Water Efficiency Mar-Apr-2012

AMI | DEMAND MANAGEMENT | ENERGYMARCH/APRIL 2012

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11 16 24 34

March/April 2012 Volume 7, Number 2

11AMI–The All-Purpose ToolAMI not only allows utilities to collect information, but lets them use data to educate and inform customers.By Dan Rafter

16 COVER STORY From the Ground UpAs water resource management focuses on increased efficiency, intelligent irrigation products are set to shine.By Ed Ritchie

34Centralized Management, Controlled SavingsIncreasing process control intelligence can allow a utility to conserve water and energy.By Don Talend

40Waste Not, Want NotDemand management takes hold and delivers results for water purveyors throughout the country.By Paul Hull

24Attacking Apathy and Reducing DemandLow-flow fixtures and intelligent data systems can inspire customers and help utilities fine-tune water resource management.By Paul Hull

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8 Editor’s Comments 47 ShowCase 53 Marketplace 53 Advertiser’s Index 54 The Buzz

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ACCORDING TO THE US Drought Moni-tor Map, released last week by South Dakota State University ( www.flickr.com/photos/ma-pei/6744840789/ ), many American cities—including Atlanta, GA; Dallas, TX; Phoe-nix, AZ; and Oklahoma City, OK—are situ-ated smack dab in the middle of a drought belt. Indeed, much of the western US appears to be headed in the same direction. The maps reveal—in vivid color—the swathe of severe-to-extreme drought conditions that cut across much of the American South and Southwest. And these cities aren’t alone. A second map, this one from the World Resource Institute (WRI, http://8020vision.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Global_Water_Stress.jpg ), shows that many of the world’s largest cit-ies are sitting uneasily in the crosshairs of extreme weather change and water scarcity. And if climate change models hold true, these urban centers and megacities can ex-pect conditions to only get worse.

And here’s a taste of what we can look forward to (courtesy of 8020vision.com, http://8020vision.com/2010/06/27/water-scarcity-in-the-us/ ):

• By 2025, 1.8 billion people will live in conditions of absolute water scarcity, and 65% of the world’s population will be water stressed.

• In the US, 21% of irrigation is achieved by pumping groundwater at rates that exceed the water supplies ability to recharge.

• Th e US is the largest exporter of wheat to the world, but it takes 1,000 tons of water to grow 1 ton of wheat.

• Lake Mead (the source of 95% of water for Las Vegas) will be dry in the next four to ten years.

• Th e Ogallala aquifer—which stretches across eight states and accounts for 40% of water used in Texas—is expected to experience a 52% volume reduction between 2010 and 2060.

We all know that the world’s cities are ill prepared to handle the vagaries of extreme climate conditions and exponential popula-tion growth, but we seem to be at a loss as to how fund and implement the changes need-ed. And the stakes are high. During times of severe instability, when all resource manage-ment is a challenge, water scarcity is not just a financial issue or a political question, it can mean the difference between life and death. That may seem like a melodramatic state-ment, but the UN and other international organizations have been sounding a similar clarion call for the last several years.

Most recently, a June 2011 study re-leased by the Food and Agricultural Organi-zation of the UN (FAO) released (“Climate Change, Water and Food Security”, http://climate-l.iisd.org/news/fao-releases-survey-on-water-scarcity-and-food-production/ ) argues that water scarcity in the Mediter-ranean, Americas, Australia, and southern Africa will have an immediate and severe impact on global food production. And a 2009 study by UNESCO substantiates this claim, revealing “water scarcity may limit food production and supply, putting pres-sure on food prices and increasing countries’ dependence on food imports” ( www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/environment/water/wwap/facts-and-figures/all-facts-ww-dr3/fact3-water-scarcity-food-production/ ). Other predicted impacts: regional food shortages, increased fertilization costs, in-creased energy costs, and “possible financial speculation” leading to a steep increase in food prices.

Th is combination of inadequate water supplies and decreasing water quality is already negatively impacting not just food production, but industrial facilities, interna-tional trade, and diplomatic relations. How long before we see scenarios similar to what brought down ancient Angkor played out all across the globe? (See sidebar, “Ancient Cities,

Editor’s Comments Elizabeth Cutright

RYAN J. ALSOPDirector of Government & Public Affairs Long Beach Water DepartmentLong Beach, CA

MARIE CEFALOWater Conservation CoordinatorDepartment of Public Works and UtilitiesCary, NC

SCOTT N. DUFF, MCIP RPPManager, Program CoordinationMinistry of Agriculture, Food and Rural AffairsOntario, Canada

CHRIS EARLEYPrincipal,Greening Urban, LLCRichmond, VA

LEONARD FLECKENSTEINSenior Program SpecialistSanta Barbara County Water AgencySanta Barbara, CA

LUIS S. GENEROSOWater Resources Manager City of San Diego Water DepartmentSan Diego, CA

NEIL S. GRIGGProfessor of Civil EngineeringColorado State UniversityFort Collins, CO

LLOYD HATHCOCKDirector of Program DevelopmentNiagara Conservation Corp.Durham, NC

GARY KLEINAffiliated International Management LLC.Newport Beach, CA

GEORGE KUNKEL JR., P.E.Water Efficiency Program ManagerPhiladelphia Water DepartmentPhiladelphia, PA

JEFFREY J. MOSHERExecutive DirectorNational Water Research InstituteFountain Valley, CA

JIM PINGATOREWater Conservation PlannerValparaiso City UtilitiesValparaiso, IN

DANIEL RANSOMWater Conservation ManagerCity of Santa Fe, NM

PETER P. ROGERSProfessor of City PlanningGordon McKay Professor of Environmental Engineering, Harvard UniversityCambridge, MA

DAN STRUBConservation Program Coordinator Water Conservation ProgramCity of Austin, TX

BRIAN VINCHESIPresidentIrrigation Consulting Inc.Pepperell, MA

DAVID ZOLDOSKE, EDDDirectorCenter for Irrigation TechnologyCalifornia State University–FresnoFresno, CA

Back to Square One

EDITORIAL ADVISORYBOARD

Editor's Comments Elizabeth Cutright

Modern Problems”.) And considering the strong connection between water and energy, we can assume that the impact of water scarcity will only be magnified and exponentially expanded once power generation and delivery begin to be effected by water short-ages. As such, it’s not a stretch to say that when it comes to water scarcity, we might well be stuck with a one-way ticket to a futuristic nightmare.

So what to do? In a blog for Switchboard (the National Resources Defense Council Staff Blog), Kaid Benfield discusses the issue of urban growth, smart cities, and water scarcity in an entry titled “Reconciling cities with water scarcity” ( http://switch-board.nrdc.org/blogs/kbenfield/recon-ciling_cities_with_water.html ).

Benfield believes that the first step is to help our cities expand intel-ligently, with an eye on efficiency and

sustainable water use. For cities, this means implementing both increased housing density—EPA research shows that building 1,000 new homes at 8 units per acre instead of 4 can “save as much as 27 million cubic feet of runoff per year”—and insuring that new (and existing) residential and commercial properties come equipped with built-in water efficient technologies.

Which brings us back to the solu-tion we’ve been touting all along: water effi ciency. It may not be the end of the world as we know it, but even if the 2012 doomsday cultists and ancient Mayan calendar enthusiasts are proven wrong, there’s no denying that as our global water scarcity crisis expands and explodes, the future’s looking rather grim. As such, our best—and perhaps only—option is to start a rigorous, well-funded course of smart, effi cient water resource management. WE

Ancient Cities, Modern Problems

Any student of history will tell you that poet and humanist George Santayana had it right when he said, “Those who do not learn from his-tory are doomed to repeat it” ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Santayana ). As the US Drought Monitor Map and the WRI Global Water Stress schematic illustrate, our current metropolitan areas seemed doomed to relive the same challeng-es and tragedies that felled one the grandest ancient cities of yore.

Last year, a report from Live Science ( www.livescience.com/17702-drought-collapse-ancient-city-angkor.html ), revealed that drought—rather than war, pestilence, or land overexploita-tion—ultimately led to the demise of the ancient city of Angkor. Initially, the city, which was capital of the 9th cen-tury Khmer Empire, thrived. Its success was due, in part, to Angkor’s sophis-ticated water resource management plan: an extensive system of moats, res-ervoirs, channels, and embankments designed to collect and store mon-soonal deluges for use throughout the year. But this technologically advanced infrastructure was not enough to pro-tect the city from the vagaries of a changing weather landscape. With more information now available, it’s likely that one of the most powerful urban centers in southeast Asia for almost 500 years was done not by violence or mismanagement, but by “sudden and intense variations in cli-mate” that exploited the weaknesses in Angkor’s infrastructure, causing the city to collapse.

What can we learn from Angkor? As researcher Mary Beth Day, University of Cambridge, England, points out in her statement regarding the research findings, “Angkor can be an example of how technology isn’t always suf-ficient to prevent major collapse dur-ing times of severe instability. Angkor had a highly sophisticated water man-agement infrastructure, but this tech-nologic advantage was not enough to prevent its collapse in the face of extreme environmental conditions.”

Large dams. Bigger pipes. Huge reverse osmosis plants. Larger pumps. Buying ever more water from other providers.

These are the solutions that water districts have turned to far too frequently in their search to maximize their water resources, says Trevor Hill, president and chief executive officer of Global Water, a Phoenix-based company that owns and operates 16 water and wastewater utilities in Arizona.

Hill says that the better solution is to use existing resources in more effi cient ways. In other words, utili-ties should educate their clients on the ways in which they can minimize the amount of water they consume each month, resulting in water delivery sys-tems that waste as few gallons as pos-sible of this important natural resource.

One way that utilities can do this is by not only relying on Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) to collect data, but by using this data to tell customers exactly how they can reduce their own consumption.

“We believe that the water world has been preoccupied with supply-side solutions to water conservation for too long,” says Hill. “People always want to build a large dam or a huge reverse osmosis plant. Th ey want to install bigger pipes and pumps. Th ere’s always been this fascination with supply-side solutions. But we believe that instead we should use the resources we already have, in better ways.”

It’s an approach that Hill says not enough water utilities are taking today. And that, he says, is unfortunate. AMI can make a big difference in the amount of water that utilities send to

Utilities are discovering that advanced metering infrastructure not only allows them to collect information, but lets them use data to educate and inform customers.BY DAN RAFTER

AMI—THE ALL-PURPOSE TOOL

Meters like this one help increase efficiency.

their customers each year, but only if utilities use this technology to its fullest capabilities.

At the same time, a proper use of AMI, and the data it generates, can save water utilities precious dollars when it comes to the maintenance and repair of their pipes, pumps, and other infrastructure, says Paul Lekan, vice president of marketing with Hazelwood, MO-based Aclara. And saving dollars is especially important today when city budgets are facing unprecedented squeezes.

“It will take trillions of dollars to completely renovate the water systems across this country,” says Lekan. “But for a fraction of this cost, water dis-tricts can deploy AMI to help them better target the work that they need to do now, to maintain their equip-ment. We are not going to be able to replace entire water systems over-night. But AMI allows water utilities to target their replacement efforts where they are most needed.”

The manufacturers of AMI technology say that water utilities are embracing AMI and using the data it generates to study water use patterns among their consumers.

This doesn’t mean, though, that water utilities are yet using AMI to its fullest capabilities. And it certainly doesn’t mean that utilities are using the data that AMI generates to cut down on the amount of water their clients consume.

Until the latter happens, say AMI pros, water utilities will continue to miss out on one of the most important benefits that this technology provides.

TURNING DATA INTO A TOOLFor Hill, the problem is a simple one: water utilities aren’t shy about investing in AMI. And they don’t hesitate to collect the reams of data that AMI generates.

Unfortunately, too many utilities still don’t understand how to use this data properly, Hill says.

Hill sought to change this in 2003. That’s when he founded Global Water with the goal of building a water conservation-oriented utility. Global Water acquired 16 water utilities in Arizona, and then made sure that each of these utilities operated under the

same AMI platform, FATHOM.The goal of FATHOM is simple,

Hill says. Utilities that use it will save money on operating their systems because they’ll receive data that tells them how they can reduce the amount of water that their clients consume.

Today, Global Water sells its FATHOM system to other utilities that the company doesn’t own.

“All along we’ve been focused on adopting and integrating those tech-nologies that help us meet our greater cause of reducing per capita water consumption and demand,” says Hill.

He adds that Global Water is ahead

of the industry today, with many water utilities still using AMI only to collect data once a month or once a quarter.

This will change, though, as customers demand more information from their utilities. And like many changes today, the sputtering national economy will force it.

“Customers are being squeezed economically today,” says Hill. “The average guy has less in his pocket than he did five years ago. At the same time, the cost of water is starting to rise. These two lines will soon converge and bring about a change. Look at it this way: When customers’ water bills are $15, they don’t care that much about how much water they are using. When that water bill nears $100, they are no longer indifferent.”

Water prices are rising faster than inflation today, Hill says, largely because water utilities are dealing with

such challenges as aging infrastruc-tures, scarcity of water, new federal and state regulations, and the increas-ing pressure from their city councils to do more while spending less.

Utilities can meet these challenges by using AMI to steer their customers toward lower consumption, Hill says. And the way to do this is to provide them access to real-time information about their water use.

It does little good to provide con-sumers with their water consumption numbers a month after they’ve already consumed their water. This doesn’t allow customers to make changes in

their consumption patterns, Hill says. But if utilities allow their custom-

ers to click on an app or visit a secure webpage, so that they can see how much water they consumed yesterday or this morning, it gives these custom-ers the opportunity to change their behavior immediately. This is a benefit for the consumer, who sees a lower water bill, and the utility, which sees less water consumed.

“We think that consumers will soon demand more information from their utilities,” says Hill. “They’ll get their bills and say, ‘Oh, my gosh—I can’t have used all that water.’ When you can show them that, yes, they are consuming that much water, they have an obvious next question: ‘How can you help me use less water than that?’ That trend is starting, and it will only grow stronger as prices con-tinue to rise.”

“The water world has been preoccupied with supply-side

solutions to water conservation for too long. . . . Instead, we should use the resources we already have, in better ways.”

MARCH/APRIL 2012 WATER EFFICIENCY 13

This data might also provide cus-tomers with a warning that they may have a water leak that they need to fix before it becomes an even bigger, and costlier, problem, Fiut says.

And not only does this type of AMI use make for more accurate bill-ing, it also provides a credibility boost to water utilities, Fiut says.

“The ability to communicate qual-ity information back to customers in real time means that the trust is there

between customers and utilities,” says Fiut. “You don’t have utilities telling customers that they don’t know why their water bills are so high. You don’t have utilities telling their customers that they’ll have to look into some-thing and get back to them with an answer later. Utilities don’t have to send someone out to look at custom-ers’ meters. They don’t have to drag out the bill-reconciliation process. They are providing quick answers in

REAL-TIME COMMUNICATIONBrian Fiut, Senior Product Manager at Itron Water Sales Group, says that cus-tomers and water utilities truly benefit when AMI, and the data it generates, allows for a direct two-way commu-nication between customers and the water utilities serving them.

With Itron’s AMI technology, utili-ties can receive updated water con-sumption data from their customers on an hourly basis. When customers call with questions about their water bills, the utility can tell them exactly how much water they consumed not only each day, but also each hour of each day.

This way, customers can pin-point exactly why a water bill may have jumped significantly for a par-ticular month.

“Customers who have issues with a bill can get a real answer as to why their bill was as high as it was,” says Fiut. “Understanding how much us-age occurred, and when, will enable them to take steps, if necessary, to make sure that their future bills aren’t as high.

“This isn’t how things worked before,” he continues. “In the old days, utilities were doing monthly, and sometimes quarterly, billing statements. They would estimate the amount of water that a residential customer would consume. With the technologies we have today, utilities can drill in on any given day and on any given hour and report back to cus-tomers what their consumption was, the actual usage for these periods.”

This gives new power to custom-er-service representatives to solve potential customer billing problems in real time, Fiut says.

Customers might call up to com-plain about a bill. Th e customer-service representative can, relying on usage data provided by AMI, determine if these customers saw a big spike in water-usage on a particular day. Th e representative can then rely this infor-mation to consumers. One consumer may realize he spent that day fi lling up his backyard pool. Another may re-member that this was the day on which she forgot to turn her lawn sprinkler off before heading to bed.

real time, and that’s a huge benefit to both utilities and to their customers.”

Utilities who want to provide ad-ditional service to their customers can send consumption reports to end users through e-mail as an easy-to-read PDF. This provides consumers with a tangible record of their water usage, and makes it clearer to them exactly when their water consumption spiked to higher levels.

Fiut says it’s important for water utilities to explore ways to use AMI and the data it generates to reduce the costs of providing water.

Th is has always been the case, but it’s even more crucial today, Fiut says. Th at’s because the dismal national econ-omy has forced municipalities across the country to squeeze more out of their budgets. To help balance their budgets, some municipalities are cutting services or asking their residents to pay more for the services they do receive.

These budget problems have re-sulted in municipalities that have long delayed needed improvements to their infrastructures, something that Fiut says can lead to serious problems.

“When dealing with water, the infrastructure quality is so important,” he says. “Fresh water, and wastewater, too, is so important to the health and economic vitality of a region.”

Water districts that can prove that they are using AMI to produce consumption data that helps consum-ers reduce the amount of water they use can go a long way toward proving to the boards and councils that govern them that they are looking for ways to reduce costs.

By clearly demonstrating the benefits that AMI can bring, water dis-tricts might even convince their local councils and boards to free up what limited money they have so that they can invest in additional data-mining technology, Fiut says.

“With budgets being strained, the business case value for investing in a robust AMI deployment is a little bit harder to communicate to decision-makers, to the city councils and mayors,” says Fiut. “Th is is especially true when other issues, perceived to be more pressing, are in front of them.

“It’s incumbent on us, as a supplier

to utilities, to articulate in a meaning-ful way the effi ciencies that utilities can attain when they do invest in AMI,” he adds. “We have to be able to show them the payback profi les, the importance of delivering better customer service. Th at way, when an AMI opportunity pres-ents itself, not only is the city council or decision-makers on the board ready to accept it, so are the members of the community at large.”

MOVING TOWARD EFFICIENCY?Grant Van Hemert, water/wastewater applications engineer with Schneider Electric, says that municipalities are becoming more comfortable with AMI. But he agrees with Hill from Global Water that most municipalities are still unaware of all of the potential benefits of the technology.

It’s similar to what happens to many people when they purchase the latest smart phone. They’re amazed at what the product can do, how it can simplify their lives. But rarely do most smart phone users take advantage of all the applications that their new phones offer.

AMI today is already helping many municipalities better pinpoint serious leaks in their systems, Van Hemert says. And that’s not a small benefi t.

“A municipality may have 100 million gallons of water a day going into their plant and 20 million gallons each going out into five distribution zones. What happens after that point is the big question,” says Van Hemert. “The benefit of AMI is that operators can determine that instead of a leak in Region Five somewhere, that they have a leak in the Maple Hill subdivision on Maple Boulevard somewhere. They can see that they are losing 10,000 gal-lons of water on that street specifically. That results in a huge savings of both time and money for municipalities.”

By pinpointing the location of leaks, utilities can not only repair the leaks faster, they’ll also waste less manpower in doing so. They won’t have to send workers across their water system searching for the source of the leak. With AMI, they’ll already know where that leak is.

Like others in the AMI field, though, Hemert is still waiting for wa-ter districts to tap into the true power of this technology.

Part of the delay stems from the fact that AMI systems and other water-district technologies rarely communi-cate well with each other. AMI sends water districts key information. But the technology that districts use to analyze and interpret this data doesn’t commu-nicate well with AMI systems yet.

Some water districts work around this. Others simply ignore the vast po-tential for changing consumer behav-iors that AMI presents.

Hemert describes the problem like this: A municipality may be operat-ing a remote communications system that picks up key data from pump stations and towers. They might then use a second communications network that connects with the district’s AMI infrastructure.

This, of course, is less than an ideal system.

“Over time what will happen is that municipalities will wonder why they are doing everything twice,” says Hemert. “They’ll ask, ‘Why are we doubling up? Why are we making twice the investment on radio and communication networks?’”

Water districts aren’t yet at this point, Hemert says. Part of the reason is that AMI technology is still rela-tively new. Then there’s the matter of the budget crises that so many mu-nicipalities are experiencing. They’re simply too overwhelmed, thanks often to skeleton staffs, to spend time plan-ning ways in which to use their AMI technology more efficiently.

“AMI is relatively new. When I look at AMI, I personally see some-thing that the industrial control and automation industry went through during the last two or three decades,” says Hemert. “The water districts aren’t to the point, yet where they real-

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ize they can do meter intelligence and tie that in with their operational data. They’re not there yet. They still see these two functions as separate. But, over time, this will change.”

At Global Water, Hill has already embraced the new way of using AMI. The water districts that his company runs use AMI technology to tell their customers, in real time, just how much water they are using. This often leads to a change in the way customers water their lawns, do their laundry, or run their dishwashers. It might even lead them to take shorter showers.

“We have always wanted to rely on a tool that allows customers to manager their own behavior,” says Hill. “I’ve always said that the best conser-vation tool in the world is the brain our customer. There is nothing more power than thousands of people find-ing ways to help themselves. It is our fundamental core belief to put water management tools in our customers’ own hands so that they can manage their behavior better.”

Global today also makes its FATHOM system available to other municipalities through a cloud service. Hill describes FATHOM as AMI tech-nology coupled with customer infor-mation service technology.

Hill says that water districts will soon have to provide this technol-ogy to their customers. The reason? Customers will demand it. Global Water already offers consumers an app for their smart phones that they can access to see instantly how much water they are using.

“It has to occur. People believe that information should be put into their hands,” he says. “The banks do it. Twitter does it. CNBC does it. This is where we see the market headed.”

For now, though, an increasing number of water districts are using AMI technology to save money in other ways.

Lekan, from Aclara, points to a utility in the Northeast part of the country. Officials with it had assumed, like most would, that its oldest water

mains, the ones in the 50- to 100-year range, would need to be replaced first. However, by using AMI technology, district officials were able to deter-mine that it was actually the water mains that were 30 years old that were leaking the most. These mains, it turns out, were located in marshy, salty areas that ate away at them. The 100-year-old mains were located in areas that were friendlier to long pipelines.

“Instead of using guesses and hunches, the people with this district were able to hone in on what their sys-tem really needed,” says Lekan. “That saved them a significant amount of time and money.” WE

Dan Rafter is a technical writer and fre-quent contributor to Water Efficiency.

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Intelligent irrigation prod-ucts are key to solving issues of higher water prices, while reduc-ing stress on aging infrastruc-ture and facilitating corporate

responsibility programs. They also help utilities stretch their budgets. The good news is that manufacturers are introducing products that provide even more efficiency and flexibility for saving water.

BACK TO SCHOOLSoil moisture sensors are contribut-ing significantly to conservation and water savings. Rain Bird, in Azusa, CA, recently introduced their new Integrated Sensor System (ISS). The

ISS delivers real-time full central control integration with sensors that transmit soil moisture, salinity, and temperature data. Because it’s inte-grated with Rain Bird’s central control software, the ISS automatically sets individual station run times based on changes in soil moisture, in real-time. Yet, managers and superintendents define all parameters and retain cus-tomized control of their irrigation sys-tems at all times.

Long-term data and computer controls can have a huge impact on complex sites such as a campus.

“Universities are a big market,” says Dave Johnson, Rain Bird’s corpo-rate marketing director, “and we just

had a success story at the University of Michigan. It’s a complex area to con-trol, because it’s very spread out and has many different landscaping issues.”

The University reported that Rain Bird’s Maxicom2 Irrigation Central Control System helped to reduce the amount of irrigation water by 68%, saving an estimated $141,000 a year. The system is designed for multi-site commercial or industrial irrigation applications, and can control and monitor hundreds of sites and weather sources from one location, through telephone, cellular modem, radio, modem, Ethernet device server, Wi-Fi, and more. Data from a campus weath-er station is used to calculate watering

As water resource management focuses on increased efficiency, intelligent irrigation products are set to shine.BY ED RITCHIE

FROM THE GROUND UP RAIN

rates throughout the campus.The savings make for a fast return

on the project’s original investment of $350,000. Moreover, the project demonstrates a partnership between University of Michigan and the EPA Energy Star Program. Water conserva-tion is a high priority for EPA, and in November 2011 the agency announced it would be awarding the WaterSense label to qualifying watering technol-ogy and weather-based irrigation controllers. According to the agency, residential outdoor watering in the US accounts for more than 7 billion gallons of water each day, mainly for landscape irrigation. Efficient control-lers could save home and building owners 110 billion gallons of water and roughly $410 million per year on utility bills.

CUTTING THE WIRESThe simplicity of wireless technol-ogy will play a major role in savings from upgrading legacy controllers to next generation smart controllers,

says Rick Heenan, national commer-cial sales manager, DIG Corporation, in Vista, CA. Heenan notes that his company’s LEIT-2ET weather-based system doesn’t need wires to commu-nicate with the irrigation system, nor does it need to be wired to a power source. Instead, it’s self powered, using ambient light (solar) power to charge lead-free super capacitors, rather than batteries.

“Solar panels make easy targets for vandalism, and so they need to be fenced off or protected, and positioned for maximum exposure to sunlight,” says Heenan. “Whereas the ambient controller can pretty much go any-where—underneath trees, bushes, or buildings—and has a much smaller footprint.”

The controller stores weather data from a LEIT weather station every hour during daytime hours. Site infor-mation, provided by the LEIT RC2ET handset, combines with the weather station data to calculate the daily local microclimate evapotranspiration (ET)

and automatically adjusts the daily ir-rigation schedule.

Wireless, weather-based data storage systems are popular amongst homeowners associations and land-owners with large swathes of land-scaped grounds that must be irrigated.

“They have irrigation needs spread out all across their properties, but often don’t have a central con-troller or weather system,” explains Heenan. “With water conservation being everybody’s concern these days, this is an inexpensive way to convert a system to a smart system.”

HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATIONS HARD HITRising water costs hit homeowner associations hard, according to Chris Spain, chief strategy officer, HydroPoint Data Systems, Inc.

“The homeowners association market is huge because their second-highest cost is landscape watering and they typically see a 7 to 10% annual increase,” says Spain. “In Chicago, a 25% increase is expected, so there’s a

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significant jump in water utility pric-ing, and that’s a big issue. But it’s just amazing to see how little people un-derstand that outdoor irrigation can represent 40 to 60% of water usage.”

A rate of 40 to 60% might seem low when compared to the Town of Palm Beach, FL, where landscape watering accounted for 85% of con-sumption, and, overall, water usage was about six times more than the average Florida household. With such high levels of consumption, it’s not surprising that the Dorchester Con-dominium Association in Palm Beach found room for improvement

The association installed Hydro-Point’s WeatherTRAK Smart Water Management Solutions in early 2011, and HydroPoint reports that they real-ized an immediate cash savings on the first water bill. Over seven months, the community’s water bills dropped 12%. The Dorchester has 26 landscape zones, and WeatherTRAK identifies the zones with programmable parameters, such as plant, soil, and slope type.

The system uses daily ET data to adjust irrigation schedules as local weather conditions change. It also activates a “rain pause” function dur-ing hurricane season and allows the Dorchester staff to monitor and man-age their smart irrigation controller anytime by using the WeatherTRAK.net Central Internet Management application.

Remote Web-based management systems can make it easy for non-experts to implement a high level of irrigation knowledge. With graphic menus and questions that can lead users along the right track, these systems are taking a lot of the guesswork out of automated irrigation. In the case of ET Water Systems, No-vato, CA, it’s as easy as pointing at a picture. Pat McIntyre, CEO at ET Water, explains that the questions and graphics lead users through categories of landscape such as turf, fol-lowed by characteristics such as warm or cool season turf, root depth, soil, sun exposure, and irrigation output device, such as spray or rotor.

“After you have set up all the stations and input the data, your controller will call into the cellular network,” explains McIntyre.

At that point, elaborates McIntyre, the server takes all the weather date from an outside resources, and then matches up with, “the parameters of your landscape for the optimal schedule and irrigation.” Reliable, local weather data is provided across the US from a network of over 8,500

local weather stations monitored around the clock.

GIVING LANDSCAPERS A HANDThe industry is seeing a need for a wide variety of tools and services designed to help landscape professionals adapt to new irrigation technology. According to Troy Leezy, marketing manager at Hunter Industries in San Marcos, CA, contractors vary in technical skill levels, but there hasn’t been enough product choices for those that wanted efficiency without complicated technology.

“One thing we learned from our data was that the industry is really looking for a simpler solution that can be at employed across a wide range of product categories,” says Leezy.

As such, “a simple rain gauge can be either wired or wireless. That’s critical because with smart controllers the sensors need to see the environment,” says Leezy.

“It’s just amazing to see how little people understand that

outdoor irrigation can represent 40 to 60% of water usage.”

Controllers aren’t the only tech-nology that’s getting smarter, easier, and less expensive to install. In Sep-tember 2011, Toro Inc. of Riverside,

CA, helped launch “FreeSprinklerNozzles.com” a Web-based water conservation program that allows customers to learn how to retrofit their existing sprinkler system. Customers receive a voucher good for 25 (residential us-ers), or 100 (commercial users), free Precision Series spray nozzles. The program has distributed over 170,000 of these high efficiency nozzles, and Toro estimates that savings over a five-year span exceed 1.2 billion gallons of water. The program was tested in August 2010 through a partnership of Western Municipal Water District (WMWD), Riverside Public Utilities, and Toro’s Irrigation Business. The pro-gram’s success has now led other southern California water providers to join the effort.

“We’ve had success with spray nozzle technology and sprayheads are probably the most prevalent type of sprin-klers in the United States in terms of total units installed,” says Mike Baron, National Specifications Manager for water

The new intelligent irrigation systems can identify irrigation zones using plant, soil, and slope data.

management products at Toro. The Free Sprinkler program recently received a Best

Management Practices Award from the California Munici-pal Utilities Association, and—according to Brent Me-cham, industry development director, Irrigation Associa-tion—it’s just one of many examples where utilities have promoted the use of intelligent irrigation products.

“The utilities, that are located where water resources are limited, are very much on board with smart control-lers, pressure regulated sprinklers, and more sophisticated nozzles,” says Mecham.

Efficiency was a hot subject at the Irrigation Association’s November 2011 trade show says Richard Restuccia, director of Water Management Solutions at Val-leyCrest Landscape Companies in Calabasas, CA.

“Efficient products and water conservation were terms that kept coming up in keynotes and general sessions, and it’s much more of a major focus this year than it’s been in the past,” says Restuccia. “I participate in the government affairs committee, and we’re starting to see legislation

across the nation. I know that if this industry doesn’t do something quickly, legislators will start enacting laws, and that may

ET data is used to adjust irrigation schedules based on local weather conditions.

for related articles: www.waterefficiency.net/irrigation

not be the way we want to go. “Look at North Carolina—they just

passed a law to reduce consumption of water to 45 gallons a day per person by 2020,” he adds. “That is a real extreme, so as an industry we have to do what’s best for everybody and get busy ad-dressing these issues of water.”

The City of Petaluma Department of Water Resources and Conservation (WRC) is an example of a utility that isn’t waiting around for legislation to address water issues. In July 2011, the WRC announced the launch of Smart Yard, a water conservation program for Petaluma water customers. Smart Yard provides efficient water use technol-ogy to homeowners with WeatherTRAK smart irrigation controllers to qualifying water customers at no up-front cost. Participating homeowners pay the balance with zero-interest financing from WRC, which places a fixed fee of $14.95 (for one 12 station controller) on their monthly water bills for five years.

The WRC expects savings from the smart control-lers to offset program fees in most cases, and the program provides landscape water use evaluations, plus installation of the controllers, as well as a rain sensors and ongoing cus-tomer service. The WRC expects participants to save more than 45 million gallons of water over the next five years.

CORPORATE PROFITS DRYING UPAlong with water utilities, conservation awareness contin-ues to climb the corporate ladder as a higher priority, espe-

cially in light of recent financial news, such as the June 2011 news about US apparel chain, The Gap, cutting its full-year profit fore-cast by 22% due to drought impact on cotton farmers in Texas. Such events are going to get worse before they get better, according to McKinsey & Co. The glob-al analysts expect a worldwide shortfall between forecasted water demand and available supplies of staggering propor-tions—40%, by 2030.

Worries about the consequences of water availability have led to tools to indentify water risk and manage-ment, such as The Ceres Aqua Gauge: A Framework for 21st Century Water Management Report. The report was developed in collaboration with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and Irbaris, a sustainabil-ity consultancy. Creating a framework for better water risk management, and guidance on developing water strategies are the report’s key goals.

Although a corporation may not be at an immediate risk of a water

shortage, they still face the pressure of conservation efforts from groups such as the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). The independent not-for-profit organization recently an-nounced an agreement with Deloitte Consulting LLP in the US, to drive the CDP Water Disclosure, an ongoing program to help investors, companies, governments, and other stakeholders by implementing water usage reports as a standard corporate practice globally.

It’s a serious effort that represents serious financial consequences. The CDP has requested information on the risks and opportunities companies face in relation to water on behalf of 354 investors (up from 137 in 2010), with as-sets of US$43 trillion.

Along with water utilities, conservation awareness

continues to climb the corporate ladder as a higher priority.

Water Conservation For A Growing World

Corporate responsibility and the sustainability movement helps the intelligent irrigation industry, says Brian Vinchesi, president of Irrigation Consulting, Inc., in Pepperell, MA. Moreover, it’s had an impact on some innovative resources for irrigation.

“Rainwater harvesting is really getting popular, and we do a lot on the commercial side, but also the residen-tial side,” says Vinchesi. “Planning for reclamation can be complicated, but it’s certainly doable, and the paybacks can be good, depending on how much rain you have.”

Water reclamation is also a great way for landscape architects to earn points for certification in the US Green Building Council’s LEED (Lead-ership in Energy and Environmental Design) program. Two points are available for water efficient landscap-ing, and one point for reducing water use for landscaping by 50% over nor-mal means. A second point is available by eliminating all potable water use or by eliminating irrigation. Private and public entities have embraced LEED certification as a means of demon-strating sustainable practices, and, for certain sectors, sustainability can outweigh other factors, such as cost.

“We see a lot of lead projects on university properties, and they’re not as concerned as the private sector is with their return on investment,” adds Vinchesi.

Scott Thompson, project manager at Irrigation Management Systems (IMS), Portland, OR, agrees that uni-versities tend to show a higher com-mitment to conservation, but he adds that landscape can often play a role in a corporation’s public image.

“We have some large properties like Nike and large business parks,” says Thompson, “and they put a lot of money into their landscaping and want to look great, yet still conserve water.”

IMS manages Nike’s irrigation system with Rain Bird’s Maxicom2, central control system. It allows the monitoring and irrigation of many different parcels of property or land-scaped sites from a single computer-accessed controller. The Nike campus comprises more than 150 acres, but Thompson observes that intelligent

irrigation is no longer limited to big grounds with big budgets.

“Smaller commercial areas are finding it affordable to upgrade their controllers,” he says, “and with rising water costs, especially in California, these businesses are much more inter-ested in conserving water.”

LOOKING BENEATH THE SURFACEMany of those businesses are moving to drip irrigation, says Dave Johnson, Rain Bird. “Drip is one of our fastest growing areas. We used to say you can use drip anywhere but turf, but we

introduced our subsurface drip prod-uct earlier this year, and it delivers water to the roots so there’s no evapo-ration and overspray.”

Root intrusion has been an ongo-ing problem for subsurface irrigation, but the new system uses a copper shield design to protect emitters from root intrusion, without the use of chemical treated filters.

Subsurface systems have many advantages. They are unaffected by wind, evaporation or vandalism, and watering schedules don’t have to avoid an area’s time of usage. For example, irrigation of a sports field occurs below, while athletes play above. Rain Bird reports savings of 30% to 70% less water than overhead sprays, but a smart control system and sensors can boost the savings substantially.

“You can use moisture sensors in conjunction with this subsurface water drip system and get to a point of 100% efficiency,” adds Johnson. “It's also engineered to regulate pressure so you get the same amount of flow from the beginning of the run to the end.”

Hunter Industries has also in-troduced a subsurface product line, the Eco-Mat and PLD-ESD. The mat installs under plant material to be ir-rigated where it becomes fully soaked and then provides a constant water supply directly to the plant’s roots. To prevent root clogging, the fleece keeps water readily available under the plant material, so the plant’s roots do not need to seek out the water source. Hunter sees the Eco-Mat as the solu-tion to locations when overhead ir-rigation is restricted or prohibited, and high-traffic turf areas like amusement

parks, public places, and commercial complexes.

As recent introductions to the in-dustry, subsurface systems have added a new dimension to intelligent irriga-tion, and they exemplify the overall philosophy defining the industry’s technology offerings: efficiency, sim-plicity of installation, and lower cost.

“It’s great to see the manufacturers promoting the smart controllers,” says Restuccia. “We have better ways to ir-rigate and keep our landscapes looking good at much lower water use levels. The other thing that we see is technol-ogy getting cheaper as water is getting more expensive. As a result, both are moving in the right direction to push change.” WE

Ed Ritchie writes on energy, transporta-tion, and communication technologies.

Corporate responsibility and the sustainability movement helps the

intelligent irrigation industry.

M ost of us could do better. Some water professionals with whom I have spoken tell me that the public does not know and does not

care much about water problems. “As long as somebody else is ad-

dressing the problem and the cost isn’t too high at the moment, most of our residents don’t seem to care,” was how one professional put it. Th e comment, I suspect, was as much an example of frustration at inactivity as anger at the general public. Let me start, then, by pointing to two places where the public is being helped to know and to care.

Th e Metropolitan State College (Metro State), of Denver, CO, has more than 23,000 students, and most of them stay in Colorado aft er graduation.

Recently, an anonymous donation of $1 million was used to help establish an interdisciplinary education program, the One World, One Water Center for Urban Water Education and Stewardship (OWOW Center).

“In Denver’s urban environment, water stewardship and sustainability are especially important and relevant topics,” comments College President Stephen Jordan.

In addition to the water studies minor, the OWOW Center will have two other major functions that will help de-velop urban water stewards and enhance the students’ understanding of water as a critical resource that must be sustained and conserved: enriching co-curricular activities and water stewardship activi-ties on and beyond campus that promote

eff ective use of water resources. “When we researched the potential

for this program, we found that there wasn’t much being done at the under-graduate level to incorporate a variety of disciplines in water education,” observes Sandra Haynes, dean of Metro State’s School of Professional Studies. “Th rough the interdisciplinary model, our gradu-ates have the potential to make lasting impacts on water issues in our com-munities across the state and in their chosen professions.”

As a backdrop to this praiseworthy step forward in education, it may be appropriate to mention that in a 2004 study the Colorado Water Conservation Board predicted that the region’s annual water demand will exceed available supplies by 120,000 to 360,000 acre-feet

How low-flow fixtures and intelligent data systems can inspire lackadaisical customers and help utilities fine-tune water resource management

BY PAUL HULL

ATTACKING APATHY AND REDUCING DEMAND @IS

by 2030. Interestingly in this arena of the struggle for water, the headwaters of fi ve major rivers count Colorado as their home: the Colorado, Arkansas, Rio Grande, South Platte, and White/Yampa.

It was the awful drought begun in the late ’80s that gave increased momen-tum to the Long-Term Water Supply Plan for the City of Santa Barbara, CA. Th e city joined the California Urban Wa-ter Conservation Council’s (CUWCC) Best Management Practices in January 1992. Th ere are many interesting features to the city’s program. Santa Barbara im-plements an annual water main replace-ment program. Age, material, and break history of water mains are tracked to determine overall condition of main, in order to determine the priority of mains to be replaced. Th e City also replaces 3 miles per year of the 275 miles of main in the water distribution system.

“Th e City of Santa Barbara Water Resources specialist conducts residential water surveys [water checkups] upon request by water customers,” advises Alison Jordan, Water Conservation Coordinator for Santa Barbara. “A water checkup includes evaluating all water uses on the property and providing recommendations to the customer for improved effi ciency, including both indoor usage and an irrigation system. As an element of the water checkup, the staff performs SIR-specifi c landscape water surveys that include checking the irrigation system for maintenance and repairs, review-ing the irrigation schedule and making recommendations for adjusting the program of the irrigation control-ler, and providing the customer with evaluation results and water savings recommendations.”

Th e City has conducted an average of 400 water checkups per year (includ-ing both residential and commercial checkups) for a total of 9,290 surveys since June 1990. Th e savings for this pro-gram is projected to be 400 acre-feet per year for the 20-year period as projected in the Long-Term Water Supply Plan. Th e City also provides rebates for water users, called the Smart Rebates Program and co-funded through the Proposition 50 grant received by the CUWCC and participating water suppliers in Califor-nia. For residential customers, a water

broom has a rebate of $50, a high-effi -ciency clothes washer has a $150 rebate, and a high-effi ciency toilet has rebate of $100. Th e City’s Toilet Rebate Program was in place from August 1988 through June 1995. Th e total number of rebates issued was 18,842.

SMARTENING THE WATER MANAGEMENT IN A COMMUNITYA shortage of water in any community can have several causes. Among those frequently met, but seldom publicized, are leaks in the supply lines and the inability to use free rainwater. Leaks in lines to residences have been estimated over 30% nationwide, but their story could be too simple for startling news reports. If the water from the supplier, private or public, does not reach the end user as it should, there is definitely a water shortage. Of more concern should be that the lost water has been treated expensively and rendered excel-lent for its intended purpose. If most of the rain that falls, free and helpful, just runs away somewhere that is surely

a worrisome aspect of water shortage. Are there answers to these everyday problems? If there are, are they all too expensive to try?

Th e City of Dubuque, IA, teamed with IBM in research for its Smarter Sus-tainable Dubuque program and helped reduce the use of water by 6.6%. Perhaps of greater impact, the program increased leak detection and response eightfold. Th is Smarter Sustainable Dubuque Wa-ter Pilot Study empowered 151 Dubuque households with information, analysis, insights, and social computing around

their water consumption for nine weeks. By providing citizens and city of-

fi cials with an integrated view of water consumption, the Water Pilot resulted in water conservation, increased the leak reporting rate, and encouraged behav-ior changes. Th e smarter meter system monitored water consumption every 15 minutes and collected and communi-cated data to the IBM Research Cloud. Data was collected from information including weather, demographics, and household characteristics. Using cloud computing, the data was analyzed to trigger notifi cation of potential leaks and anomalies, and helped volunteers understand their consumption in greater detail. Volunteers were only able to view their own consumption habits, while city management could see the aggre-gate data. All homes participating in the Water Pilot program were volunteers. Th e data collected was anonymous and contained no confi dential information.

Th e participating households received alerts about anomalies and leaks and acquired a better understand-

ing of the consumption patterns. Th ey could compare their patterns with those of others in the community. Among the 151 participating households over the nine weeks, 89,090 gallons were saved. Th at would make an annual savings per household of 3,409 gallons (or more than half a billion gallons annually for the whole group).

“Water conservation is a shared responsibility,” confi rms Michael Sullivan, Worldwide Program Director, Smarter Water Management Solutions, IBM. “Mu-nicipalities and water utilities can do their

“A water checkup includes evaluating all water uses on the property

and providing recommendations to the customer for improved

efficiency, including both indoor usage and an irrigation system.”

part by keeping the water system in good working order, and by making usage information available to citizens. And citizens, armed with that information, can in turn make more informed decisions about when and how they use water, and how much of it they use. Water conservation will be most successful when it’s a truly collaborative eff ort.”

IBM has also been involved with the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC WASA) to modernize the man-agement of the water and sewer infrastructure below our nation’s capital. Th at infrastructure includes hundreds of thousands of assets, like water distribution pipes, valves, public fi re hydrants, collection pipes, manholes, and water meters. IBM’s Global Busi-ness Services and Research arms have begun collaboration with DC WASA to integrate advanced analytics with asset manage-ment soft ware from IBM and a mapping application from ESRI, an IBM Business Partner. Th e availability of real-time, map-based information and geoanalytics will help engineers from the authority identify problems before they occur.

“Th e work of water relies heavily on our ability to monitor our infrastructure,” notes George S. Hawkins, General Manager of DC WASA. “We can now manage almost every component from central, computer-based programs.”

Mujib Lodhi, chief information offi cer of DC WASA, ex-plains another aspect of this cooperation.

“Our work with IBM has allowed our assets to communi-cate with us, and we’re doing more than listening—we’re taking action,” says Lodhi. “We are able to deploy our crews faster, which is key when there’s water on the road, or customers are without service.” DC WASA is a regional utility that provides drinking water, wastewater collection, and treatment to more than 500,000 residential, commercial, and government customers.

DIRECT HELP FOR THE RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERA common criticism of the residential customer is that he or she does not know enough about water to do anything progressive and that “educational programs” have not worked. What if that

customer were given direct help? A fine example of how to help residen-tial customers directly is given by San Antonio Water System (SAWS).

Few parts of our country have suff ered worse droughts than that part of Texas this year. Apart from landscaping advice and rebates, SAWS gives help to those residents who do not have “landscapes” to worry about—which may be most residential customers. Even if you don’t try to maintain a beautiful land-scape at your residence, you almost certainly have a toilet. SAWS has a program called “Kick the Can”. With this program the utility gives a customer two new water effi cient toilets. Yes, gives. Th ose eligible are customers who have water-wasting toilets in their residence built prior to 1992. Also eligible are residential customers with one or more rental properties built prior to 1991, and for that renters must complete a Landlord Consent Form.

Th e other item your residence probably has is a hot water producer. Many systems (from talking to neighbors, that should read most systems) make you waste water while you wait for the water to warm up. SAWS will give a $150 rebate on a SAWS-ap-proved hot-water-on-demand system. You’ll get your hot water 80% faster without wasting any. You could save up to 10,000 gal-lons per year (plus the money you would have spent on it). Th e circulating pumps are easy to install and virtually worry-free. SAWS will tell its customers which heaters are approved and where to get them. Th ere, then, are two most practical, helping practices from a water utility that will save the customer money and save the whole community water.

Th e Town of Culpeper, VA, has chosen Aclara to provide a total Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) solution for electric and water meters. (Aclara is part of the Utility Solutions group of ESCO Technologies, Inc.) For the 6,400 water custom-ers the town will use Aclara’s STAR network system for water

“Municipalities and water utilities can do their part by keeping the water system in good working

order, and by making usage information available to citizens.

And citizens, armed with that information, can in turn make

more informed decisions about when and how they use water, and how much of it they use.”

Older houses with older water systems may qualify for rebates or other purchasing help for more efficient equipment.

meters. Primarily, the town will be able to serve its customers better through a Web portal that provides access directly to usage data. One aspect of the system is that Culpeper will imple-ment acoustic leak detection to fi nd water losses in the distribution system. Th at is a huge step towards better effi ciency for residents, and the technique is something that the average resident (of Culpeper or any other city) is unlikely to have or be able to acquire. Th e other signifi cant fact of this great step forward by Culpeper is that it has recognized that energy and water work together everywhere in a community.

Itron off ers the Leak Sensor as another water management tool that, when integrated

with the company’s 100-W ERT, listens proactively for system leaks. Water utilities that use Itron 100 ERT communication modules can acquire hourly interval meter read collection (data logging), whether in a fi xed network, mobile network, or walk-by data collection system.

“Such fl exibility can help water utilities transform their business operations,” notes Brian Fiut, Senior Product Manager with Itron Water sales group.

By providing tools to engage customers about their us-age (as well as delivering tools to help utilities better manage precious resources), two-way communication to a meter also enables off -cycle reads to be easily captured without having to roll a truck. Utilities can access real-time and historical hourly customer usage information that can expedite bill reconciliation and enhance customer service.

“By using in-home displays,” continues Fiut, “utility cus-tomers will benefi t by gaining timely access to their water usage information, helping them make informed decisions about

their consumption. Th is direct connection to water usage and its cost will help conservation eff orts and increase customer satisfaction.”

A VOICE FOR BOTH SIDES OF THE CHALLENGELinda Warner, Consumer Engagement Product Manager at Itron, represents both providers and customers and has seen the problems and solutions firsthand.

“Giving consumers access to their consumption information in near real time is powerful,” says Warner. “In my role with Itron, I have the opportunity to test various products in my home. I now have access to data coming from my water meter, and I was stunned at how much water I put on the lawn. It was easy to look at the report graphics and pick out the days when I did laundry.

It was rather surprising to me that I learned things by something as simple as looking at the patterns. I learned them pretty fast.

“My irrigation system has a much diff erent pattern from my laundry pattern,” she adds. “My showers use so little they don’t show up unless I’m do-ing something in addition, like running the dishwasher. I am addicted to seeing my meter data as a consumer now. It’s like my cell phone—I don’t know how I lived without it. I don’t study it any more, but I look at it regularly to make sure I’m on track and not over-consuming.”

Water utilities are looking at which tools and enabling technol-ogies are available to help them educate their customers about their usage and better understand their consumption patterns. Even if conservation is not an immedi-ate concern, for most utilities it is

a concern sitting out there on the horizon, especially in water-stressed locales.

“Asking customers to conserve before they understand their particular household [or business] usage is not the fastest path to success,” observes Warner. “Attempting to adjust consumption behaviors is easier once you actually understand that behavior and your role in it. Th ere are compelling technologies that can capture consumption information directly from the meter and, via the Internet, display it on smart phones, iPads, and PCs, all in near real time. Th e consumers can use a device they already own to view data or have the option of an in-home display.

She continues: “Th e technology and tools are available, but few consumers have a way of knowing about them unless their utility makes them aware through conservation programs. What seems to be lagging is communications from the utility to their customer base that such tools are available, and what benefi ts they both can get from them. For example, why is real-time consumption important in the fi rst place?”

Th e vendors addressing these aspects of the issue can not only serve up me-ter data on a smart phone, iPad, PC, or in-home display, many can also provide value-added services to the homeowner, such as remote control of thermostats, lighting controls, remote control of door locks, and other home automation features that make life easier, safer, and more con-venient. All these tools can be purchased by the homeowner, by the utility, or some by each.

Companies are partnering with utili-ties to off er consumers fl exible choices for viewing data. For instance, some utilities will purchase one key element to make the meter data available to the consumer, and the consumer may then build on that by purchasing other add-on products a la carte.

How does a water utility or provider benefi t from this? Th ere are studies and utility surveys that show customers have more favorable feelings towards their util-ity providers when they give them access to near-real-time data. Th e most common comment is that the utility taught them

something and made them feel smarter. Th e utility gave them something other than a bill.

“Successful implementation of a water stewardship program begins with knowledge and, with that knowledge, the power to act,” asserts Warner. “Technol-ogy is now here to enable this empow-

ering process with tools that customers are used to interacting with. Reshaping the relationship with utility customers is one of the most exciting opportunities in the utility industry today. Taking a broader approach and giving consumers access to water meter

consumption data can seem overwhelming, but, when the right products are in place, it sets the stage for eff ective, well-understood conservation programs.”

Th e utility/consumer relationship can move forward in a way that was just not possible before. It takes us, surely, to a sustainable future.

American Water, the nation’s largest publicly traded water and wastewater company serving 15 million people in more than 30 states and parts of Canada, recognizes the importance of educating consumers about the value of water.

“We work with customers on an ongoing basis to educate them on how to use water wisely both inside and outside their homes and businesses,” advises Mau-reen Duff y, vice president of Corporate Communications and External Aff airs at American Water. “Th ese eff orts include distributing to customers conservation information, leak detection kits, and other conservation tools and ideas through bill inserts and on websites and our social

Better resource management can help utilities avoid costly repairs.

Low-flow fixtures are essential to demand reduction.

media channels, as well as providing con-servation education programs online and at community events and schools.

“In American Water’s western states, where water conservation is a part of ev-eryone’s daily life, the company helps cus-tomers reduce their water use—and save money on their water bill—by providing them with additional vital programs and resources,” she says. “Th ese include free residential and non-residential water conservation audits, in which we assess water usage, check for leaks, and install water-saving fi xtures at no cost to our customers. Th e company also provides rebates on WaterSense and other water effi cient appliances.”

As a longstand-ing partner in the EPA’s WaterSense program, American Water pro-motes WaterSense initia-tives among its custom-ers, including the annual Fix a Leak Week, as well as the use of WaterSense-certifi ed appliances and fi xtures. American Water also served as a lead partner in the agency’s national “We’re For Water” campaign in the summer of 2010, which promoted wise water use during this peak usage time.

“For American Water’s 125th anni-versary this year, we launched a year-long consumer education campaign aimed at promoting the importance of protecting water from source to tap,” adds Duff y. “Th e cornerstone of the campaign in-cluded a series of television Public Service

Announcements, created in partnership with the Student Conservation Associa-tion and EPA’s WaterSense program, that provide household conservation and wise water use tips. American Water also has two customer service centers that operate 24 hours a day/7 days a week, so we are able to connect with, and respond to, our customers if they call with questions or need assistance.”

In addition to trying to engage cus-tomers through communications eff orts, American Water continually provides opportunities throughout the service areas to visit some of the facilities where they treat their water, so they develop an understanding of the process and a height-

ened appreciation of the true value of water. (In general, when something is valued, it is less likely to be wasted.)

“Across our foot-print, we are focused on educating communities about the value of water,” says Duff y. “People everywhere turn on the tap and expect water to fl ow out, but many times they don’t think about the extensive process that is involved in making that happen. As a water

services provider, we draw water from the sources—either from deep in the ground, or from surface waters like lakes, rivers, and streams—treat it to EPA standards in a state-of-the-art treatment facility, test it to ensure that it meets those quality stan-dards, and then pump it into the distribu-tion system of pipes so it gets delivered to

your home. “When you

understand the process, and con-sider the amount of money we invest into our pipes, pumps, and plants—$800 million to $1 billion annually—to make this happen, and compare it to the price most of our cus-tomers pay—about a penny per gallon—you recognize the tremendous value that is being provided,” she adds.

“As water and wastewater service providers, we are all challenged by the serious need for infrastructure repair nationwide to ensure reliable service to our customers, the need to comply with increasing quality requirements, and challenges with the quantity and qual-ity of source water,” continues Duff y. “It is essential that water providers share information with customers about these challenges and the solutions that we are providing to them, so that, when they get their bill, they understand what it is they are paying for.”

We are really at a crossroads as a nation right now. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, the nation’s water systems are near failure. It is imperative that the country shift its thinking about water. Th e critical state of the nation’s infrastructure can no longer be ignored. A recent ITT Corporation survey shows that people value their

for related articles: www.waterefficiency.net/demand-management

Xeriscaping and intelligent irrigation can work together to enable water efficient landscaping.

Customers have more favorable feelings towards

their utility providers when they give them access to near-real-time data.

When Data Speaks, Smart Utilities Listen

Little more than a generation ago, many water utilities struggled to achieve meter reading accuracy and were lucky to get bills out every quarter, much less once a month. The advent of absolute encoders and mobile radio frequency technology helped solve these problems, but the data collected remained much the same – one basic meter reading.

It wasn’t until the increased speed of data collection was combined with 8-digit encoder registration that a new level of metering data was achieved. With the ability to measure and read the consumption down to a tenth of a gallon, and do so many times over the course of a day, an additional tool became available to utilities: leak detection. In a similar way, consumption graphs show where data indicated a possible incidence of tamper or reverse flow.

Now, utilities had more than just numbers from a dial. They had the foundation of Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI). Using software to categorize and analyze the additional data, it was possible to do other things than simply read-then-bill. In terms of customer service, advanced leak detection could solve customer inquiries regarding high water bills, detailing exactly how much water was used and when. Even better, the same type of information could be used to proactively notify customers of even minor leaks before they could impact water bills.

NEW DATA FOR A NEW DAYAs metering functionality grew, the software side of the equation became increasingly crucial. First of all, the sheer amount of information gathered in shorter and shorter timeframes (particularly with fixed network systems) required sophisticated host software to keep up, let alone make sense of it all. As municipal water infrastructure continued to deteriorate and economic conditions soured, accounting for water and revenue made this kind of software even more useful. By analyzing system-wide consumption through synchronized meter-to-meter readings, a utility could help recapture Non-Revenue Water. That utility could even compare water pumped versus water billed in District Metered Areas, down to the neighborhood level.

Other issues have highlighted the importance of data analysis that software provides as well as spurred continued software development. One of these is water conservation. As communities, especially those in drought-stricken areas, have struggled to hold onto precious water reserves, AMI data has aided their efforts by providing information on individual customer consumption. Not only does this information easily allow utilities to better enforce water

restrictions, but it can also be used to encourage customers to monitor and adjust their own consumption, saving water as well as money that would’ve gone to pay higher bills.

UTILITIES GAIN POWERFUL N_SIGHTSSo, what should the ideal AMI software look like? First, it should be intuitive and easy to use. Second, with just a few clicks, it should offer system-wide overviews as well as the details of any one given account – from the macro-view drilling all the way down to the micro details. Third, it should allow different utility personnel to quickly retrieve the information they need, whether the user is a customer service representative helping resolve a customer’s water bill complaint; a systems specialist making sure all meter interface units (MIUs) and collectors are operating up to maximum efficiency; or an upper-level operations manager requiring detailed data to help recapture Non-Revenue Water or enforce water conservation measures.

Neptune Technology Group designed and developed its N_SIGHT™ R450™ host software to provide this type of versatile functionality while making its screens, navigation and overall operation as simple as possible. This AMI software is a web-based thin-client application, and it’s self-managing, so a utility doesn’t need its own database administrator on-site. N_SIGHT R450 also incorporates a “Key Performance Indicator (KPI) dashboard format,” with displays, graphs and charts that make crucial data available at a glance. Not only that, but users can also add individual KPIs to check for specific types of leaks or reverse flow, for instance.

Customization is integral to the design of N_SIGHT R450. The software expedites the process of final reads for particular accounts, collecting a current meter reading without having to roll out a truck or put “feet on the street.” The system gives operators the ability to import before-and-after photos of meter, encoder, and MIU installations for each account – photos which can be used to identify instances of theft or vandalism. The system also gives customer service representatives the opportunity to log date-and-time-stamped comments on an account to track interactions with the customer as well as actions taken to that point.

N_SIGHT™ R450™– THE WAY AHEAD IS TWO-WAYIn addition, utilities can group accounts with similar traits to compare consumption. The franchise manager who wants to see the differences in his commercial stores’ water usage? Not a problem. Grouping also allows district metering, where the utility can look for Non-Revenue Water by measuring flows at residences and

THE FINER DETAILS OF AMI SOFTWARE

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charting them against how much water is distributed from the main. This functionality is only possible with time-synchronization of the meter readings, which also makes possible priority alarms for selected meters. The host software “directs” a fixed network collector to configure specific endpoints so that immediate alarms are sent back when parameters are met for conditions such as continuous leaks, or minor or major reverse flow events.

Utilities can accommodate individual customers who require “virtual disconnects,” such as those who leave their residences for months at a time, or property owners with high rates of move-ins and move-outs. Those accounts can be specifically marked, so that any readings that show up during unoccupied times will be flagged as possible leaks or thefts.

N_SIGHT R450’s two-way communications, time-synchronized meter readings, and grouping technology support water conservation efforts as well, including the enforcement of water restrictions. Utilities can compare hourly usage profiles of separate groups – for example, those that use water on odd days versus those scheduled for even days.

N_SIGHT™ IQ – SHARING INTELLIGENCE ALL AROUNDGoing even further is a host software package that works in tandem with N_SIGHT R450, Neptune’s N_SIGHT™ IQ. Employing cloud-based intelligent data management and reporting, N_SIGHT IQ features an optional web portal that empowers a utility’s end-use

customers to monitor their own water consumption, compare it to similar-sized households in their area, and help set water use thresholds. Customers can be alerted of leaks on their online accounts before the lost water greatly impacts their bill, and can even be notified when they exceed their average daily use threshold by a configurable amount.

Using the same technology, utilities can identify historic trends and better forecast for the future by analyzing up to ten years of detailed consumption data. This advanced data storage and real-time online access makes long-term planning much simpler – and much less expensive, because it’s all available without new infrastructure costs.

System health. Customer service. Revenue enhancement. Conservation initiatives. These days, utilities must go far beyond basic meter reading to achieve the smart functionality they require. It’s no longer just a matter of speed or signal strength. Now it takes more “brains” to do more with the “brawn”. With software such as Neptune’s N_SIGHT R450 and N_SIGHT IQ, it’s the data that does the talking.

Learn more about how DATA SPEAKS at neptunetg.com.

TAKE CONTROL neptunetg.com

water service above all other household services, yet it is still the lowest utility bill in most households.

As a nation, we take water for grant-ed. We need to recognize the value of water service and understand that there is a cost to maintain the pipes, plants, and pumps that treat and deliver water. And we, as an industry, need to educate our customers about this issue.

Control is the key to success for wa-ter demand management at all kinds and sizes of places. Littleton Public Schools, in Colorado, must water an area of turf that has nearly tripled in the last 15 years. Th e school district has two irrigation specialists to manage 24 public school complexes with about 16,000 students. Th ere are drought concerns, too. To solve the obvious potential problems, Little-ton Public Schools now use (from Rain Bird) a Maxicom² Central Control with a FREEDOM Remote Control System.

“Th anks to Maxicom², the irrigation

of 26 sites can be handled by only two technicians,” ex-plains Brad Leitner, Structural/Grounds Manager. “We have seen an almost 30% cost savings over fi ve years on water alone. Th at doesn’t take into account the fact that we almost tri-pled the amount of land being irrigated.” Th ose water cost savings for the school district have been $690,700, thanks to an effi cient Rain Bird control system.

In Washington D.C., the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) has the responsibility for maintaining 115 natural turf athletic fi elds, at 75 diff erent sites. Th e necessary adjustments to watering used to be made by an outside contractor traveling around. Th e solution could be a central control system, but none of the sites had network or landline access, so it was impossible for the satellite controllers to communicate with a central computer.

“We can now make automatic

“People everywhere turn on the tap and expect water

to flow out, but many times they don’t think about

the extensive process that is

involved in making that happen.”

Green lawns can coexist with water conservation thanks to smart irrigation technologies.

scheduling adjustments at these sites without having to physically travel to them,” says Derek Schultz, Operations Program Manager for DPR. “Th at’s especially helpful when special events are scheduled at the fi elds.”

For LEGOLAND in Cali-fornia, there several diverse landscapes in the 128 acres, and reclaimed water is used for 90% of the irrigation (and that can wear rapidly on water valves if you don’t have the best ones). Th e entire theme park uses Rain Bird irrigation products. Lupe Rivera, in charge of the irrigation at LEGOLAND, says that having a central control system saves so much time and eff ort, and they don’t need to hire a lot of people to ac-complish the work.

Rivera also says that the Rain Bird reclaimed valves (specially designed for this purpose) have made a signifi cant diff erence to the valves’ life and reliability. “Th e Rain Bird Maxicom system, in use since the park opened, allows us to maxi-mize the hydraulic capacity of our system, which makes us more effi cient with our water. We can also see the benefi ts of the cycle-and-soak feature, especially in our sloped areas.” WE

Paul Hull is a frequent contributor to Forester Media publications.

Right: Gardens, yards, and landscapes require intelligent irrigation.

Below: Meter maintenance is at the heart of more complicated systems.

Water EfficiencyYou get every page, every ad, every article found in the print version–but without the paper. And you get it fast. Plus every URL is live so you can make instant connections to get the information you need.

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M anagement at United Water New Jersey under-stands that implementing a robust supervisory con-trol and data acquisition

(SCADA) system at a water treatment plant can provide more than centralized control of processes that ensures a reli-able water supply for customers. United Water operates SCADA systems for water and backup and emergency power at its recently upgraded Haworth Water Treatment Plant in Haworth, NJ. The utility depends heavily upon SCADA when shedding load during demand

response events that are reducing the plant’s energy costs.

Th e Haworth plant is one example of the growing realization among water utility managers that process control can do more than conserve water or ensure its delivery. Th e amount of power that some plants consume is not insignifi cant and process control can optimize opera-tions as well as energy use. Utilities that supply their own off -the-grid backup power for plants also need process con-trol for this mission-critical function.

Th e Haworth plant was constructed in the mid-1960s with a 60-million-

Increasing process control intelligence can allow a utility to conserve water and energy.BY DON TALEND

CENTRALIZED MANAGEMENT, CONTROLLED SAVINGS

gallon-per-day (mgd) capacity and was upgraded into a 200-mgd peaking facility in the late 1980s. Th e water distribu-tion network also includes 13 wells, a 113-square-mile watershed, nearly 15,000 fi re hydrants, and more than 2,000 miles of water mains. In spring 2009, the plant underwent a $100 million renovation that improved process effi ciency and water quality and exceeds all current regula-tions. Th e renovation included high-rate dissolved air fl otation (DAF) for sedi-mentation clarifi cation, making the plant the largest in the nation to use DAF. Th e network serves about 350,000 billable customers and nearly 1 million people in Bergen, Hudson, and Sussex counties in northern New Jersey. Production usually peaks at about 188 mgd in midsummer.

PSE&G supplies the main power supply to the plant. PPL Electric Utilities operates a backup power system at the plant for United Water that consists of four, 2-MW Caterpillar natural gas-fi red generators. Emergency power is sup-plied by Solar Turbines. United Water buys electricity on the next-day, hourly Locational Marginal Pricing (LMP) mar-ket. United Water bids and contracts for base level quantities of gas and electric and purchases the balance of electric on the LMP market. United Water runs the backup power system when gas prices are relatively low—especially during the summer months.

Water treatment and distribution, as well as Solar Turbines for emergency power, utilize a GE Profi cy HMI/SCADA iFIX system that monitors plant process-es. A Schneider Electric ClearSCADA system is used for remote site HMI. Th e systems control pumps, chemical feed controls, an ozone generation system, fi lter controls, and a residual handling system in the plant, and will control system components at remote sites such as wells, booster stations, distribution storage tanks, pressure-reducing valves, and regulators.

United Water is also in the process of improving radio communications at the remote sites and obtaining new licenses for backhaul frequencies. Th e plant, which serves as the hub of United Water’s northern New Jersey operations, is equipped with an operator control room staff ed by three full-time employees. Th ey monitor integrated data points from the

plant and PPL Electric SCADA systems. Process control of water produc-

tion is nothing new to United Water New Jersey. When the plant capacity was increased, a Westinghouse distributed control system (DCS) was implemented. Another DCS from HSQ later replaced the original Westinghouse system. Th e GE SCADA system was implemented during the 2009 plant renovations.

PPL Electric has a dedicated SCADA system equipped with Modicon PLCs for the plant’s main power supply. Accord-ing to Chris Brophy, the resident SCADA expert for United Water, this SCADA sys-tem pulls together 30–40 diff erent electric data for water production such as voltage and frequency for the plant operators to monitor.

“Years ago, you basically had incom-ing power, and that’s what you knew,” recalls Brophy. “You didn’t know where it was going to be consumed in the plant, and you didn’t know what was effi cient and what wasn’t effi cient in the plant.”

Th e new equipment in the facility, including motor control systems and the DAF system, “has power monitor-ing so we can literally monitor—besides the gross numbers coming in—each process, so you can see which process is a little off , how they’re compar-ing to each other, and where energy is being consumed,” says Brophy. “You can’t manage it unless you have the information.”

Data are transmitted directly from the plant via fi ber-optic/Ethernet and from fi eld sites to the control room, according to Keith Kolkebeck, engi-neering systems man-ager for United Water. A reporting program from utility technology and management consulting provider EMA, Inc., compiles the data for analysis.

United Water New Jersey counts on its SCADA system during occasional load shedding that is deemed cost-eff ec-tive when natural gas prices are favor-able. Energy Curtailment Specialists manages a demand response program on the grid of PJM, a regional transmis-

sion organization that coordinates the movement of wholesale electricity in 13 states and the District of Colum-bia. United Water has committed to a 6.1-MW load reduction at the Haworth plant during demand response events.

“We get a two-hour notice of an emergency event, and it can run up to six hours,” says Brophy. “It can happen multiple times per year, and we have two hours to reduce load as much as we can. We’ve usually been performing about 100 to 150% of our commitment when required.” Kolkebeck added that some of the plant’s larger pumps consume signifi cant energy and that the facility routinely pulls 12–14 MW.

“Our peak days generally coincide with the electric operators’ peak days,” says Brophy of the Haworth plant’s water production. “When it’s hot and humid and people are running air-conditioning, they’re also using water—the peak days coincide almost exactly.” Because the plant “pumps to demand,” using water stored in tanks with some pumps pow-ered down is not an option, he adds.

Kolkebeck says that United Water uses the GE SCADA data to continually monitor and control processes in the

plant. Process changes do not involve directly changing PLC codes, but, rather, changing parameters, setpoints, and control points.

“We do pump effi ciency testing and testing on our systems to make sure they’re energy effi cient, and if they’re not, we have a maintenance program in place to take correc-tive action,” he says.

Brophy says that since the plant up-grades took place a couple of years ago, it

appears that United Water has reduced its kilowatt-hours by roughly 1/2% to 1% per million gallons of water. Th is might improve with greater monitoring capabilities built into the remote sites.

INTELLIGENCE-ENABLED DEMAND RESPONSEThe more intelligent a water distribution network becomes, the more challenging

“We can literally monitor—besides the gross numbers coming in—each

process, so you can see which process is a little off, how

they’re comparing to each other, and

where energy is being consumed.”

it can become to shed power during a demand response event without losing water delivery reliability. This is where further automation of process controls can be helpful.

Th at is the stage of process control implementation at the Perris, CA-headquartered Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD), one of the largest water purveyors in southern California and serving a population of about 755,000 across 542 square miles. Th e EMWD is a major consumer of electric-ity, at $10 million in annual electricity costs. With this in mind, the district enrolled in a demand response program managed by energy management consultant EnerNOC and committed to reduce electricity consumption by about 3 MW by shedding load at its main treatment and distribution facilities. For doing this, EMWD receives annual payments from EnerNOC totaling about $120,000.

Dan Howell, director of purchasing and con-tracts for EMWD, pointed out that working with a third-party demand response manager such as EnerNOC is advantageous. EMWD has participated in utility interruptible programs for the past 15 to 20 years, but the regulatory environment has changed recently, Howell reports.

“We’re located in the South Coast Air Quality Management District, which is probably one of the most heavily regulated air districts in the United States,” he says. “So we were challenged with operat-

“Our EMS looks at the best way to operate in terms of

both meeting our water delivery obligations, and

from a financial perspective with regard to energy use.”

Right: Mid-Dakota Rural Water Systems’ central SCADA control operation facility. MDRWS’ SCADA system controls and monitors 57 sites for pump speeds, tank levels, discharge pressures, and any operational malfunctions.

Below: View of Mid-Dakota Rural Water Systems’ water distribution network via its SCADA system

ing generation assets in order to meet some of the interruptible provisions that the utility has under their programs. If you fail to interrupt when you’re on an uninterruptible tariff , you’re assessed large penalties and fi nes associated with every kilowatt-hour you use during that interruption period.

“Aggregators such as EnerNOC don’t have penalties per se for failure to interrupt. Th e economic incentive is typically less under the third-party aggregators as it would be under the util-ity programs, but the penalty doesn’t exist. In order to meet our delivery obligations, third-party aggregators such as EnerNOC became a good alternative.”

California, the nation’s most populous state, faces greater energy supply challenges than most. To deal with the challenge, Southern California Edison (SCE) manages programs such as a Base Interruptible Program (Schedule TOU-BIP). Customers that select this program are required to choose a Firm Ser-vice Level that refl ects the amount of electricity the customer determines is necessary to meet their operational requirements during an interruptible event. Th ey must also choose a partici-pation option, which is the amount of time (15 or 30 minutes) the customer requires in order to respond to the event.

EMWD receives lower overall utility rates for participating in the program. Th e combined reduction eff orts reduce the overall demand for electricity in California and potentially prevent power interruptions. Penalties are assessed to commercial customers that do not partici-pate when an interruptible event occurs. Customers that have agreements with third-party aggregators, such as EnerNOC, are not assessed penalties but merely forgo payments received from the aggregators for non-participation in a given interruptible event. For many organizations—public and private water utilities, for example—determining how to shed load without compromising core operations poses a challenge.

Demand response, and partnering with a third-party ag-gregator, suits EMWD because it cannot participate at all of its facilities in every interruptible event, according to Howell. Th e utility has more than 250 accounts with SCE and, in addition to over 8 MW’s enrolled in SCE programs, can shed another 3 MW of load during interruptible events among its Hemet Water Filtration and Perris Water Filtration plants and fi ve other facili-ties. Facilities with higher energy demand include its Hemet Water Filtration and Perris Water Filtration plants, which account for about half of EMWD’s load shedding capabilities under the third-party demand response events. None of the facilities that are contracted with EnerNOC have backup power systems.

“Th ere are challenges in meeting air regulations for operat-ing those standby emergency generation generators,” says How-ell. “We believe that where we do have contracts with EnerNOC, that we have adequate water storage, and we have redundant facilities perhaps elsewhere that can help supplement during those events.”

EMWD operates separate SCADA systems for its water distribution system and for its four wastewater treatment

plants; each of the latter has a dedicated system. None of the wastewater treatment plants is managed under the EnerNOC program. Th e water distribution network is equipped with a Telvent OASyS SCADA system and a Derceto energy manage-ment system (EMS).

Th e water distribution network has a relatively high level of automation, according to Howell. EMWD monitors tank levels and pressure throughout the system, for example, and optimizes network operation at any given time and level of water demand.

“Not many water utilities are using that level of sophistica-tion,” says Howell. “Our EMS looks at the best way to operate in terms of both meeting our water delivery obligations, and from a fi nancial perspective with regard to energy use. It’s a real-time pump scheduler, not a reporting system. It’s literally looking at projected water demands throughout our service area, and then looking at available assets to meet those demands and what it costs to run individual assets and then optimizing which should run fi rst. It takes into consideration the utility rates, the time of day, the pumping capacities, the effi ciency of one pump versus another—it’s selecting that and the speed at which to operate.”

Th e water SCADA system also has a high level of sophistication for demand response events and may soon become even more sophisticated. When informed of a demand response event, EMWD staff reviews SCADA information to both determine whether the utility can partici-

for related articles: www.waterefficiency.net/energy

pate and, if so, how to operate the network in order to comply. “What we’re now working on is the potential to automate

that—we’re looking at working with the utility, Honeywell, and Derceto, and EnerNOC to automate the receipt of a demand response event from [SCE] and EnerNOC through our SCADA system in our Integrated Operations Center to allow the staff to make a yes/no decision to participate or not, and then resolve how the system will operate. So there’s a hu-man interface there. Th at’s the sophistication that’s coming into play.”

Th e EnerNOC-managed demand response program benefi ts both EMWD and the state, Howell notes.

“[Th e refunds] go to directly off setting our operating costs,” he says. “So to the extent that we reduce operat-ing costs, it benefi ts our ratepayers. We are a municipal nonprofi t water district, so any opportunity to reduce operating costs directly aff ects our ratepay-ers—this is one example of that. Th e benefi t to the environment and the state is that [the program] defers the cost and the impacts of

constructing additional power generation. It is a major under-taking in this state to construct power generation facilities.”

More water utilities in California would be able to partici-pate in interruptible events if they can increase their process control sophistication, Howell concludes.

“Other utilities that may not have that level of sophistica-tion may be reluctant to participate because they just don’t know

Security Risks and Cyber Attacks

As noted in the Water Efficiency editor’s blog (“Water Insecurity”, www.waterefficiency.net/WE/Blogs/1145.aspx ), last November, an Illinois water utility was thought to be the victim of a foreign cyber attack. On November 8, the water utility’s pump system failed, and initial reports indicated that utility mangers feared the utility had been attacked by cyber criminals hacking into the utilities network via their unsecured SCADA system. Ultimately, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) determined that the utility had not been hacked ( www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2396835,00.asp ).

In a statement relating to the investigation, a DHS spokes-man stated, “After detailed analysis, DHS and the FBI have found no evidence of a cyber intrusion into the SCADA system of the Curran-Gardner Public Water District in Springfi eld, Illinois.”

Although this particular SCADA hack was just a false alarm, cy-ber security experts warn that similar tactics could be used success-fully in the future across a wide variety of SCADA systems; including those used for nuclear reactors and chemical plants.

Unfortunately, outdated SCADA systems litter much of the country’s industrial and commercial landscape. In an interview quoted in Daily Tech ( www.dailytech.com/Cyber+Attack+on+Illinois+Water+Utility+Sparks+DHSFBI+Investigation/article23331.htm ), Lani Kass, former senior cyber policy adviser to the US Joint Chiefs of Staff and the US Air Force, says, “Many [SCADA systems] are old and vulnerable. There are no fi nancial incentives for the utility owners to replace and secure these systems, and the costs would be high.”

When initial reports of the alleged cyber attacks surfaced, it was suggested that the perpetrators had accessed the utilities SCADA system using stolen credentials from the SCADA software company—a methodology that is not too far fetched according to Dave Marcus. Marcus, Director of Security for McAfee labs, warns that SCADA networks lack some of the security protocols common in standard computer networks, there’s no way to know whether or not our systems have not already been compromised.

In an interview in PCWorld ( www.pcworld.com/businesscen-ter/article/244359/water_utility_hacked_are_critical_systems_at_risk.html ), Marcus outlines some of the biggest concerns regarding SCADA systems and suggests some preliminary precautions that can be taken in response to this new security threat. He also recom-mends some of the following precautions:

• Include “cyber” in all risk management.• Set up extensive penetration testing.• Set up extensive counter-social engineering training.• Put a SCADA-specifi c CERT plan and team in place.• Network with law enforcement at all levels.• Expect to get attacked and take appropriate countermeasures.The question remains, if SCADA networks represent signifi -

cant targets for terrorists or other politically motivated attacks, are we doing enough to defend our systems? It’s diffi cult to determine whether or not a cyber attack has already taken place, but if SCADA networks are “easy targets,” perhaps it’s time to start implementation of other, additional, security measures.

This kind of map gives a water utility a good idea of what and where everything is in its distribution system.

what’s going on,” he says. “In this industry, we tend to err on the side of being overly conservative when it comes to being able to meet water supply, so without that good SCADA background, we just wouldn’t have the information in order to make these kinds of decisions.”

MONITORING A VAST RURAL TERRITORYAcross the often-vast distances of a rural water utility, a SCADA system really helps out the staff by identifying problems in the water distribution network from a computer screen, rather than onsite visual inspection. Scott Gross, operations manager at the Miller, SD-based Mid-Dakota Rural Water System (MDRWS), which serves about 30,000 rural customers in 16 communities in all or parts of 14 counties in a territory covering about 7,000 square miles, can attest to that. He is responsible for overseeing a network consisting of about 4,000 miles of distribution pipe-line, 115 miles of mainline, and 16 storage tanks ranging in size from 100,000 to 2.5 mg for a total storage of 7.8 mg. The system keeps expanding, too: the capacity of a treatment plant located near Pierre, SD, was recently increased from 9 to 13.5 mg, and a 2-mg storage tank and 6,000-gallon-per-minute booster station was added as well.

Gross recalled that the expansive nature of the system meant that it took a while for a SCADA system to be fully implemented. Th e treatment plant went online in 1997, but it took until 2006 for a Micro-Comm SCADA system to cover the entire network. MDRWS uses a SCADAview CSX (Client/Server/X-platform) central-based (CTU) telemetry system, a cross-platform application that has versions for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. Gross and MDRWS primarily use the system to monitor tank levels and fl ow rates. One major reason why this system was chosen is the vast distances comprising MDRWS, according to Gross. Th e system uses telemetry sta-tions that compile operating data by radio signals. Th e system is equipped for signal transmission across the vast spaces. Rolling terrain on the western half of the territory does not make signal transmission any easier, according to Harvey Aberle, whom Gross succeeded in fall 2011. As a result, the SCADA system uses antennas mounted on 14 water towers located throughout the territory.

Th e combination of the SCADA system and VFDs en-ables MDRWS to achieve signifi cant energy savings, although MDRWS had not been able to quantify the savings as of fall 2011 with the ongoing expansion of the system.

“Th e number one savings is that we don’t have to have manpower go out to each station twice a week—we do that off of SCADA,” says Aberle. “Also, some of the biggest power sav-ings result from the fact that everything runs on VFDs. We have control of VFDs, so we don’t have that rush of power when we start pumps up. We can also control the speed of the VFDs, so we know that if we have a high demand coming in for the day—say if it’s 100 degrees Fahrenheit, we will actually start pumps

up from the central computer here in Miller. Or, if we know that it’s going to be a cold week, we turn the speed of the VFDs

down, because we don’t need to move all of that extra water into the tanks and not use it. I know that, to start up a pump for the initial surge of power, with a VFD you save three times the demand charge versus a hard start on a regular pump.”

A SCADA system is a powerful tool, but human capital is still needed for maintenance.

“Th e biggest killer for MDRWS is ice storms,” says Aberle. “Th ey ice up the antennas, and then we can’t communicate. Th e winters here are pretty tough, and we actually take a shotgun out and shoot the antennas clear so that we can keep communica-tions going.”

Gross adds that the odds of damaging the antennas from 180 feet away on the ground are minimal.

“You can’t get guys up there—the ladders are too iced up,” he explains. “You’re shooting [small] number eight shot, so there’s a pretty small chance of breaking anything.”

A SCADA system is a necessity for monitoring such a spread-out water distribution network, Gross concludes.

“We couldn’t run this without SCADA,” he says. “We’d be running guys ragged without this, and it would probably double the workload—we only have 10 operators.” WE

Don Talend is a frequent contributor specializing in technology and innovation.

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Outreach to water users in San Diego, CA, in the last few years has been carried out by the campaign “No Time to Waste, No Water to Waste”.

“This campaign was developed to heighten the awareness and need for urgent action during California’s drought, and the need to stay within supply allocations set by water whole-salers,” explains Luis Generoso, Water Resources Manager for The City of San Diego Water Department. “It has been a good tool to use and the resulting water usage was lower than expected, good news for all. We have used both traditional and non-traditional media.

“Now that the drought response levels have been lifted,” he continues,

“the campaign has switched to a more inclusive, longer-lasting message of ‘San Diegans Waste No Water’. It brings in the community element, that you are not alone in your efforts, and that, collectively, San Diegans have achieved significant water savings.

“Certain elements that lend to the overall campaign have been suc-cessful, too,” he goes on to say, “like the film contest that challenges high school and college students to create 30-second PSAs. Information on the contest is available on our website [ WasteNoWater.org ].”

In San Diego, the most popular rebates offered have been those for landscape water use, as more people

consider alternatives to traditional landscape options.

Because recent changes in the City of San Diego’s Emergency Water Regu-lations have established new restric-tions on water use, the enforcement and penalty process for residents who ignore irrigation restrictions has been clarified. Currently, all water waste is prohibited in Section 67.3803 of the San Diego Municipal Code. Wasting water is now illegal at all times, even when Drought Response Levels are not officially in effect. The City can penal-ize anyone who continues to waste wa-ter with a series of escalating penalties, up to and including termination of wa-ter service. And if customers continue to waste water after being contacted

Demand management takes hold and delivers results for water purveyors throughout the country.BY PAUL HULL

WASTE NOT, WANT NOT

by the Water Department’s Conserva-tion staff, the City’s Code Enforcement Section can step in. At that point, any continued refusal to discontinue overwatering, failure to repair leaks, or other water waste actions, empow-ers the Code Enforcement Officer or Water Waste Investigator to fashion an appropriate response.

As for all violations of the Mu-nicipal City Code, Code Enforcement Officers have a variety of remedies to help ensure compliance, starting with education on the restrictions, and in-formation about resources available to assist customers with compliance.

Enforcement options also include a series of stricter and more punitive actions, including:

• a warning letter• administrative citations ($100,

$250, $500, $750, $1,000)• a Notice of Violation (with civil

penalties up to $2,500 per day per violation)

• referral to the City Attorney for civil or criminal prosecution

• shut off the water service (only when all other remedies have failed)

CONTROL WITHOUT REPRESSIONThe City of Hope Medical Center in Duarte, CA, is a hospital campus, with the Cancer Center, Research Institute, and a graduate school. It’s a 120-acre campus with 125 buildings. There are 48 acres of landscape with diverse gar-

dens, including a famous rose garden, and Japanese koi pond and reflection garden. There are 1,600 different tree specimens and more than a million square feet of turf. Current restrictions allow watering (irrigation) between 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. Too much water or too little water can cause problems, resulting in plant replace-ment or adverse impacts on the health of specialty horticulture collections. Overwatering can lead to liability for slips and falls; or excess mildew, dust, and mold, all of which are detrimental to hospital structures and the hygienic medical environment.

Enter HydroPoint WeatherTRAK. Th e WeatherTRAK Central Internet Management application automates

Micro-irrigation can increase crop yields and efficiency.

irrigation and enables remote program-ming changes around events, rather than traditional truck rolls and manual adjustment. Events? Th ere are thou-sands of pedestrians and numerous special events that stress the beautiful open space landscapes.

Following events, the Weather-TRAK system alerts prioritized repairs to sprinkler heads and other compo-nents. The system has smart irrigation controllers that serve as a property management tool to monitor outdoor water requirements and irrigation windows. The automated HydroPoint WeatherTRAK Scheduling Engine delivers precise amounts of water based on specific landscape zones and environmental conditions. Schedules dynamically adjust as local weather changes to eliminate water waste and runoff.

The results? The HydroPoint system has reduced irrigation run times by 30%. The system has reduced outdoor water use 25% over the entire campus in its first year of operation. It has achieved a 10% reduction of

overall water use (indoor and out-door), despite 15% growth in facilities and buildings. That, to me, looks like control with benefits.

Let’s move across country. Regency Centers, headquartered in Jacksonville, FL, has a portfolio of 399 centers and

55 million square feet as the owner, operator, and developer of community shopping centers. When it was dis-covered that 50% of their total water consumption was used for irriga-tion—representing a significant (and increasing) operating expense

—Regency conducted an initial pilot of smart irrigation controllers in 2007 with tests at six properties. They discovered that HydroPoint Weather-TRAK delivered superior savings and two-way communications technology. In 2008, Regency installed the control-lers at 36 properties.

The HydroPoint technology is now used at 93 properties in 11 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, and Wash-ington. Installation sites were chosen based on highest water rate or high-est water consumption. Many of the controllers were financed by local municipal rebates. Regency has imple-mented 169 WeatherTRAK smart irrigation controllers at 93 properties across the country, along with savings of $350,000 and 96 million gallons of water each year.

In Santa Clarita, CA—a city of about 185,000 residents—a 27% water saving has been achieved, actually surpassing the City’s goal of saving 180 million gallons per year. The City

“As with all new technologies, skill and expertise are needed

when you progress to use them. You don’t bring this kind of important solution

to a water problem just by writing a check.”

achieved immediate fiscal relief by re-ducing the cost to irrigate its facilities, saving $300,000 to $400,000 a year and deflecting future water rate increases that had been projected to rise from 20% to 40%. With this program, the City of Santa Clarita automatically complies with California AB 1881, as well as SBx7-78 which mandate reduc-tion of water use to 20% by 2020.

One of the main causes of the city’s higher water use was archaic irrigation, including outdated clocks used for 700 acres of City parks, me-dians, and streetscapes. 530 Hydro-Point WeatherTRAK controllers were installed across 40 landscape districts for the city over 80 days. To keep the systems in perfect order, nine different landscape companies are responsible for maintenance.

Above: Drip irrigation is used in only 10% of agricultural irrigation systems.

Below: Regular maintenance of these smart systems is key.

NOT ALL DEMAND IS MUNICIPAL OR RESIDENTIALWhen it comes to water resource management, the challenges and solu-tions are not contained to metropoli-tan areas. In the “city”, irrigation refers to landscaping at home or at the office (and residential irrigation has drawn deserved attention), but there is the much broader, more consuming area of water use—agriculture.

Vast amounts of water (and energy) are used for agriculture (over 60% in some areas, and close to 90% along our nation’s food corridors). As the world and our own national populations increase into the several

billions, that unproductive land must be made productive. That means water and fertilization. Although one solu-tion—micro-irrigation—has proven useful, the sad truth is that less than 10% of growers use drip irrigation, despite its ability to increase crop yield dramatically.

Unfortunately, there continue to be many growers who are unaware of the newer technologies and innova-tions available to them. But as a new group of younger, more informed and better educated farmers join the ranks of the agricultural industry, there’s hope. These new faces can help eliminate to outdated practices and begin to shift our nation’s agriculture industry away from the inefficiencies of the past and towards stronger, more profitable enterprises—all with more

efficient water use.Toro has positioned itself as a

leader in drip irrigation and micro-irrigation for both residential and agricultural customers.

One of the challenges the com-pany faces when talking to growers is convincing them that drip irrigation is the best solution.

“We must explain why drip irriga-tion is a better technique for them,” notes Claude Corcos, marketing man-ager at Toro Micro-Irrigation.

Much of the marketing work involves breaking down barriers that have existed for years. Today’s growers

need to understand and experience the benefits of drip irrigation for them-selves, before considering the benefits for local communities’ water supply.

“As with all new technologies,” adds Corcos, “skill and expertise are needed when you progress to use them. You don’t bring this kind of important solution to a water problem just by writing a check.”

Almonds are a popular and economically important crop for California. Today, some 90% of the state’s almond acreage (represented in the California Almond Sustainability Program, CASP) is irrigated by effi-cient micro-irrigation systems. Recent research also showed a key aspect of these growers’ success—one which re-fers us back to the comment by Toro’s Corcos about skill and expertise—

routine maintenance and informed operation. In almond orchards that are micro-irrigated, 90% are inspected weekly for leaks and clogs in the sys-tem, 87% have the lines flushed at the start or middle of the season, and 65% have pressure-compensating emitters.

Cox Valley View Farms in Long Island, KS, converted to Toro drip irri-gation some years ago. The conversion allowed owner Steven Cox to stretch limited water supplies while increasing yields and grain quality.

“Before drip, we were trying to flood irrigate 60 acres with a 250 gpm well,” explains Cox. “We were lucky if we got top yields on 25% of the field. I now get top yields on 100% of the field because of the increased uniformity and efficiency I get with drip irriga-tion.”

The farm’s central water source—the Ogallala Aquifer—is dwindling, making conservation key to survival. By switching to drip irrigation, farm-ing and the aquifer can sustainably coexist. Cox has stretched his annual allowance of 18 inches of water to produce 300 bushels of corn per acre compared to 150, and achieved a grain test weight of 62 pounds per bushel as opposed to the previous 58.

There have been other benefits as well. In comparison with flood ir-rigation, drip irrigation requires little labor, and the reduced energy require-ments pivots. Fertilizers can be placed exactly where needed, and no-till farming becomes a reality. Best of all is, no water is wasted due to evapo-ration, runoff, wind drift, or deep percolation.

“With a one-inch application of water, the driest plant will get 0.9 inch-es of water, and the wettest will receive 1.1 inches,” says Cox. “This allows me to get the most from every gallon of water I pump from the aquifer.”

The drip irrigation system took less than two years to pay for itself, much less than the owner had antici-pated.

Less use of water, fertilizer, and labor, along with increased yields and reduced runoff, were also some of the (usual) benefits for Standage Farms Inc., in Vale, OR, when they made the switch to drip irrigation.

“We’re using half as much water with drip as we did

with other irrigation methods we used in the past, and

experience increase yields and uniformity at the same time.”

“Drip nurtures a healthier, stron-ger plant,” advises Larry Standage, owner of Standage Farms. “That really shows up during extreme heat events. We also use less fertilizer with the drip, which has been significant with recent fertilizer costs tripling.”

Standage also uses expertise and skill to keep his family’s drip system functioning well. He has found the best wetting pattern is achieved with a 12-hour set, with intervals between irrigations determined by weather and sensors.

“The 6-mil. Aqua-Traxx tape [from Toro] is tough and durable. It doesn’t break or have problems like some other tapes,” says Standage.

If there ever is a problem, it is Toro’s policy to be onsite within 24 hours, whether it’s the maker’s fault or not.

One more drip irrigation com-ment comes from the Naumann broth-ers (Brian and Mike) who farm the Naumann Ranch in Oxnard, CA. Food safety is one of their major concerns,

as it is for all growers. They perform system maintenance routinely (a further example that skill and exper-tise are required for good results in anything related to water use). Dur-ing the irrigation season, the lines are treated with chlorine to kill organic growth and keep everything running smoothly.

Recently, the Naumanns devised a way to reduce chlorine expenses by formulating their own calcium hypo-chlorite solution.

“Also, the precision molded emit-ter resists clogging,” comments Mike Naumann. “It delivers great uniformity and that results in even water distribu-tion throughout the field [of mixed vegetables] and avoids puddles or runoff that harbors E. coli.”

The brothers believe that drip irrigation has not only reduced water use, but it has also improved yields and quality for their crops.

“We’re using half as much water with drip as we did with other irriga-tion methods we used in the past, and

experience increase yields and unifor-mity at the same time.”

Some other interesting com-ment on water demand management programs comes from Scott Duff, Manager of Rural Development Policy at the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) in Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

“Irrigated agriculture in Ontario is somewhat unique, although some of the concepts from the interna-tional and California experience are relevant,” says Duff. “When looking at demand management, it is impor-tant to consider the existing baseline condition relative to demand manage-ment. In Ontario, experience shows that most irrigators tend to under-

for related articles: www.waterefficiency.net/public-outreach

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n Designing and Reviewing Effective Sediment and Erosion Control Plans

JERALD S. FIFIELD, PH.D, CPESC, CISECJERALD S. FIFIELD, PH.D, CPESC, CISEC

irrigate for optimal crop production conditions. Attempts to achieve ‘water savings’ through traditional demand management techniques, such as improved scheduling and a shift from overhead to drip irrigation, typically result in increased water use.”

He continues: “These techniques are helpful at the farm level in terms of optimizing production but do not necessarily result in the desired ‘water savings’ for watersheds that may experience seasonal supply shortages. There are few-to-no communal water supply and delivery systems. There-fore, unlike regions with large irriga-tion schemes [or municipalities with communal supply and delivery], there are basically no savings to be found in the delivery mechanisms, because there are essentially none.”

The issue, then, can be definitely local, which is probably no surprise to most water professionals.

“For each watershed situation, the suite of demand management tools that may be effective is different,

depending on the challenge of that watershed,” adds Duff. “For example, in some Ontario watersheds, in some growing seasons, there can be low water conditions resulting in supply challenges at certain times of the year. These are localized and seasonal.”

OMAFRA also publishes some guidelines for agricultural water users in “How to Prepare for Irrigation Dur-ing Water Shortages” and is a constant

resource for their clients. The guidelines address such prac-

tical questions as:• What more can I do if I have

an irrigation system that works well? The issues of runoff from faster-than-needed irrigation and inspection for leaks are among the answers.

• If my neighbors and I all irrigate at the same there may not be enough water: What can I do? Under-standing water rights and provid-ing temporary storage for water are in the solutions suggested.

• What else can I do when water is scarce? Among suggestions are the development of an irrigation plan, a scheduling program, and an emergency plan to follow if you run out of water for some crops.

• What if I irrigate from a water well? Operate within the Permit to Take Water conditions and, shortly after pumping, moni-tor the static water level of any of your other wells or neighbor’s wells, if possible. Consider hiring a hydrogeologist to assess the effect of your water withdrawal on ground water and neighboring wells.

• I have a trickle irrigation system—do I need to do anything? Main-tenance, scheduling, and moni-toring the water supply remain critical.All over North America grow-

ers are aware of problems with water supply, but perhaps not as aware of the technologies available to them. While some solutions are criticized as putting too much emphasis on the importance of growers, they all include ways to save water and prevent the devolution of prime agricultural land to virtual desert. WE

Paul Hull is a frequent contributor to Forester Media publications.

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“For each watershed situation, the suite of

demand management tools that may be

effective is different, depending on

the challenge of that watershed.”

ShowCase

TORO CO.The Toro Company’s Precision Soil Sensor continuously measures moisture levels in the soil and determines when to allow the irrigation controller to water, maximizing the effi ciency of your irrigation system. There are two “wireless” components to the system—a receiver that hooks up to the ir-rigation controller and a sensor that installs in the ground. Once installed, the sensor calibrates itself automatically to determine the soil type. Any time the moisture level exceeds the user-defi ned optimum level for the plant material, the controller is prevented from running any irrigation programs. This prevents unneeded watering and provides the possibility for signifi cant water savings.www.toro.com

ITRONItron’s Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) solutions for water are proven and fl exible. Key to the Itron Water AMI solution is the 100-W ERT communica-tions module. With full two-way communication to the meter, they can be de-ployed side-by-side in AMI fi xed network, mobile automatic meter reading, or hybrid confi gurations. Complimenting Itron’s AMI solutions are comprehensive leak detection products. They include DLD digital leak detector, DigiCorr, and ZCorr, pinpointing exact leak locations; and ChoiceConnect 100-W ERT com-munications module with an integrated acoustic Leak Sensor for systemwide monitoring of distribution systems. Itron helps utilities increase operational effi ciencies, manage water resources, and enhance customer service.www.itron.com

MICRO-COMM INC.Micro-Comm’s M1550 PLC provides easy monitoring and control with simultaneous distributed and centralized control opera-tions. Its plug-and-play capabilities and plug-in terminal blocks and memory make the M1550 easy to use and set up. A univer-sal communications interface provides robust control and data transfer via radio, dedicated line, phone line, Ethernet, and fi ber optic communication media. The M1550 is fully programmable and features Modbus and Allen-Bradley Protocols—allowing it to work in any system and to integrate complex systems. www.micro-comm-inc.com

ETWATER SYSTEMSThe HermitCrab plugs into the remote port on most conventional controllers, converting them to powerful ETwater Smart Irrigation. Via the HermitCrab’s wireless modem, the controller receives a weather-adjusted schedule to eliminate overwatering. Remote management with a computer or smartphone means savings in labor and better customer service. A typical HermitCrab ret-rofi t has a payback of less than one year. And, due to compatibility with most controller brands, customers can effi ciently manage various controller brands at multiple sites with the award-winning ETwater Manager system.www.etwater.com

ADVANCE PRODUCTS & SYSTEMSAdvance Products & Systems’ Kleerband Flange Protectors and Radolid Protection Caps protects bolts, nuts, and fl ange faces on raised-face or full-face fl anges in areas subject to the ravages of extreme corrosion conditions. Kleerband Flange Protectors are a trans-parent polymer band with grease injection fi ttings and relief vent plug that allows 360° of continuous inspection without removing the fl ange protector. They are for use in valve vaults, meter pits, lift stations, pump stations, and treatment plants. Radolid Protection Caps with Volatile Corrosion Inhibitors (VCI) block the corrosive eff ects of electrolytes on diff erent types and sizes of bolts and nuts.www.apsonline.com

FLOWWORKSA complete suite of Graphical Data Editing QA/QC tools are now part of FlowWorks. FlowWorks is a secure Web platform for gathering, analyzing, and understanding all forms of environmental monitoring data. FlowWorks is hardware neutral, receiving data from all manufacturers’ fl ow and level meters, rain gauges, data systems, plus SCADA, USGS, and NOAA. Customers can use FlowWorks to gather all monitoring data into one place and analyze it quickly to fully understand the solutions available.www.fl owworks.com

CLARUS ENVIRONMENTALClarus Environmental’s Turbine STEP Systems are designed for simplex or duplex applications in a single polyethylene pump vault. With one of the industry’s largest selections of effl uent turbine pumps and vaults available in a variety of custom heights, a Clarus Environmental STEP system will fi t most specifi cations. STEP systems are designed for freestanding or suspended applications. Its deep-pleated fi lter design yields high surface area and is easy to remove and clean.www.clarusenvironmental.com

ShowCase

CAPSTONE METERING LLCCapstone Metering LLC brings to global water indus-tries the fi rst intelligent meter for residential use. The IntelliH2O meter, patent-pending, incorporates breakthrough technology and solid state electronics to manage, control, and conserve water. The Intel-liH2O meter, completely engineered from the ground up, is housed in a single, self-contained unit. Frequent two-way wireless network communications, self-calibration, self-generating power, and remote turn on and shut off are capabilities built directly into the meter. www.capstonemetering.com

MASTER METERThe AWWA has selected Master Meter’s MMPD as the offi cial water meter for this year’s Meter Madness Competition. The MMPD 3/4 designed with today’s most advanced computational fl uid dynamic (CFD) design technology is an engineering trifecta that dramatically reduces head loss and provides Whisper Quiet performance with maximum revenue for more than 35 years typical use. With integral 3G AMR technology the MMPD delivers actionable intel such as leak, theft, and tamper alerts; citywide synchro-nized meter data; and meter right-sizing profi le information. www.mastermeter.com

SJE-RHOMBUS CONTROLSThe VFDC-1300 control panel uses variable frequency drive technology for pressure control in irrigation applications. Built-in features such as PID control with sleep function, fi ll pipe function, dry run protection, and automatic restart make this control solution ideal for irrigation pumping systems. It can be confi gured for simplex, duplex, or triplex pump control. It is UL 508-listed and 100% factory-tested and pre-programmed. www.sjerhombus.com

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Water Efficiency’s ShowCase is based on information supplied by manufacturers. Some manufacturers did not respond to requests for information. Publication of materials received is subject to editing and space availability.

PLASTICS PIPE INSTITUTEPlastic pipe systems are environmen-tally responsible and unmatched at conserving natural resources. Strong, durable, and fl exible, these systems require signifi cantly less energy to manufacture, transport, and install than legacy alternatives. Superior corrosion and abrasion resistance, combined with incomparable joint performance—leak-free or watertight—delivers an exceptional service life and a truly sustainable underground infrastructure. The Plastics Pipe Institute (PPI) is the major trade association representing all segments of the plastics piping industry. PPI’s mission is to promote plastics as the material of choice for piping applications. www.plasticpipe.org

H2O ANALYTICSWater usage e-mails, dashboards, and social integration improve communica-tions and drive conservation eff orts. The Customer Messaging Service from H2O Analytics interfaces with existing systems, automatically sending regular e-mails with rule-driven content and dynamic water usage analytics. The service is easily tailored to match the website or marketing theme. Business rules managed in a spreadsheet drive the e-mail content, which is enhanced by an analytic dashboard showing each customer’s consumption over time and as compared to system averages. www.h2oanalytics.com/cms

TIDEFLEX TECHNOLOGIESMany potable water tanks or reservoirs depend on a typical common inlet/outlet to maintain drinking water quality. This often proves inadequate when water outside the common inlet/outlet area of infl uence becomes stagnant, creating dead spots where bacteria are likely to multiply. Tidefl ex Technologies’ Tidefl ex Mixing System (TMS) improves the quality of drink-ing water in fi nished water storage reservoirs. The TMS is a combination of patented Tidefl ex Check Valve technology and a piping manifold that separates the inlet and outlet. It can be installed in new or existing water storage tanks to eliminate stagnation and short-circuiting. Operating on diff erential pressure al-ready in place, the TMS keeps energy costs low, while the all-elastomer construction of the Tidefl ex Check Valve renders the system virtually maintenance free.www.tidefl ex.com

NEPTUNE TECHNOLOGY GROUPThe MRX920 Mobile Data Collector, with its 72-channel receiver, can process more than 5,000 reads an hour and up to eight MIUs simultaneously—and it fi ts in one hand. Available as part of Neptune’s ARB Mobile System, the newly redesigned MRX920 is more portable than ever, weighing 5 pounds, which is 40 pounds less than the previous model. It increases total reads over greater distances, faster and more accurately. And it’s as aff ordable as a handheld data collector. www.neptunetg.com

ShowCase

CB&IThis 2-million-gallon Hydropillar elevated water storage tank, built by CB&I for the City of Dublin, OH, was a 2010 STI/SPFA Tank of the Year award winner. In addition to the unique artwork, the tank houses a fi rst fl oor break room, restroom, and storage area. The fi rst fl oor space is heated by a geothermal system that provides radiant fl oor heating through the use of an intricate piping arrangement embedded in the tank’s fl oor slab.www.cbi.com

ACLARAThe industry’s only fi xed-network, remotely correlated, acoustic leak detection system cost eff ectively helps water utilities quickly identify leaks on water mains before they become major problems. Combining the Aclara STAR Network Advanced Metering Infrastructure system with leak detection technology from Gutermann International, the system automates the process of gathering the necessary data to identify leak locations and minimize

water losses, enhancing conservation eff orts. STAR ZoneScan’s environmentally sealed Meter Transmission Unit prevents damage caused by water or snow and works on pipes made of a range of materials, including metal, concrete, and non-metallic types. www.aclara.com

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AMERICAN LEAK DETECTIONAmerican Leak Detection is the world leader in accurate, non-destructive detection of hidden water, sewer, and gas leaks for municipal, commercial, and residential properties. Trained technicians use non-invasive, state-of-the-art technology to accurately locate leaks, saving resources, money, and time, and to avoid unnecessary property damage commonly associated with the conventional search and destroy methods utilized to detect leaks. If a water bill is unusually high or there’s water running indoors or moist ground outdoors, there may be a hidden plumbing leak. www.americanleakdetection.com

INNOVYZE INC.IWLive is a real-time monitoring and management system incorporating current system demands, SCADA, weather, and hydraulic modeling to provide control room staff with an advanced set of operations and security tools. With IWLive staff can receive alarms of predicted operational challenges (low pressures, tank levels, etc.), respond to real-time events (main break, extreme fi re fl ows, etc.), evaluate opera-tional scenarios that can save money or simply see the deviation between real-time and predicted results—creating a comprehensive water distribution detection and monitoring system without the need for more costly SCADA or monitoring hardware.www.innovyze.com

MARS CO.Built for small or large requirements, the MARS MiniGate Fixed Network Gateway System allows the implementation of the MARS SmartTransmitters in the fi eld and provides timely transmissions of the meter reading, alarm conditions date/time stamp, and more, via e-mail to the Network Administrator. Additionally, the base System includes two antennae, software, and network interface. www.marswater.com

CAROLLO ENGINEERSIn an era when many engineering fi rms are cutting R&D, the Carollo Research Group is going strong. The company believes it’s more important than ever to fi nd better, smarter ways to reduce capital costs, operation costs, energy use, waste, and carbon footprint. Carollo is currently improving desalination operations by optimizing concentrate management techniques that maximize water recovery. www.carollo.com

COMPANY WEBSITE PAGE

Aclara. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.aclaratech.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cover 4

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ET Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.etwater.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 9

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Isolux Technologies Div.; MEL Chemicals Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.zrpure.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 9

ITRON. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.itron.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Janney Capital . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.janney.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

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Micro-Comm Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.micro-comm-inc.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 7

Neptune Technology Group Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.neptunetg.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30–31

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Sewerin USA LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.sewerin.net . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 5

Sontek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.sontek.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Toro Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.toro.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 7

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THE BUZZ

Last week, a former EPA ad-ministrator, William K. Reilly, published an editorial ( www.nytimes.com/2011/11/29/opinion/keep-the-clean-water-

act-strong.html ) in the New York Times, marking the upcoming 40th anniversary of the Clean Water Act. He notes the many successes under the act—in 1972 when it came into being, he says, two-thirds of the country’s waters were not “swimmable and fish-able”—and, just as then-Administrator Carol Browner did in the very first issue of Stormwater magazine 11 years ago ( www.stormh2o.com/SW/Arti-cles/3376.aspx ), he cites the notorious event that helped spur the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency

itself: the 1969 fire on Ohio’s extremely polluted Cuyahoga River.

Reilly also notes the continued resistance to the act from big busi-nesses, which have often tried to find ways around it, such as trying to limit its jurisdiction by claiming that certain water bodies aren’t really covered, that they aren’t actually waters of the United States because they don’t con-nect with interstate waters. He specifi-cally mentions two Supreme Court decisions in the last decade that have made more ambiguous the question of which waters the act actually covers.

The larger question he drives at, though, has to do with the relation-ship between the economy and the environment. He writes, “The Ameri-

can economy has performed well over the past four decades: real per capita income has doubled since 1970 and pollution is down even with 50% more people. The choice between a healthy environment and a healthy economy is a false one.” Yet he acknowledges that when times are good, people feel bet-ter about enacting environmental pro-tections, and when times are rough, many feel those same protections are a luxury we can dispense with. He warns that we should not “buy into the mis-guided notion that reducing protection of our waters will somehow ignite the economy.”

Janice Kaspersen is the editor of Stormwater and Erosion Control.

We all know that man is not an island. Most of us don’t work inside a bubble, and so our profes-sional responsibilities often bleed into places that are not officially “in our job description.” With that in mind, we’re introducing a new feature: The Buzz. As you may or may not know, Forester Media, Inc. (our parent company) publishes six national publications that focus on everything from stormwater management to municipal solid waste to energy efficiency. Because of the over-

lap that occurs between many of the industries served by our magazines, we often find that the insight provided by the editor or contributors of one publication is relevant to a wide swathe of our national audience. From time to time, we will highlight some of these crossover pieces in the pages of our magazine, and we hope that this industry “buzz” will give you some new outlooks, different perspectives, and even more access to the tools and information you need.

About THE BUZZ

Economy and Environment By Janice Kaspersen

From our sister publication, Stormwater, at: www.stormh2o.com/SW/Blogs/1218.aspx

Now you can find the best of Water Efficiency all in one place.

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www.WaterEfficiency.net has a lot to offer professionals involved in water resource management who want to keep up. But the one most important reason for visiting the Water Efficiency home page is to get the breaking news in the industry. So you won’t want to miss Elizabeth Cutright’s Web editorial, spotlighting what’s new and interesting, and be sure to catch The Latest, a compendium of today’s hottest stories.

www.WaterEfficiency.net: keeping you informed about everything important in the water resource management industry.

S ome years ago I found a won-derful piece of property near the town of Weed, CA, and fol-lowing the dictates of my heart rather than my head, I went

ahead and bought it with no certainty as to my ability to develop a secure source of water without drilling clear to China. After receiving the assurance of the two top engineering firms in the area that China might indeed be my best bet, I de-cided to suspend my natural skepticism toward what I assumed to be the world of the occult, and went to see a water witch of good renown throughout the region, known simply as “Old George.” After explaining his preference for the term “hydrogeologist,” George led off on a high-speed reconnaissance lap of the property, pausing just occasionally to kick some dirt, sniff the air, and listen to the wind. Then he’d be off again, intui-tively coming to but never crossing the unmarked boundaries of the 640-acre section in what was for the most part lightly wooded rangeland.

At last he made his way to the top of a massive rock outcropping that com-manded a view of the entire Siskiyou Val-ley and its magnifi cent Mount Shasta at the southern reach, where, seating him-self comfortably, he pulled out a frayed notebook fi lled with strange squiggles and marks and proceeded to leaf through several pages with an occasional nod ac-companied by the word, “Yup.” Finally, af-ter gazing out over the valley for a period of about fi ve minutes, he rose and walked straight to one of the spots he had kicked half an hour earlier, where he stood for a minute more before pronouncing without

fanfare, “Here.”A week later, he led Stu Donald-

son’s drill rig to the spot, mentioned something about 60 feet and left . Two days more and Stu called to say that Old George was slipping. He’d had to go all the way to 68 feet to fi nd water. “’Tain’t no gusher,” he admitted, “but it’s sweet as clover,” and “enough for household needs and a few head of cattle.”

Pleased as I was for the water, on the whole I was disturbed by the episode, since George’s performance went counter to my beliefs about witchcraft . It wasn’t until months later that my concerns were laid to rest, when Stu explained how George was well and away the most expe-rienced hydrogeologist in the region, who in his younger days had developed much of the data for the US Geological Survey’s maps of the Shasta Valley by drilling, blasting, and making soundings in order to chart the complex geology of the area. “He knew where to fi nd water on your property long before you hired him,” the drill operator chuckled at the vision of my being hoodwinked by the air-sniffi ng act. “Beneath all the rustic disguise, Old George is a real professional who makes use of the best tools available.”

Nearly a year later, I ran George to ground at what I prefer to call the Longest Bar in Montague (CA), plying him with several shots of his favorite whisky before confronting him with my familiarity with his deception.

“Some people love to believe in witchcraft ,” he off ered with a grin. “Keeps ’em from facing the fact that there’s no substitute for hard facts and knowledge. In my business, without accurate maps,

you’ve got nothing.” Two more visits of the Famous Grouse and he began telling me of how his father, a mining engineer, taught him to survey in the mountains using a compass, transit, plumb bob, and chain. Sometimes it would take a week of brushing and scrambling around just to shoot lines and fi nd the boundaries of a property the size of mine. “Nowadays [1972] a person with a laser rangefi nder, compass, and an engineering calculator can do that in a day.” Aft er a pause to toss back another drink, he went on to explain what the future held in store.

“One day soon, this will all be done using satellite-based position-fi nding gear in conjunction with an array of subsurface monitors. All the x, y, and z coordinates will be fed into a computer, and it will come up with maps you won’t believe.” For a while we both sat in si-lence, each trying to envision what magic lay behind such promise. “Oh, Lord,” he whispered fervently, “I’d give anything to be around to see where that leads.”

“So would I,” I thought.A quarter of a century later, what

had seemed so impossibly advanced is now almost quaint. GPS, GIS, sensors covering every spectrum imaginable are employed to reveal Earth’s most carefully guarded secrets. Th eir use in vehicles is so common, that many of us have come to recognize that voice from above the dash-board as that of “Th e Other Woman.” In our neck of the woods, aft er a rather slow start in the waste business—it took what seemed forever for Caterpillar to place its fi rst CAES system at a landfi ll—GPS has become a staple in the industry, impor-tant not only in assessing compaction, but even moreso in making sure no air-space is lost through faulty lift placement.

Sad to say, Old George never got to see the realization of his vision—he died in 1974 aft er a brief illness—but all it would have done would be to have fi red his imagination to project the next leap . . . and then the next.

John Trotti is the editor of MSW Management and Grading and Excavation Contractor.

THE BUZZ

Directions From the Other Woman By John Trotti

From our sister publication, MSW Management, at: www.mswmanagement.com/MSW/Blogs/1079.aspx

Jobs and Water By Janice Kaspersen

From our sister publication, Stormwater, at: www.stormh2o.com/SW/Blogs/1120.aspx

A new report, released today by the organization Green for All, advocates investing in America’s water-related infrastructure. That’s

nothing new—the American Society of Civil Engineers ( www.infrastruc-turereportcard.org ) and the Asso-ciation of Equipment Manufacturers ( www.stormh2o.com/SW/Blogs/1196.aspx ), among others, have long been urging the same thing. What’s differ-ent here is the effect the report pre-dicts this investment would have on employment, and how those numbers were calculated.

The report Water Works: Re-building Infrastructure, Creating Jobs, Greening the Environment promotes the use of green infrastructure as a big part of the proposed investment. It first defines some common low-impact development or green infra-structure terms—rain garden, green roof, bioswale, permeable pavement, and so on—and offers examples of cit-ies, like Chicago, IL; Milwaukee, WI; and Portland, OR, that are successfully putting them to use. It also identifies co-benefits of investment in water infrastructure, such as energy sav-ings, economic development, and the reduced health risks that would result if we had fewer CSOs.

Produced by Green for All in partnership with American Rivers, the Economic Policy Institute, and the Pacific Institute, the report takes as a starting point EPA’s estimate of the investment needed to protect water quality and manage stormwater, which

is $188.4 billion. If that money were spent over the next five years, say the report’s authors, it would create 1.9 million jobs and generate $265.6 billion in economic activity. The jobs would result from work on infrastruc-ture projects themselves as well as from increased manufacturing to meet the projects’ needs and from increased hiring in other sectors as people working in infrastructure-building and manufacturing spend the money they’re earning.

Water Works includes state-by-state breakdown of the number of jobs that would potentially be created, as well as a list of specific jobs—pipelay-ers, cement masons, environmental engineers, and others—and the me-dian wage and education required for

each. Many require only a high school education and some additional train-ing rather than a college degree.

The report argues that the cost of infrastructure investment is at a historic low because of current low interest rates—incentive to act now rather than wait until the economy recovers. You can read more about the methods the authors used to ar-rive at their conclusions and decide for yourself whether you agree, but it’s an unusually detailed analysis, and worth a look. The full report is available for download from Green for All’s website: www.greenforall.org/resources/water-works.

Janice Kaspersen is the editor of Stormwater and Erosion Control.

As the age of municipal plumbing systems pass the century mark, planners find themselves faced with the thorny issue of whether to

replace, renovate, or go to Plan C, what-ever that might be. No matter what the choice, the chances are that it involves excavation work of some sort as part of the process.

Two of Grading & Excavation Contractor’s sister publications—Storm-water and Water Effi ciency—are directly involved with the situation, and anoth-er—Erosion Control—is involved, if only tangentially. All three recognize the crit-ical situation in which our nation fi nds itself as we proceed through the second decade of the 21st century, forced to face the painful fact that we can no longer ig-nore the inadequate state of much of our basic (mostly underground) infrastruc-ture. Age, of course, accounts for a lot of the problem, but there are other—equally fundamental—issues as well:

• Population growth over the last 100 years has pushed many systems be-yond their design limits. In 1900, the US population was 76 million, only one-third of which (25 million) lived in an urban setting. We were for the most part an agrarian society.

• Today, the US population is 300 mil-lion—a 400% increase—two-thirds of which (200 million) is now urban. Th at’s an eightfold increase in the demand for basic utility ser-vices, huge by any s t a n d a r d s , but there’s more.

• Over the past 100 years, urban per capita water consumption has tre-bled, rising from 60 gpd to 180 gpd. Th is means that at the very least our urban water consumption has risen from 1.5 to 360 billion gpd over the period. I’d be the fi rst to concede that all such fi gures are suspect, but I off er them not for accuracy’s sake, but to put into perspective what’s at stake over the next several decades.

Coming to Grips With Crumbling InfrastructureIn the past, I’ve gone with an estimated cost range of from $15 and $30 trillion that will be needed between now and 2050 to deal with the entire range of infrastructure shortfalls—transportation and electrical transmission included—but that range is based on what it might take to restore things to an adequate level based on past demands. This brings into focus two antithetical situa-tions: (1) tomorrow’s needs are bound to be greater than today’s, and (2) with all the competing needs for public funds, it’s highly unlikely those kinds of mon-ies will be set aside for infrastructural

repair or upgrade in anything approach-ing a proactive manner.

If past actions can be viewed as pro-log, we will wait until failures pose such an undeniable threat to public health, safety, and commerce that we are forced beyond fi nger-in-the-dike solutions. One of the biggest hurdles we will have to overcome is the institutionalization of systems vital to the conduct of our daily lives. One example is centralization, which made sense during the installation and initial build-out of our water, electric, and gas systems, and in many situations it still does. Th en, too, there are deeply rooted aspects of ownership, jurisdic-tion, and entitlement that compound the challenges associated with change. But as our urban centers have matured, spread, eroded, and given way to suburbaniza-tion, we have to ask ourselves and those who manage these institutions whether it makes sense to continue along traditional lines or seek new solutions.

Th ese are challenges that the stew-ards of our vital municipal services as well as our elected offi cials must face. In a more immediate way, however, it is we upon whom the burden of accom-plishing the multitude of the tasks will fall. Th e challenge will be great, but the opportunities even greater for those

willing to develop the skills and fi ne-tune the processes neces-

sary to the complete tasks that lie ahead.

John Trotti is the editor of MSW Management

and Grading and Excavation

Contractor.

THE BUZZ

Rumblings From the Underworld By John Trotti

From our sister publication, Grading and Excavation, at: www.gradingandexcavation.com/GX/Blogs/1071.aspx

: ©IS

Leaks eventually

tell you where they are...

but can you afford to wait?

A geyser caused by the rupture of a water main is a big, expensive problem to fix. Find leaks before they erupt with Aclara’s STAR® ZoneScan leak-detection solution. Jointly developed by Aclara and Zurich-based Gutermann International, the STAR ZoneScan locates leaks while they are still underground. The solution employs data loggers placed on gate or hydrant valves to sample the sound waves generated by leaks along the main, and automatically sends this data to the utility over the Aclara STAR® Network. There, the system’s software correlates the data, pinpointing any leaks to within a few feet.

The STAR ZoneScan solution saves time by automat-ing the process of collecting and transmitting data about the water system. It also encourages practical water conservation by helping utilities identify and fix leaks before they become costly, water-wasting emergencies. For more information, please contact us at STARZoneScan@aclara.com or visit us at bit.ly/STARZoneScan.

Water Efficiency Mar-Apr-2012

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