540 Technologies™ Participates in EPA Webinar to Help Small Water Systems Stem Losses

SELINSGROVE, Pa. –  540 Technologies™, an environmental and data solutions provider that helps public and private utilities and other entities become more efficient, cost effective and environmentally responsible, offered techniques for water-loss management to operators of small U.S. water systems as part of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency webinar series designed for those who manage such systems. 

Presenting a webinar titled “Water Loss and Distribution System Infrastructure: Leak Detection and Cost Savings,” John Brutz, general manager of 540 Technologies, told water system operators they need to understand the relationship between the water they’re treating and pumping and the water they’re losing through hidden leaks, pipe bursts and other factors if they want to improve their bottom lines.

Based on the water industry’s traditional expectation that utilities will lose approximately 20 percent of the water they process, the number of gallons they process daily and the cost each utility pays to pump, treat and distribute water, Brutz showed participants the amount of money their utilities could be losing by pumping and treating water that never reaches an end user. 

According to Brutz, surveys of water systems in northeastern Pennsylvania reveal that treatment costs range from $1 to $4 for every 1,000 gallons of water a utility processes and attempts to deliver, depending on the complexity of the disinfection and filtration system involved. He added that costs can run as high as $5 to $6 per 1,000 gallons for utilities that operate what are known as consecutive systems where one utility purchases water from another. 

Brutz showed that a utility with a treatment and distribution cost of $3 per 1,000 gallons that processes a half-million gallons of water daily is losing $300 per day.

“That’s costing you $109,500 per year in real cash that is basically being drained into the ground,” said Brutz. He added that, as the number of gallons a utility processes increases, and the higher the utility’s water-production costs are, the larger the organization’s losses will be. Using a chart that he referred to as “eye-opening,” Brutz showed that a utility that processes five-million gallons a day at a cost of $4 per 1,000 gallons would lose $4,000 a day or approximately $1.5 million a year in lost water.

“It’s imperative that you really take a look at those numbers to see what your losses are and what your potential gains could be,” Brutz said.

Brutz offered information about free industry resources as well as cost-saving, leading-edge technologies and tools that water system operators can implement to help them identify, assess and manage water loss. These include water audits to quantify real verses assumed water loss, insertion meters for sub-metering in district metered areas to measure water flow and identify breaks, acoustic leak-detection data loggers and correlators to localize and pinpoint leaks, and remote pressure-monitoring and modulation equipment that enables water-system operators to adjust pressure-relief valves based on consumption patterns or by time of day to avoid pipe bursts.

Brutz made the July 25, 2017, presentation on behalf of FlowNetworx, the name under which the company debuted in March 2017. Since November 2017, the environmental and data solutions provider is now doing business as 540 Technologies to better reflect the company’s growing smart city portfolio, which now also includes smart grid offerings.  

The EPA’s Office of Research and Development and Office of Water are offering the free webinar series as a public service to communicate the results of current research on drinking-water systems as well as EPA priorities. The monthly webinars also allow the EPA to gather information on the challenges the nation’s small water systems face so that EPA scientists and engineers can modify their research to help solve real-world problems. Those attending the live webinars are eligible to receive one continuing-education contact hour for each webinar. 

Recordings of the EPA’s small systems monthly webinar-series presentations are available on the agency’s website at https://www.epa.gov/water-research/small-drinking-water-systems-webinar-series as well as the EPA’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/USEPAgov. The Water Loss and Distribution System Infrastructure: Leak Detection and Cost Savings webinar featuring Brutz’ presentation can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztoSoqDBKqA.

Beyond his work with water leak detection, Brutz has nearly two decades’ experience operating and managing water and wastewater treatment plants and water distribution and collection systems. A thought leader and resource to many water system operators on the East Coast, he has extensive experience in the water-distribution management and wastewater industries. Brutz is past chairman of the Pennsylvania Water and Wastewater Operator Certification Board and a past instructor of small water system operation and maintenance for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. His presentations on leak detection, water system vulnerability, fire hydrants and flow testing and other water-distribution management issues have been featured at the National Energy Efficiency Forum in San Diego, the Eastern Meter Management Association in Washington, D.C., and at educational and training events for the Pennsylvania Rural Water Association, the Water Works Operators’ Association of Pennsylvania, and the Pennsylvania chapter of the American Water Works Association. 

In addition to leak-detection, pressure control, pipe diagnostics and other water-loss management strategies, 540 Technologies also specializes in wastewater metering and monitoring, smart grid solutions such as smart lighting and smart electric metering, and data acquisition and management.