Improving efficiency in a water distribution system

IMPROVING EFFICIENCYIN YOUR DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM

Brian GongolDJ Gongol & Associates, Inc.

October 9, 2014

Iowa AWWA Annual Conference

Efficiency: Who really cares?

Of course we SHOULD care

Resources are finite

Water systems are big users of energy

Rate dollars are after-tax dollars

Money saved is a leveraged bonus

Substitution effect

We can say it's all for the environment

But it's really about public health

Money wasted displaces other public goods

The problem is, we really DON'T care

Revealed preferences

What's your household public works budget?

Why we don't really care

Low electrical rates

Cheap borrowing

Low regard for worker time

Public disregard for the state of public works

The day of reckoning cometh

Why we will be forced to care

Rising energy costs

Carbon emission regs and electricity costs

European electricity costs vs. our costs

Anticipated shortages of fresh water

Rising treatment costs pressuring budgets

Declining or flat populations

Aging infrastructure

Higher future interest rates

Shrinking water workforce

Compounding costs of deferred maintenance

Costs of catastrophic failure

Not everything that counts can be measured

But counting is a good place to start

What we might measure to gauge efficiency

Energy consumption

Losses (especially unmetered losses)

Labor costs (including opportunity costs)

Total cost of ownership (TCO)

Everything can be converted to dollars

Even hidden savings deserve a dollar value

Dollars are common currency to every industry

Boards don't want to know your specialty

Part 1: Pump efficiency

Clearances

NSS

Vane adjustments (numbers, angles)

Smooth coatings

Straight pipe entering the suction

Suction diffusers (straightening flow)

Part 2: Motor efficiency

110/220/460 volt differences

VFDs

Soft starters

Two-speed motors

Across-the-line starters

High-efficiency/premium-efficiency

VFD misapplication: Static head prevails

Fill towers at full speed

Hydrostatic tanks

VFD misapplication: Missing the (BE) point

Transmission losses

Part 3: Valves

Surge control

Save on pipe damage

Air control

Maximize pipe diameter

Throttling

Emergency cut-in valves for an emergency

Part 4: Pipework

Bends

Pipe smoothness

Corrosion and losses

Part 5: Labor and (TCO) efficiency

Preventive/predictive maintenance (direct benefits)

Preventive maintenance and knowledge

Labor training and continuous improvement

Quantify downtime

Part 7: Auditing your system

Total water supplied (own plus imports)

Authorized consumption (billed and unbilled)

Losses (apparent and real)

Apparent losses

Unauthorized consumption Metering error Data errors

Real losses

Distribution losses Tank leakage and overflow Service connection leakage

To recap

We ignore efficiency We won't forever Pump efficiency matters It's not the only thing by far Total cost of ownership matters most

Questions?

Thank you for coming!

Thank you for your attention!

Contact us anytime with questions

Brian Gongol DJ Gongol & Associates 515-223-4144 info@djgongol.com

References:

US electric prices: http://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/browser/#/topic/7?

agg=0,1&geo=vvvvvvvvvvvvo&endsec=vg&linechart=ELEC.PRICE.US-ALL.M~~~ELEC.PRICE.WNC-ALL.M&columnchart=ELEC.PRICE.US-ALL.M&map=ELEC.PRICE.US-ALL.M&freq=M&start=200101&end=201402&ctype=linechart&ltype=pin&rtype=s&maptype=0&rse=0&pin=

Germany, EU electric prices: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Electricity_and_natural_gas_price

_statistics

Fed funds rate: http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/FEDFUNDS

Suction vane drawing and sample pump curve courtesy Patterson Pump Co. Valve photographs courtesy GA Industries Some material in Part 7 adapted from the AWWA water loss auditing tool:

http://www.awwa.org/resources-tools/water-knowledge/water-loss-control.aspx

Special thanks to Shane Kinsey (City of Johnston, Iowa) and Rose Ann DiGiovanni (Patterson Pump Co.) for observations that extended the scope of this presentation

All other photos are original work by and copyright reserved to Brian Gongol