Pipeline Inspection, Surveying and Mapping

Pipeline Inspection, Surveying and Mapping
Detection units help lower frequency of burst pipe events

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Software enables easier operations and asset management

Problem: The City of Kimberley, British Columbia, Canada, has made significant investments in monitoring instrumentation for its water and wastewater systems, and was seeking a data management solution. The project identified the need to provide leakage control flow monitoring and solve the city’s need to monitor and alarm other processes at its facilities. Data was collected manually and alarm notifications were done through a third-party auto-dialer system.

Solution: In October 2013, the city implemented FlowWorks to monitor the operation of its water systems. Chris Mummery, the City of Kimberley utilities supervisor, stays how useful FlowWorks data processing tools are for making informed decisions. “With FlowWorks, we know what’s actually going on in the field. Operations staff and management alike utilize FlowWorks on a daily basis. The first thing I do in the morning after checking my emails is go to FlowWorks and track trends. We have been able to pick up on leaks and issues at PRV stations much, much faster than in the past.” The city no longer needs to manually record compliance monitoring data and performance reporting is much easier, freeing up time for both operations and management personnel.

Result: The City of Kimberley has expressed intentions to expand its use of FlowWorks to include all of its water and wastewater sites, along with weather stations and temperature sensors on the road to the Kimberley Alpine Resort. 888/400-3288; www.flowworks.com.


Digital solution eliminates paperwork for field crews

Problem: Field crews in Menomonie, Wisconsin, fill out paperwork each day for inspections and general work. Countless hours were being consumed making sure the paperwork was filled out correctly and turned in to office staff for recordkeeping. With efficiency becoming more critical, crew leaders sought a better solution.

Solution: CAD data was the only digital data that Menomonie had to work with, so with a little hard work, the CAD data was converted into an Esri Geodatabase. Both iWater and HD Supply Waterworks staff worked with city stakeholders to design digital forms in the infraMAP Form Designer. Key input from the field crews was used to configure the software around their needs, and managers were able to configure the reports based on internal, county and state requirements.

Result: The city is now operating in a fully digital environment, reducing citywide staff time. Supervisors can take advantage of the reporting tool to see how crews are progressing. GIS, IT and office staff also benefit from the straightforward software deployment, centralized data management and ease of administration. 877/482-5834; www.iwater.org.


Detection units help lower frequency of burst pipe events

Problem: A U.K. utility company discovered a residential district metered area (DMA) had a higher-than-expected burst pipe frequency. It was suspected that an inlet valve on the reservoir feeding the DMA was the most likely cause, and existing logging equipment was unable to prove this case to an acceptable level for investment purposes.

Solution: Five TransientMinder units from Syrinix were deployed at key locations around the residential area. The units provide high frequency, continuous logging and high-resolution time synchronization for transient location and source detection. The customer portal RADAR provides companies with data relating to the units deployed. Continuous raw data is sent securely via GSM to the RADAR portal for processing through a series of automated complex algorithms. An SMS alert for the transient event is sent and approximately five minutes of data is sent to the servers for immediate display on the portal.

Result: The units confirmed that the inlet valve was the source of the transient activity and, in turn, increased burst frequency. The level of detailed analysis and data for both the location and cause gave the knowledge required to move ahead with the replacement of the inlet valve to address the high burst and leak occurrences caused by those transients. The solution is predicted to result in a 45 percent reduction in burst mains, a 59 percent reduction in other leak types and a significant reduction in distribution input. www.syrinix.com.



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