New Jersey American Water selects Echologics for continuous leak detection duties
New Jersey American Water (NJAW) has selected Echologics’ continuous leak detection technology, EchoShore-DX, to reduce water loss, prioritise repairs, and help maximise the life of its buried water infrastructure assets.
A subsidiary of American Water, NJAW is the largest investor-owned water utility in the state, serving approximately 2.6 million people.
The utility installed more than 1,000 of Echologics’ leak detection nodes in six water systems across New Jersey.
In the first six months of operation, Echologics’ DX technology enabled NJAW to identify and repair more than 50 active leaks, with total recovery of more than 1,000gpm in water loss.
“NJAW’s mission is to provide our customers with high-quality reliable water service, and we are committed to using technology that allows us to increase our efficiencies and the value of the services we provide,” said Kevin Kirwan, VP of operations at NJAW.
“The large-scale implementation of Echologics’ technology has enabled us to continuously monitor for leaks in a non-invasive manner.”
Echologics pioneered the development of a proprietary, acoustic-based system, which can be used in the field to non-invasively locate leaks with high accuracy without breaking ground or inserting tools in the water system.
Echologics’ leak detection technology incorporates the latest generation of acoustic sensors that are built into a standard fire hydrant cap and are capable of identifying extremely faint acoustical noises emitted by leaks before they become detectable by conventional methods.
This early detection capability enables utilities to prioritise repairs based on actual need and the most effective allocation of repair crews.
“One of the challenges we face is how to reduce non-revenue water, which is water that has been treated but is lost in the distribution system before reaching its intended destination,” said Don Shields, VP and director of engineering at NJAW.
“With Echologics’ technology, we have been able to reduce the amount of non-revenue water by detecting active leaks and prioritising repairs before they became significant issues, ensuring that we are able to meet our commitments to our customers,” he added.
