Leak Detection: Should It Be Your Customers' Job?

When it comes to leak detection, is it possible for utilities to move more of the burden onto ratepayers?

California American Water is experimenting with technology that might make this possible, potentially even saving customers money.

The technology would "enable participating Monterey Peninsula customers to monitor their daily water usage and identify unusually high water use that may indicate a leak," according to Environmental Leader.

Water and power conservation are key reasons the utility is testing this technology.

"The objective of the project is to garner enough information to evaluate feasibility and cost of operation, as well as to evaluate which features customers find most useful," the report said.

The approach involves installing transmitters on meters. The data carried by the transmitters goes to the local electric utility's existing AMI network.

Customers can then access the data through a website. They can set up alerts so they will get a text or an email if there is excess use on their account, according to an external affairs manager at the utility. The new technology includes the website as well as the data management software. The Arizona-based company Fathom produces the data management software.

As water bills climb faster than almost every other utility, Fathom bills its software as a sound response for water companies.

"The entire industry agrees that water prices are going up. Either due to water scarcity, power costs, treatment costs, infrastructure replacement, regulatory mandates, price is going up. Everyone also agrees that when water bills go up, everyone notices, [including] utilities, city councils, regulators, residents, businesses," the company said.

According to Fathom, stakeholders all demand one thing in response to price increases: more data.

They want "data to understand the price increase, then data to manage the price increase. Utilities need more data to operate their utilities, manage leak-loss and ensure they are billing all their revenue," the company said.

The pilot project by California American Water started in February and will run for about a year. As a first step, the utility is recruiting around 200 business and residential customers in two neighborhoods to volunteer for the experiment.

"Others will be selected from a number of areas on the peninsula to ensure that there is a mix of residential and commercial customers testing the technology," Environmental Leader reported.

Rob MacLean, president of California American Water, explained the effort in a statement.

“Nobody likes the shock of a high water bill due to a toilet or irrigation leak that they don’t know about until the bill arrives,” he said. “And by the time the leak is discovered, thousands of gallons of water can be wasted as well as all the energy required to pump that water. By providing customers a detailed picture of their daily water usage, we hope to reveal opportunities for water savings.”

For more on leak detection and metering, visit Water Online's AMR, AMI And Metering Solution Center.