National Scince Foundation
  Office of Industrial Innovation
  SBIR⁄STTR Phase II Grantee Conference
  May 16-20, 2006
  Louisville, Kentucky

SBIR Phase II: Pipeline Integrity in Natural Gas Distribution and Transmission Systems

by Paul Lander

Energy Presentation Times
Friday May 19, 2006
2:30 – 2:50

ABSTRACT

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II research project will solve challenging problems in processing, tracking, and communicating vibration recordings from remote locationsin pipelines to determine whether a pipeline has suffered an integrity breach. The solutions include design of new battery-powered, wireless-enabled, rugged field instruments for the harsh pipeline environment, and the development of advanced signal processing methods to characterizeand interpret the complex acoustic energy in pipelines.

The broader impact of this research project will be to provide the industry with state-of-the-art, cost-effective equipment that will allow owners and operators to protect their investment in pipeline infrastructure and to meet the mandated pipeline integrity management regulations safely, efficiently and effectively. The societal impact will be increased personal safety throughfaster and more accurate inspection methods and the preservation of continued affordable energy transportation into the future.

Pipe Locating/Leak Detection – Advances In Technology


Massachusetts Water Works Association, Inc.
Course ID # MWWA 06-001

The Massachusetts Water Works Association is offering a seminar on Pipe Locating and Leak Detection - Advances in Technology. Attendees will receive a basic understanding of how pipe-locating equipment works, as well as leak detection basics. Theory of standard equipment, new technological developments, and the use of correlator will be discussed. MA Dig Safe will also present. Attendees completing this seminar will be awarded 0.3 CEUs (equivalent to 3.0 Training Contact Hours).
Attendance Policy: Participants must attend 90% of the program and complete a session evaluation form to be eligible for CEUs.

LOCATION:	Easton DPW/ Water Division 413 Bay Road, So. Easton, MA
DATE:	April 12, 2006
TIME:	8:30 a.m.  –  12:30 p.m.
INSTRUCTORS:	Warren S. Verga, Utilitronics   Paul Landers, Flow Metrix, Inc.   Robert S. Finelli, Exec. Dir, Dig Safe System, Inc.
AGENDA:
8:30 – 8:45 a.m.	Registration
8:45 – 9:15 a.m.	MA Dig Safe Operations at the Dig Safe Call Center Utility and Excavator Responsibilities Dig Safe authorization
9:15 – 10:45 a.m.	Basic Theory and Operation of Pipe Locators Techniques for Transmitting Signals Dealing with Congested Locations Depth Estimates and When to Test Them
10:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.	Leak Detection Basic Theory of Instrumentation Advances in Technology and New Methods to Approach Unaccounted for Water Loss Pin-pointing With Software
12:15 p.m. – 12:30 p.m.	Conclusion/Course Evaluations
	Please complete and mail the Registration Form on the back of notice   For more information call Darlene Gurnon at (860) 896-3382

Understanding Water Loss Control
a brief overview of the new water audit methodology

Session 9: Water Conservation
By Bud Reed
Regional Sales Manager

	2006 Spring Conference & Expo Callaway Gardens,     April 4-5, 2006 Featured Topics at this Conference: Meter Madness Groundwater Session Track FOG Session Incident Command System Workshop Backflow Prevention Activated Sludge Workshop for Operators Cool Tools for Operators And much more

Report from Stockholm - World Water Week 2005

By Paul Lander

The Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) has been hosting the world water forum for 15 years and attending it has been on my wish list for 12. The event was held in Stockholm Sweden from August 22-26, 2005 and this year the pre-conference workshop was on Demand Management, so it seemed an opportune time to take part. It was a great experience and provided me exposure to broader water issues, but I was disappointed at how little water efficiency and conservation was included in the overall discussion.

The Sunday workshop on Demand Management offered the perspective of practitioners from South Africa, India, China, and the U.S. (me). Two common themes emerged from the workshop: 1) Although conservation is often labeled a ‘soft' solution, it is very HARD work! and 2) Many places have very little institutional capacity for implementing conservation programs and policies. The water management community in most countries is so biased toward the supply-side (real news there), that it is very hard to ‘re-tool' agencies to the necessary work of efficiency and conservation.

The presentation from China was symbolic of the hard work ahead of all of us: the government water management agencies there have adopted the admirable, if daunting, goal of creating a ‘water conservation society', but population pressures on water resources make it very difficult for even the most advanced efficiencies to keep up with demand.
Overall, it was time well spent. I enjoyed the city immensely, learned a few things, and met some great folks from around the world who are also committed to making water conservation a part of the future.

_________________________
^* Paul Lander, Ph.D. is the Water Conservation Coordinator for the City of Boulder.