Non-Invasive Assessment Of Buried Pipe

There can be few things worse than having your customer-base in a drought-plagued state like California watch as thousands of gallons of freshly-treated drinking water erupt from a burst main. In a world where water is becoming increasingly precious, utilities are becoming more proactive in identifying leaks and fixing problems before catastrophes occur.

As Doug McCall, Vice President of Marketing with Echologics, explains in this Water Online Radio interview, “any expert will tell you that a water utility typically loses between ten and fifteen percent of their treated water right after it leaves the treatment facility … They are starting to realize that we've got ways and means to immediately address those leaks and save that revenue.”

Recognizing that utilities don’t want to interrupt their customers’ water supply for a day or two while they investigate their pipes, Echologics uses acoustical, non-invasive means to listen for leaks. “As long as we can get a hardline connection to that pipe, we can set up our sensors – acoustical sensors as well as a correlator – and listen to that pipe,” said McCall.

McCall also discusses setting up permanent monitoring on your main transmission lines. This allows you to identify when a leak starts, track it as it starts to grow and fix it before it becomes a major issue.

To learn more about pipe condition management and leak detection, click on the audio player below: