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?
- 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.Cevap
- BThe utility spent significantly more money on specialized equipment calibration and sensor maintenance than it saved through reduced water treatment costs.
- CRepair crews required specialized training to interpret the data generated by the acoustic sensors, which initially slowed down the repair time for individual micro-leaks.
- DNeighboring municipal water utilities that did not install acoustic micro-leak sensors also reported substantial increases in total water losses over the same period.
- EMicro-leaks account for a smaller proportion of total pipeline damage in older urban water systems than in newly constructed suburban systems.
Cevap
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.
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Anahtar Kavram
Resolving Paradoxes through Confounding Side Effects and Volume Discrepancies