About The Picture ……..

It's Hard To Imagine, But This Is Real …………

I'm Bud Reed, and I operate Leakage Consultants, a small (water loss) consultancy firm that I established in 1989, originally named Compliance Systems, to address asset issues within the utility and energy industries. Note that 'consultancy', in this case, means that I work (outside) for a living. I also sell stuff (LocateUnderground.com, b3o ebviroTek), but mainly work outside. It's a living, not always a good one, but it's what I do. I have previously been employed by Heath Consultants, LeakTek and joined a start-up, Flow Metrix, in 1999 as the original director of sales (DigiCorr, Zcorr digital correlation systems, DLD, MLOG). Itron bought Flow Metrix in 2006, and fired me in Jan., 2009. And, regardless of what FCS had been telling our customers, I'm not dead. (More, later at www.WaterLossBlog.com.)

After the Itron thing, my little firm won a contract to perform a long-term water loss control program for a small Southern city, who was losing a hard $1 million a year in Non-Revenue
Water. Through the analysis of a Top-Down AWWA/IWA Water audit, we determined that leakage accounted for approximately $800,000 of the total amount that they spent annually for water, at $3.00 per Kgal. They definitely needed assistance, and we provided a proposal.

The almost $300,000 investment included an initial comprehensive leak survey, PLUS a permanently installed leak detection system, consisting of 'leak noise' loggers, and monthly data collection and leak pinpointing for 12 months. Ironically, Itron would not set up my firm as a distributor, so we went with the Metrotech leak logger instead of Itron's MLOG, or FCS' PermaLog. Which was a sound decision because both MLOG, and PermaLog, were experiencing some serious technical difficulties at that time, including failure rates of 70%+. This little City is now the first in its State, and one of the very few utilities in the USA with 100% coverage by a permanently installed leak detection system. And it's working great, and saving money. But it hasn't been an easy road.

The Pathetic Story Behind The Photo!

The photo was taken on August 20, 2009, and was at a location of a leak we discovered via the initial comprehensive leak survey earlier that day. It was repaired  March 29, 2011. It was large, not huge, but over 100 gpm, when repaired. If we used an average leak rate of 50 gpm (it was, I'm sure, smaller when we found it, than when they repaired it), and a run time of 587 days, 24 hours per day, it wasted over 42 million gallons of water. It had probably been running long before we found it, but let's use only what we know.(?) Remember, they're buying water at $3.00 per thousand, so this one leak not only wasted over 42 million gallons, it cost the city over $126,000.00 in cold, hard cash. It's really even more pathetic when you realize that there are a few more leaks found during the initial 2009 survey that are still un-repaired. Yes, that's right, STILL UN-REPAIRED!

This issue exposes the real, and very apparent cause of high water loss - The Head-Up-Your-Fanny-Somebody-Else-Will-Fix-It-Because-I'm-Too-Busy-And-Too-Lazy-Syndrome. It's obvious to even my Granddaughter that water losses do not go down until the leaks are fixed, and this utility is not the only one.

Since then, I've partnered with a utility contractor to provide optional repairs for the leaks discovered.

WHICH DIRECTION IS YOUR UTILITY TAKING TO CONTROL YOUR WATER LOSSES?
If you're interested, I would like to invite you to "imagine the future" by attending an imaginexpo - Regional events held on a much smaller scale than a Trade Show - But filled with information on the newest tools for water loss control, sewer I&I reduction and facility locating; As well as information on just how to establish world-class water loss recovery and sewer I&I abatement programs.

You're invited, so Visit imaginexpos.com to register and investigate the latest technologies to help reduce your water loss, and pick up a few pointers on leak detection and water accountability. Any fees associated with the events are listed on the site.

Have a great day.