The City of Hot Springs, Arkansas, has implemented advanced digital solutions from Xylem to decrease non-revenue water (NRW) loss by nearly 50%.
The city’s water system, which is 143 years old, faced frequent leaks due to aging infrastructure and challenging terrain. By modernizing their system, Hot Springs significantly cut NRW loss.
According to Monty Ledbetter, the director of utilities, the city has invested US$3 million annually in replacing outdated infrastructure, making substantial progress over the past five years.
“Our initial strategic investment was the installation of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), enabling us to monitor the system more effectively with Sensus iPERL meters and the FlexNet communication network,” Ledbetter explained.
This technological upgrade facilitated remote water monitoring and real-time leak detection, allowing Hot Springs to quickly identify sudden water losses.
“During our routine leak detection efforts, we discovered a major issue on a 24-inch water line,” Ledbetter noted. “A broken 2-inch air release valve was leading to a staggering loss of nearly 4 million gallons daily.”
The utility further advanced its digital transformation by implementing virtual district metering areas with Xylem Vue. This integrated software and analytics platform enabled the city to identify areas of high water loss by creating smaller, manageable zones within the network.
Daily monitoring of the analytics dashboard has been crucial. When the system indicated unaccounted-for water in a specific zone, utility workers conducted investigations, ultimately discovering a fire hydrant leaking 2,000 gallons per hour into a creek after three inspections.
“With Xylem Vue, we are not merely responding to leaks; we are proactively detecting them before they escalate into major problems,” Ledbetter stated. “This capability to identify issues in real time leads to significant cost and time savings.”
Hot Springs has successfully reduced its NRW from 44% to 24% through the use of AMI and acoustic listening devices. This advanced technology is credited with nearly halving the utility’s water loss. The city aims to further reduce NRW to 20% within the next year, with a long-term goal of achieving 10-12% as part of effective water management.
Source :Xylem
