Birmingham Water Works (BWW) is a big water system in a drought-stricken region. Leaks are an obvious concern, and in 1999 the nonrevenue water percentage had crept up to an expensive and unacceptable 25 percent. With 600,000 customers and more than 4,000 miles of mostly ductile iron line to maintain, and with limited manpower, the utility had limited options. “A manual leak survey of the entire system takes 30 months,” says Revenue Water Depart-ment manager Geoff Goodwin. “Since our main service area is also our oldest gradient, that section alone took 14 months to inspect. In 1999, with the high
