to, based on the pipeline information 27b (pipe diagram, etc.). The estimation unit 24 then extracts, from the multiple distribution pipes K2, distribution pipes K2 (which distribute clean water via the water supply pipes K1) that are connected to a number of symptom occurrence locations equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold. In this embodiment, the distribution pipe K2 extracted in this manner is referred to as the first distribution pipe K2. If the estimation unit 24 extracts the first distribution pipe K2, it proceeds to step S360. On the other hand, if the estimation unit 24 does not extract the first distribution pipe K2, it ends the suspected location estimation process.

[0150] In step S360, the estimation unit 24 extracts a water distribution pipe K2 that may have a water leak based on the extraction result of the first water distribution pipe K2. In this embodiment, the estimation unit 24 extracts the first water distribution pipe K2 and a second water distribution pipe K2 that is located in the vicinity of the first water distribution pipe K2. For example, the estimation unit 24 extracts, as the second water distribution pipe K2, a water distribution pipe K2 that is connected to the first water distribution pipe K2 with a predetermined number of branches or less. The estimation unit 24 estimates the first water distribution pipe K2 and the second water distribution pipe K2 thus extracted as suspected water leakage locations.

[0151] Here, the first drainage pipe K2, which is connected to a relatively large number of symptom occurrence locations, is considered to have a relatively high possibility of leaking. The estimation unit 24 can accurately estimate the leak location P by estimating the first drainage pipe K2 and the surrounding second drainage pipe K2 as suspected leak locations. When the processing of step S360 is completed, the server 20 proceeds to step S370.

[0152] In step S370, the calculation unit 25 calculates the probability of water leakage from the suspected water leakage location estimated in step S360, similar to step S50 shown in Fig. 5. Then, in step S380, the notification unit 26 notifies the manager of the suspected water leakage location and the probability of water leakage, similar to step S60 shown in Fig. 5. In this way, the suspected location estimation process ends.

[0153] According to the suspected location estimation process of this embodiment, it is possible to estimate a suspected water leak location without receiving a voluntary symptom report from the subject T. This makes it possible to periodically estimate a suspected water leak location, regardless of whether or not the subject T voluntarily reports the symptoms.

[0154] As described above, in the leak location estimation system 1 of this embodiment, the pipeline K includes a plurality of distribution pipes K2 connected by branching sections B, and a plurality of supply pipes K1 that distribute clean water from the distribution pipes K2, and the estimation unit 24 extracts a first distribution pipe K2 from the plurality of distribution pipes K2 that distributes clean water via the supply pipe K1 to a number of symptom occurrence locations equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, and can estimate the first distribution pipe K2 and a second distribution pipe K2 that is connected to the first distribution pipe K2 by a number of branches equal to or less than a predetermined number as the suspected leak locations.

[0155] By configuring in this manner, the first water distribution pipe K2, which has a relatively high possibility of leaking, and the surrounding second water distribution pipe K2 can be estimated as suspected leak locations, and the suspected leak locations can be estimated with high accuracy.

[0156] Although the third embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above configuration, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention described in the claims.

[0157] For example, in step S360, the estimation unit 24 extracts the second distribution pipe K2 based on the number of branches, but the second distribution pipe K2 may be extracted based on other indicators that can determine whether the second distribution pipe K2 is close to the first distribution pipe K2. For example, the estimation unit 24 may extract the second distribution pipe K2 based on the length of the pipeline K from the first distribution pipe K2.

[0158] The water leakage point estimating system 1 according to the fourth embodiment will be described below.

[0159] The water leakage location estimating system 1 of the fourth embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that it estimates a suspected water leakage location without sending a questionnaire. The above differences will be specifically described below with reference to Fig. 14 showing the suspected location estimating process in the fourth embodiment.

[0160] In this embodiment, the server 20 executes a suspected location estimation process when the acquisition unit 21 acquires a voluntary symptom report from the subject T (see FIG. 4), and proceeds to step S410. In step S410, the server 20 closely examines the symptom report in the same manner as step S10 shown in FIG. 5, and if it is determined that a symptom related to water leakage has occurred (step S420: Yes), it proceeds to step S430. On the other hand, if it is determined that a symptom related to water leakage has not occurred (step S420: No), the server 20 ends the suspected location estimation process.

[0161] In step S430, the estimation unit 24 identifies the distribution pipe K2 connected to the water supply pipe K1 at the symptom occurrence location based on the pipe information 27b (pipe diagram, etc.). The calculation unit 25 calculates the probability of water leakage for the distribution pipe K2 identified by the estimation unit 24. For example, the calculation unit 25 calculates the occurrence probability by inputting the details of the water leakage symptom, the flow rate (actual measurement value) of the identified distribution pipe K2, and the number of years since installation into the learning model 27c. Note that the parameters input into the learning model 27c are not limited to those in this embodiment. When the processing of step S430 is completed, the server 20 proceeds to step S440.

[0162] In step S440, if the probability of water leakage calculated in step S430 is X% or more, the server 20 proceeds to step S450. On the other hand, if the probability of water leakage is less than X%, the server 20 ends the suspected portion estimation process.

[0163] In step S450, the server 20 determines that a water leak has occurred and estimates the suspected water leak location. For example, the server 20 estimates the water distribution pipe K2 connected to the water supply pipe K1 at the symptom occurrence location extracted in step S10 and the surrounding water distribution pipes K2 as the suspected water leak location. By taking the probability of water leak occurrence into consideration in steps S440 and S450 in this way, the estimation unit 24 can accurately estimate the suspected water leak location. When the processing of step S450 is completed, the server 20 ends the suspected location estimation processing.

[0164] According to the suspected location estimating process of this embodiment, the server 20 can estimate a suspected water leakage location without sending a questionnaire, thereby simplifying the process of suspected location estimating.

[0165] As described above, the water leak location estimation system 1 of this embodiment is a water leak location estimation system 1 that estimates a suspected water leak location in a pipeline K that supplies clean water to consumers, and is equipped with an acquisition unit 21 that can acquire reports of water leak symptoms from multiple subjects T, an extraction unit 23 that can extract a symptom occurrence location where a water leak symptom is occurring based on the reports, and an estimation unit 24 that can estimate the suspected water leak location based on the symptom occurrence location and information related to the pipeline K.

[0166] By configuring in this way, it is possible to easily determine the location for conducting a water leak inspection based on the estimated location of the suspected water leak, thereby reducing the burden of water leak inspection.

[0167] Although the fourth embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above configuration, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention described in the claims.

[0168] For example, the estimation unit 24 estimates the suspected leak location by taking into account the probability of water leakage in steps S440 and S450, but the method for estimating the suspected leak location is not particularly limited. Therefore, the estimation unit 24 does not necessarily need to take into account the probability of water leakage, and can estimate the suspected leak location by taking into account other information (such as the degree of symptoms related to water leakage). [Explanation of symbols]

[0169] 1. Leak location estimation system 21 Acquisition Department 22 Transmitter 23 Extraction part 24 Estimation part K conduit T target audience

Claims

1. A water leak location estimation system that estimates a suspected water leak location in a pipeline that supplies clean water to a consumer, A server is provided which performs various calculation processes in response to requests from external devices, The server a storage unit that stores pipeline information that is information about the pipeline; a first acquisition unit that acquires a first report from a subject, the first report being a voluntary report of symptoms related to water leakage; an extraction unit that extracts a symptom occurrence location where a water leakage symptom occurs based on the first report; a request unit that requests a report requestee selected based on the symptom occurrence location extracted by the extraction unit to report a symptom related to water leakage; a second acquisition unit that acquires a second report from the report request recipient, the second report being a report in response to a request from the request unit; an estimation unit that estimates the suspected water leakage location based on at least the second report and the pipeline information stored in the storage unit; Equipped with The pipeline is The system includes a plurality of distribution pipes connected by branching portions, and a plurality of water supply pipes that distribute clean water from the distribution pipes, The report request recipients include: The person is in a place connected to the water supply pipe via the water supply pipe in the immediate vicinity of the symptom occurrence location. Leak location estimation system.

2. A water leak location estimation system that estimates a suspected water leak location in a pipeline that supplies clean water to a consumer, comprising: A server is provided which performs various calculation processes in response to requests from external devices, The server a storage unit that stores pipeline information that is information about the pipeline; a first acquisition unit that acquires a first report from a subject, the first report being a voluntary report of symptoms related to water leakage; an extraction unit that extracts a symptom occurrence location where a water leakage symptom occurs based on the first report; a request unit that requests a report requestee selected based on the symptom occurrence location extracted by the extraction unit to report a symptom related to water leakage; a second acquisition unit that acquires a second report from the report request recipient, the second report being a report in response to a request from the request unit; an estimation unit that estimates the suspected water leakage location based on at least the second report and the pipeline information stored in the storage unit; Equipped with The pipeline is The system includes a plurality of distribution pipes connected by branching portions, and a plurality of water supply pipes that distribute clean water from the distribution pipes, The report request recipients include: The person is in a location connected via the water supply pipe to the distribution pipe system that connects the symptom occurrence location to the water purification plant and the water distribution plant in the shortest distance. Leak location estimation system.

3. A water leak location estimation system that estimates a suspected water leak location in a pipeline that supplies clean water to a consumer, comprising: A server is provided which performs various calculation processes in response to requests from external devices, The server a storage unit that stores pipeline information that is information about the pipeline; a first acquisition unit that acquires a first report from a subject, the first report being a voluntary report of symptoms related to water leakage; an extraction unit that extracts a symptom occurrence location where a water leakage symptom occurs based on the first report; a request unit that requests a report requestee selected based on the symptom occurrence location extracted by the extraction unit to report a symptom related to water leakage; a second acquisition unit that acquires a second report from the report request recipient, the second report being a report in response to a request from the request unit; an estimation unit that estimates the suspected water leakage location based on at least the second report and the pipeline information stored in the storage unit; Equipped with The report request recipients include: The person is in a location where the length of the duct from the symptom occurrence location is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold. Leak location estimation system.

4. A water leak location estimation system that estimates a suspected water leak location in a pipeline that supplies clean water to a consumer, comprising: A server is provided which performs various calculation processes in response to requests from external devices, The server a storage unit that stores pipeline information that is information about the pipeline; a first acquisition unit that acquires a first report from a subject, the first report being a voluntary report of symptoms related to water leakage; an extraction unit that extracts a symptom occurrence location where a water leakage symptom occurs based on the first report; a request unit that requests a report requestee selected based on the symptom occurrence location extracted by the extraction unit to report a symptom related to water leakage; a second acquisition unit that acquires a second report from the report request recipient, the second report being a report in response to a request from the request unit; an estimation unit that estimates the suspected water leakage location based on at least the second report and the pipeline information stored in the storage unit; Equipped with The report request recipients include: The symptom occurrence location includes a person who is in a location where the number of branchings of the pipeline from the symptom occurrence location is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold. Leak location estimation system.

5. A water leak location estimation system that estimates a suspected water leak location in a pipeline that supplies clean water to a consumer, comprising: A server is provided which performs various calculation processes in response to requests from external devices, The server a storage unit that stores pipeline information that is information about the pipeline; a first acquisition unit that acquires a first report from a subject, the first report being a voluntary report of symptoms related to water leakage; an extraction unit that extracts a symptom occurrence location where a water leakage symptom occurs based on the first report; a request unit that requests a report requestee selected based on the symptom occurrence location extracted by the extraction unit to report a symptom related to water leakage; a second acquisition unit that acquires a second report from the report request recipient, the second report being a report in response to a request from the request unit; an estimation unit that estimates the suspected water leakage location based on at least the second report and the pipeline information stored in the storage unit; Equipped with The pipeline is The system includes a plurality of distribution pipes connected by branching portions, and a plurality of water supply pipes that distribute clean water from the distribution pipes, The estimation unit extracting, from the plurality of water distribution pipes, a first water distribution pipe that distributes clean water via the water supply pipe to a number of the symptom occurrence locations equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold; The first water distribution pipe and a second water distribution pipe connected to the first water distribution pipe with a number of branches not exceeding a predetermined number can be estimated as the suspected water leakage location. Leak location estimation system.

6. A water leak location estimation system that estimates a suspected water leak location in a pipeline that supplies clean water to a consumer, comprising: A server is provided which performs various calculation processes in response to requests from external devices, The server a storage unit that stores pipeline information that is information about the pipeline; a first acquisition unit that acquires a first report from a subject, the first report being a voluntary report of symptoms related to water leakage; an extraction unit that extracts a symptom occurrence location where a water leakage symptom occurs based on the first report; a request unit that requests a report requestee selected based on the symptom occurrence location extracted by the extraction unit to report a symptom related to water leakage; a second acquisition unit that acquires a second report from the report request recipient, the second report being a report in response to a request from the request unit; an estimation unit that estimates the suspected water leakage location based on at least the second report and the pipeline information stored in the storage unit; Equipped with Further comprising a calculation unit capable of calculating the probability of water leakage occurring at the suspected water leakage location using a trained learning model. Leak location estimation system.

7. A water leak location estimation system that estimates a suspected water leak location in a pipeline that supplies clean water to a consumer, comprising: A server is provided which performs various calculation processes in response to requests from external devices, The server a storage unit that stores pipeline information that is information about the pipeline; a first acquisition unit that acquires a first report from a subject, the first report being a voluntary report of symptoms related to water leakage; an extraction unit that extracts a symptom occurrence location where a water leakage symptom occurs based on the first report; a request unit that requests a report requestee selected based on the symptom occurrence location extracted by the extraction unit to report a symptom related to water leakage; a second acquisition unit that acquires a second report from the report request recipient, the second report being a report in response to a request from the request unit; an estimation unit that estimates the suspected water leakage location based on at least the second report and the pipeline information stored in the storage unit; Equipped with The report states: This includes at least one of the following: pulsation in tap water, changes in tap water pressure, foreign objects in tap water, discoloration of tap water, water outages, and increases in water charges. Leak location estimation system.

8. The extraction unit The symptom occurrence location can be extracted based on the second report, The water leakage location estimation system includes: The extraction of the symptom occurrence location by the extraction unit and the request for the report by the request unit are repeated multiple times. The water leakage location estimation system according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

9. The report request recipient includes: The person is located at a distance from the symptom occurrence location that is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold. The water leakage location estimation system according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

10. The report request recipient includes: This includes people who are in the vicinity of the location where the symptoms occur. The water leakage location estimation system according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

Images