American Water
Announces Pilot Program in Water Loss Management
July 15, 2005
American Water, the largest water services
provider in North America, announced a first-of-its-kind program
that uses acoustic information from an automatic meter reading
(AMR) system to detect and repair water leaks. Leaks are a
problem plaguing public water systems nationwide. In its 2005
Report Card for America's Infrastructure, the American Society
of Civil Engineers states that "each day, six billion gallons of
clean, treated drinking water disappears, mostly due to old,
leaky pipes and mains...enough water to serve the population of
a state the size of California."
The unique AMR program, piloted in the
Connellsville, Pa. water system, has equipped 500 of the water
meters with an "MLOG" leak detecting sensor, manufactured by
Flow Metrix, and an AMR transmitter as part of a fixed network
system designed by Hexagram, Inc. Permanently installed on pipes
near water service meters, MLOG sensors record sound vibrations
over a period of four hours each night. Specially designed
software analyzes these acoustical patterns and assigns them one
of four leak categories: no leak present, possible leak,
probable leak, or no data available.
"Leak monitoring with AMR allows us to locate
and repair leaks that would normally remain undiscovered until
they caused significant damage," said Wayne Morgan, VP Business
Performance for American Water's Northeast Region. "This
technology offers us the opportunity to examine an aging
distribution system and explore the nature of water main leaks--
from the time they start, to the time they become visible and
severe enough to be repaired."
American Water chose Connellsville as the site
of its leak monitoring trial because of the city's unique
geography: it sits on a hillside along the Youghiogheny River,
enabling leaks to flow underground to the river undetected.
Additionally, Non-Revenue Water (NRW) exceeds 25 percent, and
the cost of water is purchased at a premium for the system,
providing a strong financial driver for effective leakage
reduction.
By utilizing the MLOG leak detection system,
American Water will reduce operating expenses, decrease water
wastage and increase water availability in Connellsville. "This
program promotes water resource conservation and gives American
Water an affordable, round-the-clock means of detecting and
repairing water leaks in Connellsville," said Morgan.
The Connellsville pilot is one of a series of
water leak programs American Water plans to monitor within the
next year, including two already-completed projects in
Uniontown, Pa. and Manville, N.J., which utilize MLOG sensors,
but not AMR technology.
American Water offers a comprehensive menu of
water loss management services, including water loss system
evaluation, leak detection, meter management, a LineSaver
Service Line Protection Program for homeowners and network
repair and replacement.
Source: American Water July 15,
2005 |