In the world of regulated water systems, it’s become habit to expect water loss – whether from line breaks in the water main or theft. A leak in the water main, can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months before it is discovered. Now that’s a lot of water loss!

Since many water companies buy water wholesale, water loss from line breaks and theft can affect the bottom line, drive up costs for customers, and create potential safety issues. But, what if that no longer was the case?

How do you gain visibility into your water usage and flow so that you could minimize water loss?

SUEZ Environment, formerly known as United Water, which provides service to over five million people in the suburbs of New York City, recognized the need for a more efficient way to monitor their water usage and flow and began to develop a system that would allow them to minimize their water loss.

To counteract their aging infrastructure, SUEZ developed a big data-driven proprietary model of their water systems using historical data to determine the baseline water usage in each main, in each zone, in each system. In order to compare it to the real-time water usage, they needed a way to measure the water flow and pressure at the boundaries of each zone in their system. They needed instruments that would be durable, rugged and able to operate in no-power situations.

With the use of Siemens SITRANS F M Mag 8000 magnetic flow meter, SUEZ was able to redefine where they placed the meters, how they enhanced their employees’ safety during routine maintenance calls, and how they were able to more easily detect leaks and changes in the water’s flow. In addition, they were able to pinpoint leaks that were previously thought to be simply part of the usage baseline. Instead of finding leaks in a matter of days, weeks and months, SUEZ is now able to detect leaks – and fix them – in a matter of hours.

To read the full story on how SUEZ redesigned their water system and the SITRANS F M Mag 8000, please click here.

What techniques have you used to monitor and limit your water loss?