Advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) has received a lot of attention in recent years, typically regarding customer account billing. Other AMI uses within water distribution networks, however, can play equally important roles in reducing non-revenue water (NRW). Consider these contributions of networked flow meter use for automating better insights into water distribution efficiency.
In recent years, the reduction of water losses has become a burning issue within the water industry and utilities, either for financial or ecological reasons, are under increasing pressure to enhance resource efficiency. However, practitioners know that assessing and monitoring the performance of water loss reduction programs is a real challenge, and what at first may sound like a simple task, in practice turns out to be a rather complex undertaking. By Monika Konatar and Dr. Thomas Schiller
Situated along the Arkansas River and Lake Dardanelle in the heart of the Arkansas River Valley, Russellville, Arkansas is known for having plentiful amounts of high quality, fresh water.
Today’s data driven utilities are paving the way for smart water systems through their use of location intelligence. Location influences all aspects of managing water — from protecting a sustainable supply to delivering safe drinking water. At Esri’s upcoming User Conference, which brings together more than 18,000 geographic information system (GIS) professionals from across the globe, utility companies will gather together to share successes and best practices regarding the myriad ways instituting spatial analytics technology has benefited their operations.
The new 3400 On-Demand Meter Transmission Unit (MTU) for water uses the efficient, low-power, high performance two-way Aclara RF Network technology to transmit hourly, interval usage data to the utility. The MTU supports up to nine-digit registers and delivers time-stamped reads on a time-synchronized network, allowing for advanced water distribution management. Enhanced features such as on-demand reads, firmware over the air, on-board storage of readings, market leading security,meter-generated alarms and flags and remote shut-off valve control bring market-leading AMI capabilities to the Aclara RF Network.
After analyzing annual water loss audits for the city of Dallas, GA, the team discovered significant issues around non-revenue water. In 2014, real and apparent water loss accounted for 31.3 million gallons — nearly 20 percent of the city’s total water supplied for the year — which meant lost revenue for the city.
Accurate measurement of water consumption across a large metropolitan area is no easy task, but for a water company it can mean the difference between profitability and throwing money down the drain. That’s why City West Water, a major water supplier to residential, commercial and industrial sites in and around the city of Melbourne, Australia, has been working with Siemens for more than a decade to install SITRANS F M MAG 8000 electromagnetic water meters at high-consumption sites and in fire service applications.
White House Utility District (WHUD) is one of the largest water and sewer utilities in the state of Tennessee. While developing a network of pipelines, pumping stations and storage units was challenging, the greater test came in finding access to a plentiful water supply.
Aclara’s water pressure monitoring solution leverages our industry leading Aclara RF network to provide near real-time monitoring of water pressure throughout your distribution network. Whether used for leak detection or managing system-wide pressure, Aclara’s pressure monitoring solution is easy to install, reliable, low maintenance and integrated into your advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) environment.
Find and fix leaks fast with the Aclara ZoneScan II leak-detection system. The industry’s leading, remotely correlated acoustic leak detection system cost-effectively identities small leaks before they become major problems, and will give you immediate insight into non-revenue water losses in your water distribution network.
The new 3400 On-Demand Meter Transmission Unit (MTU) for water uses the efficient, low-power, high performance two-way Aclara RF Network technology to transmit hourly, interval usage data to the utility. The MTU supports up to nine-digit registers and delivers time-stamped reads on a time-synchronized network, allowing for advanced water distribution management. Enhanced features such as on-demand reads, firmware over the air, on-board storage of readings, market leading security,meter-generated alarms and flags and remote shut-off valve control bring market-leading AMI capabilities to the Aclara RF Network.
Aclara’s through-the-lid antenna lets you install Aclara Meter Transmission Units (MTUs) while retaining metal pit lids. Our flexible install options mean our MTUs will work whether you reuse current metal lids or replace them with RF-permeable ones.
The Aclara RF Network Data Collector Unit II (DCU) for water and gas utilities enhances your AMI network by providing reliable and flexible, two-way communications for water and gas meters.
Thanks to the increased prevalence of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and other smart infrastructure solutions (SIS) as well as the evolving demands of the utility consumer, an effective consumer engagement (CE) strategy has become a critical component of a utility’s overall service offering for their customers. Without an effective CE strategy in place, utilities could fall short of their customers’ expectations, thus leading to consequences such as lower customer satisfaction, higher call center volumes, and a higher cost to serve. To respond, utilities require a reliable CE solution that can adapt to their objectives, enabling them to meet their customers’ expectations, and position the utility to better serve their customer base.
ProFieldENCORE’S modular design and open interface architecture means that you can license as many or as few of ProFieldENCORE’S modules as you need. Let our experts help you to design an implementation model that fits your specific needs and circumstances.
Mueller Water Products is daylighting a smarter hydrant which not only provides life-saving fire protection but detects leaks in the water distribution system and monitors pressure 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Technology is on pace to reach a milestone of 26 billion devices connected through the Internet of Things (IoT) by the end of 2019. In the water industry, IoT capabilities are enabling utilities to leverage meter reading data collected via secure private cellular networks to satisfy multiple purposes — increasing its value exponentially. In this Water Talk interview, Kristie Anderson from Badger Meter discusses how advances in smart solutions, smart water, and smart city technology are delivering real-world benefits that seemed like futuristic promises just a few short years ago.
Aging infrastructure is shaping up to be an enormous burden on municipalities. The next 30 years will require a $1 trillion investment just to keep up with the replacement curve for water distribution pipes. At the same time, leak targeting and physical condition assessment of existing networks is an expensive proposition. In this Water Talk interview, Doug Hatler, chief revenue officer for Fracta, discusses the application of artificial intelligence in advanced screening solutions to bring those evaluation costs down.
Water loss is a massive problem for municipalities as distribution system leaks, metering inaccuracies, and theft combine to waste an average of 30 percent, or more, of treated product. While progress is being made on the issue — also known as non-revenue water, or NRW — there is still plenty of room for improvement. In this Water Talk interview, Jeff McCracken, a director of operations and management solutions for Itron, discusses advanced technology that digs into data to help locate both the real and apparent losses facing water managers.
As aging pipes continue to deteriorate, non-revenue water is growing into a pretty staggering challenge for the water utility industry. Many municipalities try to tackle the problem by walking the many miles of their drinking water distribution lines with leak detectors. However, an advanced solution is emerging that can pinpoint these leaks from the skies. In this Water Talk interview, James Perry, vice president of business development for Utilis Corp., discussed new technology that searches for leaks using a remote sensing device on a satellite 400 miles above the earth.
Leaking distribution lines are a significant contributor to municipal water loss, but transmission mains have the potential to leak every bit as much, and sometimes even more. These leaks can go on for years without being found. In this Water Talk interview, Mike Funk, business development manager for the East Coast for Hydromax USA, discusses an advanced inline leak detection solution available to address the water loss problem.
Electromagnetic meters (mag meters) are well established in terms of highly accurate performance for a variety of municipal and industrial water applications. Differences in their construction formats, however, dictate how easy they can be to install, maintain, and calibrate. Compare these three options to see the value of full-profile-insertion (FPI) mag meters and their associated advantages in real-world use.
When drinking water leaves a treatment plant through giant pipes, with the help of huge pumps, the pressure can exceed 200 psi. The high pressure is a necessity because water must travel a long distance in some cases. Water towers scattered throughout the distribution system aid in the process so it can reach all utility customers. The problem is that not all distribution points in a water system are created equal.
From the largest metropolitan utilities to the smallest water systems, leaks are a problem everywhere. Because it’s difficult to raise consumer prices to offset the losses, non-revenue water has a direct impact on the bottom line of municipal water systems. However, utility managers now have an opportunity to reverse the problem with advanced flow meter technology that combines multiple measurements.
Tampering with water meters is outright theft that costs everyone who plays by the rules. It’s what happens when consumers — end users, landlords, businesses, and in some cases even municipal employees with specialized knowledge of a water system — alter a device to avoid paying the cost of their actual usage. Putting a dent in the problem requires a multifaceted strategy.
Advanced metering infrastructure — that includes smart meters to facilitate communication between a consumer and the utility — takes a major step toward water conservation by making it easier to establish district metered areas, or DMAs. Monitoring these DMAs for synchronized production and consumption data is one of the most cost-effective ways of spotting leaks, thereby reducing non-revenue water.
Not getting a handle on NRW guarantees it will continue to haunt your operation.
For all the talk about scarcity of source water, funding, and the next-generation labor pool in the water industry, there is one area that is not falling short — data collection. Here is how water and sewer districts inundated with data collected from a variety of central control systems, pressure loggers, and stand-alone sensors can streamline and manage that flood of data in ways that cut their major concerns down to size.
Utilities looking for greater billing efficiency and control over every drop of water consumed by their customers face a constant battle with non-revenue water loss, which can be compounded by different metering technologies and consumer behaviors. Using accurate, always-on, continuous-sampling meters to take full advantage of automated smart utility networks is a better way to improve decision-making and achieve accountability goals across any circumstances.
This video explains how Aquis Leak Detection can reduce the amount of Non-revenue Water by reducing loss of water through existing leaks and reduce the risk of additional leaks. Furthermore energy consumption, emissions and use of chemicals are reduced and water quality is improved.
While it often starts with a leak, historically many utilities have waited until there is an evident problem or rupture to react. Today’s utilities have an option. Imagine being immediately notified about a problem in an main. The EchoShore-TX platform will call, text, or email you promptly after detecting a leak or other anomaly.
As a leading provider of acoustic-based technologies for water loss management, leak detection and pipe condition assessment, Echologics is dedicated to helping water utilities reduce water loss.
An interview with Mark Loveday, Manager, European Region and Mark Nicol, Business Development Manager - Asia Pacific.
For the Bethpage Water District on New York's Long Island, providing first class customer service is a top priority. But antiquated meters -- and the subsequent billing complaints and maintenance requirements -- had become a problem. The Badger Meter BEACON Meter Reading System became the solution.
See how Echologics acoustic leak detection and condition assessment solution helps utilities to reduce non-revenue water, improve conservation and prioritize capital spending—without breaking ground or disrupting service.
A technology trial involving installation of 295 Enigma3m remote correlating noise loggers in a water distribution network in the State of Johor, Malaysia, has successfully cut net night flow by a third.
EPM, the Medellin based public utilities service company has chosen TaKaDu as their Central Event Management software provider, being the first customer for TaKaDu in Colombia.
Two independent engineering consulting firms presented the results of projects comparing the Utilis satellite-based method for leak detection to other methods at the American Water Works Association’s ACE 2019 annual conference.
Echologics, a subsidiary of Mueller Water Products, Inc., will start one of the largest water pipe condition assessment projects in Europe with SES Water this month. Following completion of a successful initial trial with SES Water in 2018, the new project includes the assessment of 273.8km (170 miles) of ageing metallic mains.
Siemens and BuntPlanet have signed a sales distributorship agreement. With this agreement, the two companies provide a comprehensive portfolio on equipment, software and services offering advanced solutions for the water industry, especially for the water leakage detection.
Researchers at UNSW Sydney have been selected by Sydney Water to test the capability of their patented optical technology to detect leaks, which could save billions of gallons of water annually.
