Congratulations to our very own Chuck Hansen who has just been included in the 2021 Environment+Energy Leader 100 List! 🏆 The annual award recognizes movers and shakers who are pioneers & trailblazers in creating innovative solutions dedicated to the field of sustainable environmental and energy solutions.
In addition to work with the largest water utilities in the world to reduce Non-Revenue Water #nrw and Water Loss through machine-intelligent non-acoustic technology, Electro Scan Inc.‘s selection by PETRONAS as Winner in its recent TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGE for Underground Pipeline Condition Assessment were key factors in Chuck Hansen‘s addition to the E+E LEADER Top 100 List.
“I’m delighted to represent the water industry and sharing this honor with such an esteemed group of people from so many different industries. Bringing long-term substantive Improvements in environment and energy management that are economically feasible are some of the most important contributions any of us can make. And it’s great to see innovative solutions coming from all sectors of the economy.” – Chuck Hansen, Chairman, CEO, & Founder, Electro Scan Inc.
Thank you, Chuck, for helping guide Electro Scan and its international Environment+Energy customers to adopting clean and dependable carbon-efficient energy solutions to improve and replace legacy Acoustic, CCTV, and other subjective inspection technologies.
Electro Scan Inc. is excited to announce that we are having a GRAND RE-OPENING & OPEN HOUSE, May 20th and 21st to celebrate the launch of our new Trident Potable Water Leak Detection Probe.
See our new Sacramento-based Leak Detection Training Facility, enjoy food and beverage in the California sunshine, meet our team of developers, engineers, and field technicians, and get entered to win 1 of 2 free 1-day water inspections.
The Electro Scan DELTA (large diameter) and TRIDENT (smaller diameter push rod) represents a breakthrough in pressurized leak detection, designed for water mains, transmission pipes, and sewer force mains.
Operating using the same FELL technology as our sewer probes, capable of locating and quantifying leaks with 3/8” locational accuracy, our FELL multi-sensor water solution uses CCTV to allow smooth navigation and identify obstructions and illegal connections.
With TRIDENT and CriticalH20 your inspection results are available within minutes.
Greetings from Jersey, The Channel Islands, UK! Watching Electro Scan Inc. since 2014, the Government of Jersey awarded Electro Scan (UK) Ltd. a contract to survey gravity sewers after CCTV continued providing incomplete or inaccurate data on infiltration.
Brad Weston and Chris Chesworth arrived by ferry earlier this week with beautiful weather and lots of paperwork for entry.
American & British Electro Scan crews, customers, and contractors, have worked throughout COVID-19 with several new orders for purchase of Electro Scan equipment.
And, just in time to address mega-drought conditions, worldwide and at home in the State of California, Electro Scan’s technology is now able to survey pressurized water mains!
REQUEST INFORMATION ABOUT ELECTRO SCAN’s NEW WATER LEAK DETECTION SOLUTION https://lnkd.in/gK_N7em
M.E. Simpson Brings Machine-Intelligent Pipe Condition Assessment Technology to Potable Water, Force Main, and Gravity Sewers, Without Interruption of Services
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES, February 22, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ — Electro Scan Inc. is pleased to announce a strategic partnership with M.E. Simpson Company, Inc., a leading provider of leak detection services based in Valparaiso, Indiana, exclusively representing Electro Scan products throughout a seven-state Midwest territory. In addition to representing the company’s products, M.E. Simpson also becomes an Authorized Service Provider (ASP) certified to offer Focused Electrode Leak Location (FELL) services throughout its territory.
For over 40-years, M.E. Simpson has brought cutting-edge technologies to its public and private clients to solve complex water distribution and wastewater collection problems and has built a reputation for providing actionable results.
“Electro Scan’s ability to locate leaks within 1cm and measure each leak’s severity in gallons per minute immediately caught my eye,” stated Michael Simpson, Chief Executive Offer, M.E. Simpson Company, Inc.
“M.E. Simpson prides itself on its long history of adopting proven solutions that offer the best results for its clients. A key factor in our decision to offer Electro Scan was its machine-based accuracy of finding & measuring leaks without requiring any technical interpretations,” stated Simpson.
“Electro Scan’s ability to locate leaks within 1cm and measure each leak’s severity in gallons per minute immediately caught my eye.“
— Michael Simpson, Chief Executive Officer, M.E. Simpson Co., Inc.
Electro Scan will install its award-winning ES-660 pipeline leak detection equipment in an existing M.E. Simpson inspection truck and train its field crews to conduct pipeline surveys in accordance with ASTM F2550.
Electro Scan supports a comprehensive product library allowing its in-house and authorized contractors to assess pipe diameters ranging from 2 inches (50mm) to 72 inches (1800mm).
The newly certified Electro Scan crews will be able to perform Focused Electrode Leak Location (FELL) inspections throughout M.E. Simpson’s Midwest territory, including Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.
Due to Electro Scan’s dramatic growth, other opportunities to deploy M.E. Simpson crews outside their territory will be decided on a case-by-case basis.
Electro Scan’s ASP business model allows M.E. Simpson to immediately offer innovative FELL services to its client base without the need for additional suppliers.
In addition to the new field equipment, M.E. Simpson will utilize Electro Scan’s award-winning Critical Sewers® cloud-based application, featuring immediate access to fully processed reports within minutes after completing field surveys.
“Our team could not be more pleased and excited to offer Electro Scan’s unique and powerful technology,” continued Simpson.
The partnership allows M.E. Simpson to offer its municipal clients machine-intelligent sewer infiltration studies, rehabilitation certifications, and force main investigations with Electro Scan’s gravity inspection product suite. Electro Scan is delighted to support M.E. Simpson’s Electro Scan equipment and data management needs.
“The meticulous care that M.E. Simpson serves their clients is the ideal partner want to provide Electro Scan services,” stated Chuck Hansen, Founder, Electro Scan Inc.
“The relationships Mike Simpson has developed over his career are based on successful results, accountability, and a high level of customer service, especially serving small and mid-sized municipal clients. Mike’s proven track record of thought leadership, while actively questioning the typical “business as usual” nature of most suppliers, will really help water & sewer utilities ‘Build Back Better’ as ratepayers return from mandated COVID-19 lockdowns,” continued Hansen.
Coinciding with the U.S. launch of Electro Scan’s potable water and sewer force main multi-sensor inspection product suite, M.E. Simpson will be able to offer the company’s DELTA and TRIDENT pressurized pipe inspection solutions.
Multi-sensor probe combines Acoustic (legacy listening), CCTV (visual navigation), and Conductivity (pinpoint leak location), in a single in-pipe tethered platform.
These tethered technologies include low voltage conductivity, high-definition closed-circuit television (CCTV), acoustic sensors, and continuous pressure sensor to allow Electro Scan to offer the same leak location and quantification capabilities for 3 to 60-inch water mains and transmission pipes of any pipe material, providing a comprehensive assessment from a single pipe insertion.
Of all pipe surveys completed in the last 10 years, Electro Scan’s FELL technology has identified an average of 750 leaks per mile and has assessed over 60 pipe materials.
Electro Scan Develops Pipe-Specific Leak Detection Assessments for Each Pipe Material.
A key advantage of FELL technology is its ability to automatically identify and quantify leaks at joints, customer lateral connections, and cracks.
FELL technology can also identify “pinhole” leaks from trenchless rehabilitation projects, including Cured-In-Place Pipe (CIPP), as well as defects at customer lateral locations that may not have been present before lining.
Electro Scan’s sixth annual CIPP Leakage Survey, released January 1, 2021, found that 33% of all CIPP inspected in 2020 showed leakage rates of over 20 GPM. Since 2014, Electro Scan has conducted over 1,500 CIPP inspections around the world, from 40 different suppliers.
Electro Scan’s FELL technology has been evaluated in benchmark studies by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM), the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the American Water Works Association (AWWA), and the Water Environment & Reuse Foundation (WERF).
Likewise, the German-based Institute of Underground Infrastructure (IKT), UK-based Water Research Centre (WRc), and the Japan Sewer Collection System Maintenance Association (JASCOMA) have all studied and endorsed FELL technology for pipeline condition inspection, with WRc representing Electro Scan products from 2015-2020, when Electro Scan introduced its own pressurized pipe inspection solutions for the UK water market.
Electro Scan is the only worldwide supplier that produces reports in accordance with ASTM F2550, ‘Standard Practice for Locating Leaks in Sewer Pipes by Measuring the Variation of Electric Current Flow Through the Pipe Wall’ and was recently awarded its fourteenth patent, with many additional patents pending.
ABOUT M.E. SIMPSON COMPANY, INC. M.E. Simpson Co., Inc. was founded in 1979 by Marvin E. Simpson, who started in the Water Works Industry in 1956 and spent the next 23 years working for various manufacturers of pipe, valves, and water meters. M.E. Simpson Company’s mission is to provide technical services to municipal and private Water Utilities in the Midwest. In the last 20 years, the company has worked not only with many Midwestern Water Utilities and has also helped Water Utilities throughout the United States and its territories.
ABOUT ELECTRO SCAN INC. Electro Scan Inc., a leading supplier of machine-intelligent pipeline assessment products and services for the water & wastewater pipeline market, was recognized at the 2021 IoT Breakthrough Awards as ‘Leak Detection Solution of the Year’. Electro Scan Inc. develops proprietary pipe condition assessment equipment, delivers field services, and offers cloud-based data processing and reporting applications that automatically locate, measure, and report defects in sewer, water, and natural gas pipelines, typically not found by legacy inspection methods.
California-based Electro Scan Inc. Wins the Prestigious “Leak Detection Solution of the Year” Award for 2021 as first technology to accuracy locate & measure leakage in Gallons per Minute or Liters per Second.
Persistent levels of I&I drive a progressive utility to install Electro Scan’s innovative FELL inspection tool to pinpoint sources of infiltration.
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, US, February 18, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ — Electro Scan Inc. announced today that a large U.S. Southeastern utility has purchased and installed the company’s innovative and industry-leading Focused Electrode Leak Location (FELL) technology into one of its existing closed-circuit television (CCTV) pipe inspection trucks. This “plug-and-play” FELL installation immediately transformed their infiltration inspection program with the ability to pinpoint exact locations of infiltration, not previously possible with CCTV cameras.
“The utility reached out to Electro Scan in July 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and requested a FELL technology demonstration in their own system. Surveying existing pipe materials and recently installed Cured-In-Place Pipe (CIPP) liners, the resulting data convinced utility managers they had finally found an inspection approach that made sense,” stated Mike App, Vice President, Electro Scan Inc.
“The field demonstration offered a clear view of how powerful FELL data is for helping set rehabilitation priorities,” continued App.
Facing significant unwanted infiltration in its gravity sewer collection network, and the serious consequences from overloading available wastewater treatment capacity, the utility had been frustrated for decades in using conventional inspection technologies, such as CCTV, Smoke Testing, and Dye Flood Testing, without meaningful results or success in reducing infiltration.
“Utilities everywhere are finding that our innovative condition assessment technology can help save millions of dollars in cost avoidance.“
— Chuck Hansen, Chairman & Founder, Electro Scan Inc.
Costly sewer lining programs that relied on CCTV to certify water tightness were shown to be equally ineffective.
With only 1 day of training after installing Electro Scan’s award-winning FELL inspection equipment, the utility’s crews were able to safely self-perform gravity line inspections.
Electro Scan installed its FELL inspection equipment into the utility’s existing CCTV inspection trucks in late 2020, taking only 6 hours. Company staff then provided training and initial oversight to utility crew members, and within 1 day the utility was performing inspections with in-house personnel.
Utility crews could easily change from CCTV to FELL, and back again, in less than five minutes, without the need for any specialized tools or complicated procedures.
Overnight, the new FELL capabilities completely changed how rehabilitation decisions were made.
Having just installed their FELL inspection equipment, the utility is now completing over 2,100 feet per day to develop targeted rehabilitation strategies and save money.
“From the first day, everybody jumped right in to help make this inspection approach a success, and now the team is averaging more than 2,100 feet of FELL pipe inspection per day. In fact, they have already completed six (6) miles of inspection work in 2021 alone,” shared Mackenzie App, Eastern Field Sales Manager and Operations Specialist.
“Working with this team was exciting because they know this technology is making a big difference,” App continued.
With a significant amount of unlined Vitrified Clay Pipe (VCP) remaining in their system, the field demonstration remarkably showed that while there are some pipes contributing to excessive infiltration rates, many were not. In fact, results indicated that the so-called “80/20” rule was in full effect – where 80% of the infiltration problems originated from just 20% of the pipes; even from VCP lines that were 50-years-old or more.
“We see this time and again at almost every utility, across the nation” offered Mike Condran, PE, Vice President and Southeast Regional Director, Electro Scan, Inc.
Plagued by excessive infiltration and with no material success using legacy CCTV inspection, the utility needed to find a better way to locate and quantify leaks in its gravity system.
“Unambiguous and unbiased FELL data documents precisely where the worst pipe defects are located, and amazingly only a handful of those contribute the majority of infiltration,” Condran stated. “FELL data gives “X marks the spot” clarity to owners, delivering convincing information to make proper risk-based decisions and reduce capital spending,” continued Condran.
Interested parties are invited to watch this informative video on how FELL inspection locates leaks at joints in VCP or newly rehabilitated pipes.
Another significant issue for the utility was the ability to inspect large diameter interceptors, which normally had to be bypassed to complete traditional CCTV inspection. Since FELL assessment never requires cleaning or bypass pumping, the utility is now able to quickly assess conditions in their interceptors that had never before been inspected.
An essential part of the decision to invest in FELL technology was the fact that previous legacy pipe inspection programs gave inconsistent and often contradictory results. Frustrated with the status quo for trying to control infiltration, utility managers knew they needed to find a more reliable and scientific approach.
After the field demonstration, utility decision-makers reached out to their counterparts from other utilities across the country, that had adopted FELL inspection, to verify successes with this innovative technique. With Electro Scan’s unique technology gaining broad acceptance to support both smart rehabilitation priority setting and to document post-rehabilitation water tightness, the decision to purchase the equipment was easy to make.
In addition to the utility’s new capability to inspect its gravity collection lines, Electro Scan recently announced its revolutionary ‘DELTA’ and ‘TRIDENT’ multi-sensor tethered probes, available to assess force main condition.
Electro Scan has introduced its revolutionary multi-sensor Delta probe for use in pressure applications, for potable transmission mains and force mains, offering the same precise leak location and quantification capabilities as in gravity systems.
Several Electro Scan force main inspection projects are already scheduled this year from California to Florida.
“Over the past 10 years, Electro Scan has completed nearly 200 gravity pipe inspection projects totaling more than 4 million linear feet,” stated Chuck Hansen, Founder & Chairman, Electro Scan Inc.
“And now, pipeline owners have the ability to assess pressurized pipes using FELL technology, including potable water networks and sewer force main to precisely locate defects that can prevent catastrophic failures,” indicated Hansen.
This latest success story in the U.S. Southeast is just one more example of how FELL technology is supporting utilities everywhere to “Build Back Better” and “Find the Leak Before the Break.”
Given the long road to economic recovery during the post-COVID pandemic, today’s capital budgets are being pushed to their limits. As a result, utility managers are relying on innovative technologies and strategies to deliver immediate financial benefits and capital savings where outcomes have the greatest overall benefit.
ABOUT ELECTRO SCAN INC. Headquartered in Sacramento, Calif. and founded in 2011, the Company designs, develops, and markets proprietary pipe condition assessment equipment, delivers field services, and offers cloud-based data processing, analytics, and reporting applications that automatically locates, measures, and report defects typically not found using legacy inspection methods. In 2021, the company was named “Most Innovative Leak Detection of the Year” for 2021. Electro Scan field crews and its authorized partners have been designated ‘essential workers’ adopting Coronavirus Health & Safety Standards, including appropriate use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and Social Distancing standards, in accordance with state mandates and CDC recommendations.
New Zealand Issues Patent for Multi-Sensor Machine-Intelligent Probe for Leak Detection. New Technology Doesn’t Require ‘Hearing’ Leaks and Has 1cm Accuracy.
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, USA, February 15, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ — California-based cleantech leader, Electro Scan Inc., announced its 14th international patent for its groundbreaking multi-sensor technology that accurately locates & measures water leaks.
While traditional solutions ‘listen’ for a leak or rely on cameras to ‘see’ a leak, Electro Scan’s machine-intelligent probe automatically measures leaks by locating actual cracks & holes that go through the pipe wall, measuring the size of each opening using harmless low voltage electric current.
Utilities no longer need to rely on legacy methods for estimating average wall thicknesses. Electro Scan’s accuracy allows full-length pipe assessment finding soft cement not heard or seen by Acoustic Sensors or CCTV cameras.
The company’s award-winning cloud application reports leak locations in minutes – to the closest centimeter or 3/8th of an inch – and quantifies severity expressed in industry standard Gallons per Minute or Liters per Second.
Announcement of the new patent is timely, especially as New Zealand is in the midst of a water crisis where the Government recently created a new regulator, Taumara Arowai, proposing to take control of water from 67 councils to be reorganized into several publicly-owned regional water authorities.
Electro Scan’s Founder, Chuck Hansen, is no stranger to the New Zealand water industry, choosing to ground truth his patented leak detection solutions in Christchurch from 2012 to 2013.
But, Hansen’s work with the New Zealand water market began even earlier.
In 1999, Hansen won a competitive New Zealand water & sewer asset management tender, issued by the ASSOCIATION OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT ENGINEERS OF NEW ZEALAND (ALGENZ), later merged into INGENIUM, and then becoming the INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC WORKS ENGINEERING AUSTRALASIA (IPWEA).
“I knew that acoustic leak detection and CCTV data were not delivering the value needed to protect our water supplies and contain our effluent, and had to do something about it.”
— Chuck Hansen, Chairman & CEO, Electro Scan Inc.
As part of the tender, Hansen was required to build the world’s first asset accounting solution to track all underground pipes and fixtures, linked to his industry standard water and sewer asset management system. This allowed NZ Councils to capitalize all sewer & water assets, recognize depreciation, and track capital expenditures, by individual asset, sometimes representing 70-80% of a city’s total financial assets.
After 27-years in business and serving over 2,000 worldwide utility customers, Hansen sold his company in 2007 to international accounting & enterprise resource planning (ERP) supplier, INFOR Global, for US$100 million.
“Having worked in the water & sewer business for nearly 40 years, I knew that acoustic leak detection and CCTV data were not delivering the value needed to protect our water supplies and contain our effluent, and had to do something about it.” stated Hansen.
“While artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms show real promise, applying these to legacy inspection tools like Acoustic & CCTV-based audio and video files, respectively, still do not pinpoint sources of water contamination or sewer seepage,” commented Hansen. “New technologies were needed.”
New Zealand’s summer has already seen a record number of towns issuing ‘boil water’ notices, including Naseby, Pateroa, Te Horo, Otematata, Duntroon, Tokarahi, Awamoko, Cannington, Motukaika, Featherston, Martinborough, Coromandel Town, and Mt Pleasant in Christchurch.
Worldwide, aging infrastructure has resulted in hundreds of millions of miles of underground water and sewer pipes with cracks and holes.
But the use of traditional acoustic listening sensors in pressurized water mains and long-time use of closed-circuit television cameras in gravity sewer pipes, have been unable to reliably locate or quantify leak locations or their size.
In water pipes, when pressure drops below acceptable levels, cracks and holes allow groundwater to seep back into potable systems. Some of that groundwater can carry harmful bacteria that can only be eliminated by boiling the water.
Because leak sounds occur as turbulence is created at a leak location when the inside and outside pressures are trying to equalize, if leaks are surrounded by groundwater, when contamination risks are highest, the ability to hear a leak is actually at its lowest, regardless of pipe material.
In sewer pipes, contractors have successfully fought to keep using CCTV cameras to approve pipes as watertight, despite the inability to tell if cracks go through a pipe wall or if pipe joints have hidden pathways through narrow bell & spigots that allow unseen sewage to seep out of a pipe.
In fact, most ratepayers are surprised to learn that most pipe acceptance standards allow new & rehabilitated pipes to leak; oftentimes allowing only ‘visual inspection’ to accept pipes assumed to have 50-year useful lives.
As a result, acoustic, data correlators, ground penetrating radar, lasers, LIDAR, satellite, and sonar, have been ineffective in locating or quantifying leaks.
Recent studies of Cured-In-Place Pipe (CIPP) – a more than $10 billion business, worldwide – have found leaks can be worse after CIPP, especially if liner bags have not been properly inflated or ‘cooked’ and customer service locations improperly cut.
Since the CIPP process temporarily closes customer tap openings for water and sewer delivered to homes and businesses, precision based rotating blades must cut through the newly lined pipe. If not exact in their cutting, original host pipes may be damaged causing large leaks to be unnoticed by CCTV cameras or simply unreported as most inspections are completed by the same company installing the CIPP.
The problem, years in the making, is only solved by new technologies like the company’s patented solutions that can deliver unambiguous, unbiased, and unprecedented data, minutes after surveys are completed.
A major field trial of the company’s sewer leak detection products were completed by Sydney Water Corporation in December 2019.
To coax reluctant New Zealand councils to fix their pipes, NZ ministers came up with an additional NZ$761 million to help replace leaky pipe networks and other deteriorating assets. Using legacy acoustic and camera-based technologies risk correct location and prioritization of pipes to be repaired.
In total, NZ councils have allocated NZ$17.2 billion for water infrastructure spending over the next decade and overall face a NZ$30-NZ$50 billion dollar infrastructure deficit.
Earlier this month, New Zealand’s Intellectual Property Office granted Patent Number 713053 for Electro Scan’s ‘MULTI-SENSOR INSPECTION FOR IDENTIFICATION OF PRESSURIZED PIPE DEFECTS THAT LEAK,’ filed in 2015.
Electro Scan’s disruptive technology is a departure from traditional listening for a leak. Instead precisely measuring each size of hole, by location and severity expressed in GPM or LPS.
Electro Scan’s new technology is a game-changer that is 80-100 times more effective than leaks found by listening (Acoustic sensors), seeing (cameras), and smelling (helium tracers & water sniffing dogs).
The technology is already included as part of the American Water Works Association (AWWA) Water Supply Standard, M77 Water Main Condition Assessment, and American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) F2550-13 (2018).
In January 2021, Electro Scan Inc. was selected ‘WATER LEAK DETECTION SOLUTION OF THE YEAR’ for 2021 by IoT Breakthrough.
The Company was also chosen winner of the November 2020 UK Water Dragons Competition sponsored by UK-based Future Water Association.
“Our team is delighted to expand our patent protection to New Zealand,” stated Hansen. “And we look forward to working with IPWEA and Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA) to upgrade their condition assessment standards to more accurately identify sources of water contamination and unintended sewage releases.”
Studies find that for every US$1 invested in safe water and sanitation it yields US$5-to-US$28 due to increased economic activity and reduced health care costs.
Today, it is estimated that 25-33% of Chinese do not have access to safe drinking water.
As governments look to stimulate their economies during the post-COVID-19 pandemic recovery, adoption of innovative technologies that allow communities to ‘Build Back Better’ and ‘Find Leaks Before Breaks’ are good first steps. Besides, studies find that every US$1 invested in safe water and sanitation yields US$5-to-US$28 due to increased economic activity and reduced health care costs.
Contact the company for international water loss projects and Non-Revenue Water assessments, including technology-as-a-service (TaaS) licensing opportunities and equipment purchasing.
ABOUT ELECTRO SCAN INC. Electro Scan Inc., is a leading supplier of machine-intelligent pipeline assessment products and services for the water & wastewater pipeline market, developing proprietary pipe condition assessment equipment and delivering field services, and cloud-based applications that automatically locate, measure, and report leaks typically not found by legacy inspection methods. Follow Electro Scan Inc. on LinkedIn.
IoT Breakthrough Award Recognizes Electro Scan’s Water & Sewer Leak Detection Solution Over Traditional Acoustic, CCTV, Helium Tracers, & Satellite Alternatives
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, USA, January 11, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ —Electro Scan Inc., the world’s leading provider of machine-intelligent pipeline leak detection technology, today announced its recognition as the “Leak Detection Solution of the Year” for 2021 by IoT Breakthrough, the leading business market intelligence organization serving the Internet-of-Things (IoT) market.
The Company’s breakthrough technology allows utilities to ‘STOP’ listening for leaks and ‘START’ using machine-intelligent sensors to measure the size of holes in pressurized and gravity pipelines.
“The introduction of Electro Scan Inc.’s Multi-Sensor IoT Internal Pipe Leak Detection Probe represents a significant breakthrough for the global water & sewer leak detection industry,“ said James Johnson, Managing Director at IoT Breakthrough.
Electro Scan’s introduces the unprecedented ability to locate pipe leaks with 1 cm (3/8 inch) accuracy.
The company’s technology is also the first to measure leak severities in Gallons per Minute or Liters per Second.
Utilities now have immediate access to their data, in minutes, not days, weeks, or months – using the company’s proprietary and patented global cloud-based analytics platform. Thus, pipeline system managers can immediately perform QA/QC on new pipes and Trenchless rehabilitation, like Cured-In-Place Pipe (CIPP), to document contractor compliance with specification requirements.
Precise leak locations and quantification represents the ‘holy grail’ for the water industry that has never before been accomplished by other commercial suppliers.
Electro Scan’s unique technology and real-time IoT data delivery were key factors in its competitive recognition over other leak detection techniques.
“For way too long, the global water & sewer leak detection market has been stuck trying to locate – much less measure – leaks that can’t be heard using acoustic sensors or seen using high resolution cameras,” stated Chuck Hansen, Founder & CEO, Electro Scan Inc., a 40-year IT pioneer of the water industry.
As experts acknowledged limitations of current solutions, Hansen learned of acoustic devices that attempted to assess the presence of leaks from inside a pipe; often allowing severe leaks to go undetected.
In some cases, catastrophic failures occurred soon after internal acoustic inspections had issued a clean bill-of-health on pipes with ‘NO LEAKS.’ In others, untethered acoustic balls were lost, sometimes causing major equipment damage.
When water pools around a leak, an insulation condition is established that can suppress leak noises from inside the pipe, making them difficult or impossible to hear or see.
Recently a large European water company repaired several kilometers of older pipeline where it had found over 20 major leaks.
Upon excavation, it was determined that poor pipe installation and construction were responsible for the large leaks.
This suggested that typical Desktop AI programs that use available pipe data, such as age, material, diameter, and soil conditions to schedule pipe replacement programs, may not be suitable to plan future capital expenditure (CAPEX) programs.
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) estimates that each year over 240,000 water line breaks occur in the United States alone, making effective pipeline leak detection work an essential need to support public health and safety.
“Artificial intelligence (AI) & machine learning (ML) have had limited success in the field of leak detection; especially in interpreting acoustic sound waves or frame-by-frame CCTV video footage assessment,” stated Hansen.
“After several start-ups focused on this area, utilities soon realized that AI & ML can’t overcome what can’t be seen or can’t be heard. As a result, new technology, like Electro Scan’s machine-intelligent solutions, were needed,” continued Hansen.
According to Frost & Sullivan, the Global Smart Water and Wastewater Leak Detection Solutions Market was valued at $1.23 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach almost $2 billion by 2026.
Analysts forecast acoustic and visual-based technologies will lose market share to multi-sensor smart probes during the forecast period.
Deciding to pursue a next generation machine-intelligent approach to leak detection, not based on legacy acoustic or visual technologies, Hansen wanted to eliminate external background noise, flow rates, and pressure variations that cause misleading results; or worse, give false-positive readings during inspection.
In addition to using a low voltage electric current in a tethered probe configuration to pinpoint leak locations, Hansen wanted to adopt multi-physics orifice equations to quantify the severity of each leak.
By measuring the size of each leak’s opening or hole, algorithms could simultaneously and automatically calculate defect flows in Gallons per Minute or Liters per Second.
Over the past 40 years the world’s population has doubled and water use quadrupled. Moreover, the global middle class is expected to surge from 1.8 to 4.9 billion by 2030, which will only drive a significant increase in freshwater consumption.
Unnecessary water losses from raw and potable distribution networks are no longer acceptable.
Today, the World Bank estimates that worldwide water utilities annually lose nearly 48 billion cubic meters of treated water from water distribution systems, primarily due to undetected leaks and unauthorized connections.
“The acoustic leak detection market has needed to be overhauled for some time,” states Mike Condran, PE. “Well-documented acoustic sensor limitations occur because too often pipe leaks don’t always reach detectable noise thresholds or are obscured by ambient/background noises that cannot be eliminated.
“In fact, leaks that might be detected cannot then be quantified,” continued Condran.
In contrast to using sensory-based pipe leak detection techniques where readings must be manually interpreted by third-parties, Electro Scan’s IoT breakthrough takes a machine-based approach that precisely locates and quantitatively measures the size of any leak’s opening, and which is not dependent on ambient noise levels, operating pressure or flow, and then automatically calculates defect flow rates. Results are immediately available using the company’s CriticalH2o and CriticalSewers® Software-as-a Solution (SaaS) cloud applications.
While the global water & sewer leak detection market has traditionally relied on sensory-based acoustic and visual methods, helium has been injected into pipes to trace odors above ground, again without locational accuracy or severity.
More recently, satellite imagery and aerial drones have been used to identify Areas of Interest (AOI) and Points of Interest (POI) that may indicate potential leaking pipes. Showing initial promise, additional Boots-on-the-Ground (BOTG) are required to validate imagery interpretation and confirm whether actual leaks exist.
While acoustic data loggers and correlators have had difficulties confirming AOIs or POIs identified by satellite methods, Electro Scan’s BOTG low-voltage inspection technology allows utilities to locate and quantify satellite hits and misses.
Using Electro Scan, machine-intelligent data shows ‘MATCHING’ Severe, Moderate, and Small Leaks and ‘MISSING’ Severe, Moderate, and Small Leaks from satellite or drone-based imagery.
Electro Scan’s 2020 first place finish at the UK’s Water Dragons Competition was an additional factor in judging it as IoT Breakthrough’s ‘Leak Detection Solution of the Year.’
Electro Scan’s cloud application will be deployed soon in Arabic, Chinese, and Hindi languages to support growing adoption by international water utilities.
ABOUT IoT BREAKTHROUGH AWARDS The mission of the IoT Breakthrough Awards program is to recognize the technology innovators, leaders, and visionaries from around the globe in a range of IoT categories, including Smart City technology, Connected Home, Connected Car, and many more. This year’s program attracted more than 3,850 nominations from companies all over the world.
ABOUT ELECTRO SCAN INC. Founded in 2011, the company designs machine-intelligent leak detection products that help utilities locate leaks in pressurized water mains, gravity wastewater pipes, and force mains. By pinpointing leaks, the company can quantify sources of Non-Revenue Water and certify new pipe installations and rehabilitation as watertight. Headquartered in Sacramento, California, the company sells equipment to utilities supported by a Software-as-a Service (SaaS) cloud and licenses its solutions to contractors on a Technology-as-a-Service (TaaS) basis, worldwide.
Utilities Purchasing Electro Scan Equipment for ‘Self-Testing’ CIPP Grew 60% in 2020
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, USA, January 4, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ — Electro Scan Inc. announced results from its Fifth Annual Survey of Cured-In-Place Pipe (CIPP) finding over 5,000 leaks for the twelve-months ending December 31, 2020.
In 2020, 33% of CIPP showed leakage rates of 20 Gallons per Minute (GPM) or more, with only 15% achieving zero leakage – the lowest level since beginning its annual survey. During the year, a 52-inch CIPP liner was evaluated finding leaks missed by Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras. Since 2014, Electro Scan Inc. has conducted over 1,500 CIPP assessment projects covering 40 suppliers.
Lined pipes often leak more AFTER rehabilitation, than BEFORE rehabilitation, not discovered using visual inspection.
— Electro Scan Inc.
CIPP is a widely used method of pipe rehabilitation using a variety of composite materials to reline existing pipes without digging.
Temporarily covering a homeowner’s connection, robotic cutters are required to re-open each service; often resulting in new leaks. As a result, lined pipes often leak more AFTER rehabilitation, than BEFORE rehabilitation, not discovered using visual inspection.
Electro Scan represents a machine-intelligent in-pipe leak detection solution that provides pinpoint locations of leaks with 1cm (3/8 inch) accuracy.
Results are automatically provided in Gallons per Minute or Liters per Second.
Continued use of CCTV to accept CIPP as watertight and reduced quality control during the COVID-19 pandemic may have adversely contributed to 2020 results.
The annual survey consolidated results from utilities, licensed contractors, and Electro Scan Services, worldwide. Utilities purchasing Electro Scan in 2020, typically added to existing CCTV trucks, grew 60%.
In 2020, Electro Scan Inc. was commissioned by a leading utility to compare 50-year-old Vitrified Clay Pipe (VCP), 10-year-old CIPP, and recently installed CIPP.
Recently installed CIPP represented 35% of total footage contributing 50% of infiltration, with 80% of re-connections substantially leaking compared to only 2% found by CCTV.
Today, an increasing number of CIPP suppliers recommend owners use ASTM F2550 for liner acceptance to differentiate their liners from other Trenchless solutions.
For more information contact Electro Scan Inc.
ABOUT ELECTRO SCAN INC. Founded in 2011, the company designs machine-intelligent leak detection products that help utilities locate leaks in sewer & force mains and pinpoint sources of Non-Revenue Water in pressurized networks. Headquartered in Sacramento, California, the company sells equipment to utilities and licenses its technology to contractors, worldwide.
Winner, APWA’s 2019 Professional Manager of the Year Award for Engineering & Technology, Pasko Brings Deep Knowledge to Environmental, Social, Governance Market
Paul J. Pasko III, PE, interviewed by local media about using Electro Scan’s machine-intelligent technology to locate and quantify leaks in underground pipelines.
SACRAMENTO, CALIF., USA, December 3, 2020 /EINPresswire.com/ — Electro Scan Inc. is excited to announce that trenchless technology expert Paul Pasko, PE, has joined its growing team of pipe condition assessment technology experts. Serving as the Company’s Vice President of International Business Development, Pasko brings over 30 years of trenchless technology expertise to the company’s considerable capabilities. Pasko’s extensive background in the water & sewer pipeline infrastructure market includes a complete range of pipe inspection solutions and repair & rehabilitation strategies.
“We are absolutely delighted to welcome an industry pioneer to our management ranks,” stated Chuck Hansen, Chairman, Electro Scan Inc.
“Paul’s credentials, including prior project work with Electro Scan, will be invaluable as we continue expanding our machine-intelligent IoT leak detection technologies to the global smart water marketplace,” stated Hansen.
“Paul’s credentials and prior work with Electro Scan will be invaluable, as we expand our machine-intelligent IoT leak detection technologies, to global smart water utilities.”
— Chuck Hansen, Software Entrepreneur & Founder, Electro Scan Inc.
In 2019, Pasko was recognized by the American Public Works Association as the Professional Manager of the Year Award – Engineering and Technology.
As Electro Scan’s Vice President of International Business Development, Pasko will offer the company’s services & products to sewer, water, and gas pipeline owners around the world, as well as overseeing new project work throughout the Midwest in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa.
Pasko has vast experience planning the strategic maintenance and replacement of underground pipe networks using both invasive and non-invasive condition assessment tools, integrated risk management analyses, as well as trenchless and dig-and-replace methods.
Paul Pasko, PE, reviews Electro Scan’s Application Programming Interface (API) that integrates FELL data with Innovyze’s InfoAsset Planner for Sewer and Water.
In addition to his previous work with Electro Scan’s Focused Electrode Leak Location (FELL) technology, Pasko has completed projects utilizing closed-circuit television (CCTV) and acoustic technologies such as Aquam’s LDS1000™, Aguanova Nautilus™, Echologics ePulse®, and SewerVUE Surveyor.
Throughout his professional career, Pasko has brought a fresh perspective beyond traditional engineering and technology practices and continuously sought to make connections that contribute to best practices for the benefit of municipal and industrial sector clients.
Pasko’s outstanding career service achievements inspire excellence and dedication among his fellow engineering and technology professionals. Pasko provides leadership and strong management on challenging projects, consistently demonstrating the ability to solve difficult problems with innovative ideas.
Electro Scan is very pleased to have Pasko share his expertise to educate customers everywhere about innovative and singularly unique low-voltage technology for pipe inspection, as featured in its newest product catalog. The technology applications include both pressure and gravity pipe systems.
Electro Scan’s probe can determine the precise location of pipe defects that leak and quantify the potential flow rate by measuring the electrical current detected outside of the pipe. The data collected is relayed to the onsite inspection truck and then uploaded to Amazon web servers where processed results are available in minutes for review by the pipe’s owner.
Welcome to the Electro Scan family, Paul!
Paul is based in Minnetonka, Minnesota, USA and can be reached directly at paul@electroscan.com, +1 612 201 1867, LinkedIn: paul-j-pasko-iii-pe-a9a46811, Twitter: @ppasko1, and on Facebook: paul.pasko.18.
ABOUT ELECTRO SCAN INC. Headquartered in Sacramento, Calif. and founded in 2011, the Company designs, develops, and markets proprietary pipe condition assessment equipment, delivers field services, and offers cloud-based data processing, analytics, and reporting applications that automatically locates, measures, and report defects typically not found using legacy inspection methods. In 2020, the company was named to Government Technology’s esteemed GovTech 100 list for the second year in a row. Electro Scan field crews and its authorized partners have been designated ‘essential workers’ adopting Coronavirus Health & Safety Standards, including appropriate use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and Social Distancing standards, in accordance with state mandates and CDC recommendations.
