City of Atlanta, Georgia

total water network covered

number of leaks detected

leakage reduction per year

The challenge

Following two high-profile water main bursts on aging pipes, the City of Atlanta urgently needed a way to quickly identify and locate other potential developing leaks before they could cause further damage and disruption.  Officials asked FIDO partner Oldcastle Infrastructure to aid its burst mains response program by using FIDO AI.

FIDO AI accurately detects leaks and assesses their size, even in the noisiest of network environments. Our tiny mobile sensors are non-intrusive, which means there is no effect on live pipes or water supplies to critical areas.

The solution

FIDO AI was deployed in two phases of work covering a total of 70 miles of water main network in several key areas of the city.

First, FIDO AI analysed network GIS data to identify optimal locations for leak detection data sampling. Using this insight, accredited technicians installed FIDO sensors at a total of 223 accessible main line control valves and service curb stops.

The received data was analysed by FIDO AI to identify likely leaks and generate  points of interest (PoIs), ranked by size.

Each PoI was further investigated by our expert team, who used FIDO correlation and top sounding techniques to pinpoint locate and mark up all the significant leaks for repair by the city.

The results

FIDO AI successfully found and located a total of 47 utility network leaks and a further three customer side leaks across 70 miles of Atlanta’s network. These included two large main line leaks, one of which was close to a road intersection on Howell Mill Road.

Each of these large leaks was estimated as losing 10 gallons of water a minute.

Using AWWA nominal volumes, once repaired the total estimated volume of leaks found is almost 320 US gallons per minute. This equates to almost 460,109 US gallons a day or 167,939,712 US gallons a year (approximately 632,000 cubic metres a year).

Oldcastle Infrastructure continues to use FIDO AI in Atlanta, most recently to help evaluate around 330 miles of pipe in preparation for hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup.