Water District Solves Metering Problem: Non-Intrusive Ultrasonic Technology Provides Accurate Measurements

The Jacksonville JEA water district had a problem. Its measurements showed that it was distributing significantly more water than it was removing from its wells.

“Clearly it was a metering problem,” said Shawn Arnold, manager of the water acquisition and distribution arm of JEA (formerly the Jacksonville Electric Authority). “We did an investigation and discovered that the meters at 35 of our wellheads were under reporting the amount of water being extracted.”

The Jacksonville water district is massive. Not only does it serve the most populous city in Florida, it also provides potable water to the surrounding counties of Clay, Nassau, and St. Johns. It is the seventh largest publicly owned water district in the country with 4,208 miles of water lines. As such, management must know precisely how much water it is removing from the Florida aquifer.