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Strategic Acquisition Enhances Solutions and Adds Value for Water Utilities
November 21, 2006 05:41 PM Eastern Time
SPOKANE, Wash. – (BUSINESS WIRE)--Itron Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI) announced today that it has signed an agreement to acquire all of the outstanding capital stock of Flow Metrix, Inc. in a cash-for-stock merger.
Flow Metrix develops and manufactures advanced leak detection systems for underground pipelines which allow customers to reduce their "unaccounted for" water and improve efficiency.
The newest product from Flow Metrix is the MLOG™ leak detection system, a network of intelligent leak detecting sensors which use acoustics to monitor the entire water distribution system. A typical Flow Metrix installation includes a ratio of one MLOG sensor for approximately every ten water meters and uses Automated Meter Reading (AMR) systems to transmit leak information from underground pipes to the utility. MLOG software is used to analyze the data collected and provide the utility with intelligent analysis to pinpoint leaks.
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By Rich AndersonSeptember 25, 2006
..." The new state-of-the-art involves a more sophisticated acoustic monitoring technology. An acoustic device is connected directly to a pipe and can detect leaks via sounds (vibrations) traveling through the pipes. Leak noise exhibits certain characteristics with propagation and frequency signatures that can be interpreted to be pipe breaks. The acoustic device filters the signatures and can amplify them for better analysis. Software is then used to identify patterns that allow them to be fit into categories. One such software capability is named the MLOG System. This system can translate noise into color maps that help managers pinpoint leaks. Malone stated that the acoustic translations not only help pinpoint leaks, but they significantly decrease the manpower required to field check the leak point. Malone said that the MLOG System can be coupled with an advanced AMR system to yield multiple benefits of full-cost accounting, near perfect customer billing and sophisticated, low-cost leak detection to reduce UAW. Currently, the combined AMR and MLOG systems are being field tested in Irvington (NJ).
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Oak Forest, IL – Public Works Director Troy Ishler announced today that Mayor JoAnn Kelly and the City Council have approved a new city-wide water leak detection system called MLOG by Flowmetrix of Maynard, MA. The Oak Forest Water Department will soon be able to automatically find hidden underground water leaks during the night, while residents sleep.
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By Betsy Loeff
AMRA News Writer
Those street-closing water main breaks may send hundreds of gallons per minute into a utility’s water losses, but they’re not the biggest water wasters for most organizations, say engineers at Flow Metrix, Inc., an 11-year-old manufacturer of leak-detection solutions. According to the Flow Metrix team, the very visible torrents from burst mains typically account for less than 1 percent of a utility’s water production. “A service line leak of 6.5 gallons per minute will lose more water (than a main break) every 90 days and will typically run undetected for several years,” the engineers maintain..."
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“American Water Announces Pilot Program in Water Loss Management”
By utilizing the MLOG leak detection
system, American Water will reduce operating expenses, decrease water wastage
and increase water availability in Connellsville. "This program promotes
water resource conservation and gives American Water an affordable, round-the-clock
means of detecting and repairing water leaks ..."
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“American Water Leads Research Projects Totaling $1.3 Million”
..."The second project, which will span the next two years, will elevate recently introduced leak detection technology to the next level. Working with the National Research Council of Canada, Flow Metrix and Hexagram, American Water researchers will use Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) systems to monitor and analyze acoustic vibrations in pipes, predicting if and when the pipes will burst. Project Manager David Hughes, an infrastructure engineer at American Water, explains that "if we can confirm that leaking water pipes go through several stages of progressive failure, then water utilities can proactively manage water main failures and schedule repairs within the distribution network.".
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“Mayor Announces new Water Leak Surveillance Tool”
“The sophistication and professionalism of our Water Department is light years ahead of most water utilities in the Capital District and beyond,” Mayor Jennings said. “This will help us detect wasted water as well as find leaks before they result in collapsed streets and sidewalks, and a loss of water for Albany residents.”
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“American Water Leads Research Projects Totaling $1.3 Million”
...“The second project, which will span the next two years, will elevate recently introduced leak detection technology to the next level. Working with the National Research Council of Canada, Flow Metrix and Hexagram, American Water researchers will use Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) systems to monitor and analyze acoustic vibrations in pipes, predicting if and when the pipes will burst. ”
...“Leaks are a problem plaguing public water systems nationwide. The ability to manage leaks and predict when breaks might occur is instrumental to the preservation of water utility infrastructure.”
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“Continuous System Leak Monitoring – From Start To Repair. Project #3183”
Project Summary:
Will evaluate the potential of a daily acoustic monitoring system to locate leaks promptly. Will identify differences in pipe, and the subsurface environment between the onset of detectable subsurface flow and the time when the leak actually surfaces. Will also study how leaks of varying types can be categorized by acoustic signature and pipe characteristics. Will examine the structural characteristics of breaks captured near the time the leak starts, to gain additional insights into the dynamics of failure.
Collaboration partners:
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Water & Waste Pipe Testing Inc. What's New
...“ Flow Metrix Inc. of Maynard, MA., has developed advanced digital correlating loggers (DCL'S) that can be utilized during the daytime or one overnight surveillance. Overnight loggers are preset to record any leakage present during low customer usage and is ideal for areas where heavy vehicle traffic is present, such as a main roadway or in a downtown area of a city or town. Loggers are then retrieved in the morning and placed into the docking station that connects to a laptop computer. Information is then downloaded from the loggers to indicate any potential water leakage. ”
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“American Water Emphasizes Importance Of Pipe Leak Detection And Repairing”
..."Our goal is to promote water resource conservation and give American Water an affordable, round-the-clock means of detecting and repairing water leaks," continued Morgan. The Company is utilizing the MLOG leak detection system to reduce operating expenses, decrease water wastage and increase water availability. The newly offered program is the first-of-its-kind that uses acoustic information from an automatic meter reading (AMR) system to detect and repair water leaks."
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“AMR: Pilot Program to Detect & Repair Water Leaks”
...“each day, six billion gallons of clean, treated drinking water disappears, mostly due to old, leaky pipes and mains ...enough water to serve the population of a state the size of California."... ...“How about this scenario, your sitting at your desk and up pops a screen showing you where you water main is leaking in the neighborhood down the street. Call the repair crew and off you go. No damage, no "hole in the road" on the 6 o'clock news. Pretty neat, read on! ... Joe Taylor, Editor”
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“American Water Announces Pilot Program in Water Loss Management”
...“The unique AMR program, piloted in the Connellsville, PA water system, has equipped 500 of the water meters with an " MLOG" leak detecting sensor, manufactured by Flow Metrix, and an AMR transmitter as part of a fixed network system designed by Hexagram, Inc. Permanently installed on pipes near water service meters, MLOG sensors record sound vibrations over a period of four hours each night. Specially designed software analyzes these acoustical patterns and assigns them one of four leak categories: no leak present, possible leak, probable leak, or no data available”
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“Simultaneous Communication of Acoustic Data and Meter Readings Automatically”
D Hughes, W Morgan, R Titus
American Water
...“Several years ago, American Water approached well established leak detection companies in search of a low cost, permanent leak detection system that could be distributed throughout a water system and provide a leak analysis “on demand.” Flow Metrix, Maynard, MA responded with an effort culminating in the device known as MLOG.
The “ MLOG” leak detecting sensor can be strapped to active service pipes and is designed to monitor sound on a nightly basis. The range of the MLOG extends about 500 feet for metal pipes, reaching into the distribution system and detecting “noise” from other nearby services. Because of the sensitivity of the sensor, only a small percentage of services must be equipped with the unit in order to monitor the entire distribution system. ”
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“Managing water loss”
...“Innovations like MLOG technology theoretically enable a constant, continuous survey of water distribution systems. This means leaks can be detected and repaired much earlier than was previously possible, before becoming huge bursts and causing major property damage and water loss.."... ...“ Using predictive tools, it has been estimated that the investment, primarily the equipment itself, will be repaid in two to four years.”
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“American Water Announces Water Loss Management Pilot Program”
...Permanently installed on pipes near water service meters, MLOG sensors record sound vibrations over a period of four hours each night. Specially designed software analyzes these acoustical patterns and assigns them one of four leak categories: no leak present, possible leak, probable leak, or no data available.
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“Listen closely on how to find leaky pipes”
...“New acoustic technology devices show promise in detecting leaking buried pipes long before they break, saving valuable water supplies and avoiding major repair expenses."...
...“ An MLOG sensor strapped to a metal pipe can monitor sounds up to 500 feet away. That sensitivity means only a small portion of the pipe network, often as little as 10 percent, needs to be monitored by each unit, rather than having to install one-per-customer, which reduces the cost of the MLOG units to about $15 per customer connection”
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