A task force of the U.S. Conference of Mayors Copyright ©2006 U.S. Conference of Mayors, All rights reserved A task force of the U.S. Conference of Mayors

A task force of the U.S. Conference of Mayors

Copyright ©2006 U.S. Conference of Mayors, All rights reserved



The Use of Emerging Technologies for Comprehensive Water

Conservation and Preservation

Pam Malone, VP - Strategic Development, Itron Water SystemsWayne Morgan, President – WV American Water





The global reality> Dwindling water resources> Increasing energy and water usage

Effective solutions> Managing in-home leaks - AMI Technology> Controlling distribution leaks - Acoustic Leak Monitoring

Technology Best Practices

> Cucamonga Valley, CA> Township of Irvington, NJ, Connellsville, PA, Monterey, CA

Discussion Items



Committed to the Utility Industry > More than 30 years in MDM business

> Market leader in water, gas & electric markets

> 9000 employees world-wide

> 8,000 utilities in 75 countries

> 300 million meter base

About Itron, Inc.


Copyright ©2006 U.S. Conference of Mayors, All rights reserved 4





Water required to generate 1 MWh of electricity¹> Gas/steam combined cycle: 7.4k to 20k gallons> Coal and oil: 21k – 50k gallons> Nuclear: 25k – 60k gallons

Water- energy nexus²> Drinking water and WW utilities use 75 billion kWh/yr > 116 billion lbs. of CO2 emitted in US > Water and WW operations account for 19% of power use in CA> 15-30 percent energy savings can be obtained by conservation

measures



“The most effective way to reduce energy related to water, greenhouse gas emissions, and associated costs is to consume less water.”

NRDC/ Pacific Institute 2004

‘Energy Down the Drain’



“Solving the dilemma requires new national policies…and innovative technologies that help boost one resource without draining the other.”

Michael E. Webber, Scientific American Earth 3.0‘Energy vs. Water: Why Both Crises Must Be Solved Together’



End user efficiency efforts> Low-flow/water-less toilets

> Front load washers

> Water efficient fixtures

> Xeriscaping

> Reuse, reclamation, recycling

Demand Side Conservation



Supply Side Conservation Watergy³ efficiency efforts

> Improving the pumping system

> Automating system operations

> Managing in-home/distribution leaks; and

> Consistently monitoring usage



Advanced Metering Infrastructure> Two-way communication between utility

office and smart endpoints

> Smart endpoints automatically transmit consumption, interval data, leak detection and tamper data to collector units

> Collectors periodically transmit data through the network

> Advanced software – manage network operations and meter data trending and comparative reports for advanced analysis



Best Practice – Managing In-home Leaks

Cucamonga Valley Water District (CVWD) bills customer on a 60-day cycle.

Residential water leaks were hard to detect in a timely manner. CVWD detected a significant leak in a residence that measured at

just under two gallons lost per minute or 86,000 gallons of water (about $200) per month.

A utility CSR called to alert the customer of a potential leak; saving money and reducing wasted water in the long run.



Watering Every

Day but Sunday

Minimum Flow Not on Zero – this customer has a leak!!



Utility Only

O&M Only

Both

American Water - where we areWe manage more than 350 individual water systems across the country

Every day we operate and manage:> 45,000 miles of distribution

and collection mains

And more than:

> 80 surface water treatment plants

> 600 groundwater treatment plants

> 1,000 groundwater wells

> 40 wastewater treatment plants



Water Loss Management via Fixed Base AMI

Acoustic Leak Monitoring> How it works

> What we are learning

Connellsville PA, Irvington NJ, Monterey CA deployments

AMI and leak reduction> Incorporating Data Management into NRW control



Managing Distribution Leaks -

MLOG Acoustic Monitor

Deployed every 500 feet near the water meter Identifies the minimum sound in 10 minute intervals

between 12:30 and 4:30 AM. The single nightly data point broken down into

frequencies associated with leak noise and shows the sum of the leak noise frequencies.

Reports on the highest differential between the lowest noise displayed and the highest overnight sound.

MLOG software interprets changes and magnitude of sounds to rank the location as a possible source of a leak.



MLOG Acoustic Monitor and American Water

Flow Metrix and American Water first deployed the fixed network version of the MLOG in Connellsville, PA in the Spring of 2005.

Within the first year NRW dropped by more than half from over 25% to less than 12% saving about $175,000 in annual water purchase costs.

The average cost of repair of leaks found before they surfaced is about one third less than the average cost of surfacing leaks. (Fewer emergencies)

Preliminary research shows many breaks occur with sudden changes in water temperature; there are more leaks starting in the fall than previously expected.



Continuous Leak Survey Data



Township of Irvington Irvington is located in Essex County, NJ just

west of the City of Newark. The water system dates back to 1880’s. Mostly cast iron and galvanized steel pipes NRW was over 23%



Irvington - Integrating MLOG and AMI

Fixed Network Application Server

NeighborhoodCollector

MlOG computer with acoustic leak data

American WaterUtility Systems

Water Meters with Itron AMI Endpoints

ItronMLOG Device

IP

Billing, meter reads and selected reports



Piloting Results With only partial deployment of the MLOG system

there have been 71 investigations for leaks from February through October.

So far 24 leaks have been identified in totaling an estimated 176 gpm (.25 MGD).> Three main leaks

> Nine hydrant leaks

> Twelve customer service leaks



AMI as a Factor in Reducing NRW AMI has the potential to assist in measuring NRW through

better metering including creation of DMAs. AMI can be a learning tool to educate the utility about how

customers use water and abuse water. AMI can be a communication tool to the customer informing

them about leaks and how to use water wisely. AMI can be a useful tool in identifying special customer

issues including meter tampering and water theft.



QUESTIONS??



Sources¹Energy vs. Water Why Both Crisis Must Be Solved: Scientific American

Earth 3.0, Vol 18, November 4, ‘08

²National Water Program Strategy: Response to Climate Change, EPA Office of Water, March’08

³Watergy – The strong link between water and energy in municipal water supply and wastewater treatment systems; Alliance to Save Energy

Documents

A task force of the U.S. Conference of Mayors Copyright ©2006 U.S. Conference of Mayors, All rights reserved A task force of the U.S. Conference of Mayors