Platte County, Missouri | Leak Locate

The challenge

Platte County Public Water Supply District 8 (PWSD#8) is a small rural water utility in Missouri with a 45-mile PVC network. Managers found they were losing over 40% of their purchased water.

The combination of a tough environmental conditions and the configuration of the network meant that previous attempts at leak detection had not been successful.

Natural springs which confuse other acoustic detection methods are common, while gravel roads make visual and reactive approaches difficult.

PWSD8 asked us to use Leak Locate Powered by FIDO AI on their network to reduce water loss by a quarter.

The solution

FIDO deployed FIDO sensors at regular intervals across the targeted DMAs. These were left overnight. Once collected, the sensor data was instantly analysed by FIDO AI, which resulted in a number of points of interest (POI) for large leaks.

FIDO technicians used the sensors again at each generated POI to further pinpoint the leak location and mark up the blue line ready for PWSD#8 to promote to dig and to repair their largest leaks.

FIDO AI then verified that the repair work had been a success and the water that was saved was validated by utility staff.

The results

Using FIDO AI to find the PWSD#8’s largest leaks meant we could direct the repair team to areas where most water was being lost, faster.

By prioritizing repairs on these leaks, PWSD#8 reduced their need to purchase water and recouped the cost of the project before FIDO engineers had concluded the service.

The final verified leakage reduction in this section of network was 52%, which meant we met our target two times over. This represented a volumetric saving of 19 million gallons of water a year which would otherwise need to have been purchased at an annual cost of $102,600.

Leak Locate is an easy way to locate any water leak on any pressurised distribution pipe in any material using FIDO AI.

All-in-one leak location by subscription using an app and a simple hardware device.