How To Raise Your Water System's IQ

Water Online Radio’s Kelly Riggs asked a simple but important question to Paul Gifford, director of R&D with Mueller Company. His query, to paraphrase, was “What is intelligent water technology?”

Gifford gives his take, from Mueller’s perspective:

“The way I think of it, for the last hundred years, valves and hydrants that we’ve made haven’t really been able to communicate with us, haven’t been able to tell us things about the water distribution system.

“But today, we’re making leak-detection, pressure-monitoring, chlorine-monitoring, and flushing [products] that can analyze the condition of the water system and tell us about it … and in the case of automated flushing, actually do something about the water in the system.”

Gifford goes on to explain why utilities need to get “smarter,” discussing the country’s aging infrastructure and how intelligent systems can enable condition assessment and proactive maintenance.

It’s not just the infrastructure itself, but also water supply and quality that’s at stake, said Gifford, adding that many issues can be mitigated through analytical solutions, which Mueller provides through its Echologics division.

“As water increases in value to us, then information about that water becomes more valuable as well,” he noted. Hear more from Gifford by accessing the full interview below.