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Difficulty: HardResolving Paradoxes and Discrepancies

A municipal water utility recently deployed high-precision acoustic sensors across its underground pipe network to identify micro-leaks early. Over the following year, repair crews successfully located and sealed 45 percent more micro-leaks than in any previous year. Paradoxically, despite these prompt repairs, the total volume of treated water lost throughout the municipal distribution network increased by 15 percent over the same period. Which of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent paradox described above?

  1. Operating the acoustic monitoring system required raising hydraulic pressure in the main distribution trunklines, which drastically increased the rate of water escaping from undetected major structural ruptures elsewhere in the system.Answer
  2. B
    The utility spent significantly more money on specialized equipment calibration and sensor maintenance than it saved through reduced water treatment costs.
  3. C
    Repair crews required specialized training to interpret the data generated by the acoustic sensors, which initially slowed down the repair time for individual micro-leaks.
  4. D
    Neighboring municipal water utilities that did not install acoustic micro-leak sensors also reported substantial increases in total water losses over the same period.
  5. E
    Micro-leaks account for a smaller proportion of total pipeline damage in older urban water systems than in newly constructed suburban systems.

Answer

The statement explaining that operating the acoustic monitoring system required raising hydraulic pressure in the main distribution trunklines, thereby increasing the flow rate of undetected major structural ruptures, resolves the paradox.
The correct answer reconciles both facts by introducing a operational consequence of the technology. Raising system hydraulic pressure caused undetected high-volume leaks to spill significantly more water, overshadowing the water saved by fixing micro-leaks.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the two apparently contradictory facts presented in the passage.
Fact 1: 45 percent more micro-leaks were located and sealed. Fact 2: Total volume of water lost in the network increased by 15 percent.
Resolving a paradox requires finding a piece of new information that allows both facts to be true simultaneously without denying either premise.
2
Evaluate the causal interaction introduced by each answer choice.
Increasing hydraulic pressure across the network to run the sensors creates a side effect: major undetected leaks lose water at a much faster rate, outweighing the savings from repaired micro-leaks.
This accounts for both the successful repair of micro-leaks and the overall increase in total volume lost.

Key Concept

Resolving Paradoxes through Confounding Side Effects and Volume Discrepancies
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Topics

Resolving Paradoxes and Discrepancies

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