23 Nov 2020
Company News, In The Press Permalink

Electro Scan Inc. Wins Water Dragons Competition With It’s Machine-Intelligent Multi-Sensor Water Leak Detection Probe

November 23, 2020

UK Water Industry Dragons Included United Utilities, Wessex Water, Yorkshire Water, Stantec, Water Innovation Hub, H2O WEM, Hydrosave, and University of Exeter

LONDON, ENGLAND, UK, November 23, 2020– Future Water Association announced today that California-based Electro Scan Inc. was selected ‘WINNER’ of its recently held third and final round of the 2020 Water Dragons competition. Showcasing one of its largest fields of water innovation technology companies at the November 19th competition event, Electro Scan was one of seven companies that presented to well-known industry experts, known as ‘The Dragons.’

“I was delighted to introduce our game-changing leak detection solution for potable water pipes and sewer rising mains [force mains],” stated Chuck Hansen, Software Entrepreneur & Founder, Electro Scan Inc.

“The Future Water Association Water Dragons event was the most seamless virtual event I’ve attended in 2020,” stated Hansen.

The Water Dragons competition is a unique venue, where innovative and cutting-edge products are showcased to demonstrate their disruptive capabilities over legacy technologies, helping to improve routine operation & maintenance practices by investor-owned and municipal utilities.

With immense budgetary pressures on all utilities brought on by challenging targets of AMP7 and the new reality of COVID-19, innovative solutions are quickly being adopted on a “Business as Usual” basis to expedite returns to shareholders and regulatory authorities.

Interested parties may download Chuck Hansen’s 8-minute video presentation, PowerPoint or Adobe PDF file for review.

“The Future Water Association launched Water Dragons competitions in 2008 to provide an opportunity for companies to pitch products, services, or process innovations to a panel of water company executives and industry experts, the ‘Water Dragons’” stated Paul Norton, Chief Executive Officer, Future Water Association.

Water Dragon Judges

Last week’s Water Dragons included:
Chair: Alastair Moseley, H2O WEM & Future Water Innovation Group
Steve Quarmby, United Utilities
Julian Britton, Wessex Water
Dr. Katrina Flavell, Yorkshire Water
Tim Williams, Stantec
Matt Foster, Hydrosave
Caroline Wadsworth, Water Innovation Hub
Nicky Cunningham, University of Exeter

Products, services, or processes presented to the Water Dragons must demonstrate clear & distinct business benefits, especially including how the innovation can make or save money for the utility customers, namely the British water companies.

Over the years, the Future Water Association’s Water Dragons event has gained recognition beyond the UK, to a worldwide audience of leading water utilities, consultancies, and regulatory bodies.

In an eight (8) minute pitch, followed by questions from the Water Dragons, competitors must:
• Identify innovation challenges addressed.
• Explain the innovation’s improvement to existing alternatives.
• Provide evidence for savings & other related benefits.

Electro Scan’s technology precisely locates pipeline leaks, and then quantifies the corresponding leakage rate. The November 19th presentation began by acknowledging the major contribution of acoustic sensors, listening sticks, data loggers & correlators, and hydrophones over the past 100 years for detecting water leaks by listening.

Acoustic leak detection is very often dependent on pipes to be operating at high water pressures with customer water usage causing false leakage readings. In its presentation, Electro Scan quickly suggested that water utilities stop listening for leaks and instead start measuring defect sizes where leaks occur – which are not dependent on pressure, or otherwise adversely influenced by ambient background noise levels or customer usage.

Having already gained adoption in the wastewater industry for gravity pipe inspections since 2011, where CCTV cameras have been shown to be unable to correctly find or measure leaks at cracks, joints, and customer connections, Electro Scan explained how it developed its patented low-voltage conductivity technology for pressure pipe applications for water and sewer systems.

Referred to as a ‘symbiotic technology’, a term coined by James Hargrave, Regional Operational Leakage Manager at Anglian Water Services, Electro Scan described how it created British-specific sized probes to fit through available water valves and fittings to automatically find pipe defects typically not heard by acoustic methods or seen by cameras.

In a separate and significant development, last week Anglian Water notified Electro Scan (UK) Limited that its multi-sensor leak detection probe had passed Anglian’s ‘Materials In Contact’ (MIC) testing for potable water pipes.

Results from a recent British case study were presented to the Water Dragons, showing how several acoustic devices were unable to find any pipe leak in a 170meter (560 feet), 800mm (24 inch) diameter, Cement Mortar-Lined Ductile Iron Pipe. During its inspection, Electro Scan found fifteen (15) pipe leaks to within 1 centimeter at individual pipe joints, totaling more than 2.4 liters per second in leakage.

Over the years, water contractors and suppliers using acoustic methods have inconsistently, and often erroneously, found water pipe leaks though without precise locational accuracy or a quantifiable flow rate. Electro Scan’s low-voltage conductivity method now allows utilities to properly address Non-Revenue Water (NRW) losses for the benefit of their rate payers.

Unlike legacy acoustic technologies, Electro Scan is now being included in upcoming tenders for measuring new pipe water tightness.

Somewhat counter-intuitive for a company whose products find leaks, a major direct benefit of Electro Scan’s technology is its ability to unambiguously identify pipe sections that DO NOT REQUIRE repair or rehabilitation. Thus, utilities will avoid costly CAPEX spending for water mains or rising mains that simply do not warrant repair or replacement.

Competition at last week’s Water Dragons event included a diverse field of water technology innovations:
1. Aqualogic – Virtual domestic water audit.
2. Liverpool John Moores University – An innovative design for a separate sewer system.
3. Leakwatch Systems – Property water security system.
4. Electro Scan Inc. – Machine-intelligent multi-sensor pressurised leak detection [WINNER].
5. Scanscor Ltd – Non-contact corrosion scanning for water pipes.
6. Strathkelvin Instruments Ltd – Online toxicity detection at wastewater treatment works.
7. Waterscan – Flowmotion water consumption savings.

While Electro Scan has caused a major disruption in the wastewater legacy CCTV inspection market, where the company has demonstrated how visual inspection substantially mis-catalogs defective & leaking joints and cracks, the addition of its own high resolution camera as part of its multi-sensor water leak detection solution, is positioning the company, with its authorized partners, to become the largest provider of CCTV inspection for the pressurized water market.

Rather than incorrectly identifying pressure pipe leaks, CCTV traversing pressurized pipes represents an invaluable navigational aid and can show debris deposits, excessive tuberculation, and valve positions that may not been previously located, and hinder the Electro Scan leak detection. In addition, the camera images document illegal tap connections that may exist, represented by non-standard or forced connections into pressure mains.

Electro Scan multi-sensor probe

The combination with Electro Scan’s electric current-based sensor and high-definition camera allows framework contractors and water utilities to locate and quantify all leaks immediately following each survey and before leaving the project location.

Last week’s event was the third and final competition of 2020, with a final competition in early 2021 to determine the overall 2020 Water Dragons Champion.

Prior 2020 Water Dragon rounds, or heats, and their winners were:

HEAT #1
Water Dragons held at Floodex 2020 – 26 February 2020
Heat winner – Radio Data Networks, with their sewer flow regulator
Audience Winner – Rescaype UK Ltd., with their micronised, biodegradable, water-soluble polymer for soil amelioration/conditioning

HEAT #2
Water Dragons held at the Future Water 2050 Innovation Strategy Session – 30 July 2020
Heat Winner – Qinov8 with their AQUAPEA® small diameter pipe leak prevention device.

HEAT #3
Water Dragons held at the Future Water Association Conference – 19 November 2020
Heat Winner – Electro Scan Inc. with their Machine-Intelligent Multi-Sensor DELTA Pressurised Leak Detection Solution.

“We congratulate all of the participants that showed amazing products and enthusiasm for their respective markets,” stated Hansen. “I look forward to participating in the Finals in early 2021 and show all attendees how valuable our leak detection data is for all utilities.”

Hansen has enjoyed 40 years serving the worldwide water industry. Prior to founding Electro Scan Inc., Hansen was majority owner of Hansen Information Technologies, a leading provider of asset management system for the water industry with over 2,000 utilities, including 16 of the top 20 U.S. cities as customers. The company was sold to Golden Gate Capital and Infor Global in 2007. Now dedicated to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investments in the water sector through Hansen Investment Holdings, LLC, Hansen also enjoys his off time as an instrument-rated pilot and professional saxophonist, regularly appearing with major artists and bands.

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 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.

Contact Us
21 Nov 2020
Company News Permalink

Electro Scan’s new Multi-sensor for Water Leak Detection

November 21, 2020

Exciting news for British and European water utilities from Electro Scan Inc. Announcing the rollout of the industry’s most accurate, reliable, and repeatable multi-sensor leak detection solution. The new product features our patented flagship low voltage conductivity technology, including #CCTV camera for navigation, and #acoustic sensor, providing an estimated LITERS PER SECOND or GALLONS PER MINUTE leakage rate for each leak.

Designed for pressurized water mains and rising (force) mains, without service interruption, this product is also the only #AWWA#M77 solution able to test #CIPP.

Let’s face it, water utilities have complained for a very long time about how existing tethered & untethered acoustic in-pipe leak detection tools either didn’t work, got lost, or worse, never found any leaks.

In contrast, Electro Scan’s water probe finds & measures leaks in all pipe materials, especially plastic, with 1cm accuracy.

After completing over 1,000 pressurized water insertions with WRc plc‘s #Sahara & supervising #Electroscan sewer leak detection projects, we are delighted to have Bradley Weston, Director at Electro Scan (UK) Ltd., onboard in Great Britain and hiring his EU & UK team.

#leakdetection#lvc#fell#leaks#water

Enjoy the 2min video!2020 Electro Scan’s New Multi-Sensor for Water Leak Detection2020 Electro Scan’s New Multi-Sensor for Water Leak Detectionyoutube.com

17 Nov 2020
Company News Permalink

Electro Scan Announces Results for Landmark 14-Mile North American Benchmark Comparing CCTV v. FELL Inspection on Same Sewer Mains

November 17, 2020

Electro Scan Inc. announced results today for a landmark 14-mile North American pipeline benchmark study, comparing Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) inspection results using National Association of Sewer Service Companies (NASSCO) Pipe Assessment Certification Program (PACP) codes, against Focused Electrode Leak Location (FELL) inspection results that was completed 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.

CCTV Vs. FELL image

The project was conducted between August 2019 and March 2020, which assessed 322 gravity sewer mains, totaling 74,000 linear feet (LF), and included over 1,800 customer tap connections to the sewer mains.

Pipe diameters ranged from 8 to 12 inches for nearly 90% of the study area, while the remaining sewer main sizes varied up to 27 inches in diameter.

The study’s primary purpose was to directly compare CCTV and FELL inspection results with respect to documenting infiltration sources in sewers mains for this utility that is operating under an Environmental Protection Agency Consent Decree.

The company notes that this study is the first major evaluation of its kind to identify infiltration sources by comparing the more conventional CCTV inspection results to the innovative FELL technique.

graph of gallons per minute

Importantly, FELL inspection quantified potential infiltration flow rates in Gallons per Minute for all sewer mains defects as well as at each tap connection. This is not true of CCTV inspection which, except for making estimates by operators from leaks only if visible at the time of inspection, cannot quantify infiltration flow rates.

Municipal engineers and consultants that would like to read the Key Findings and Executive Summary of the study should visit the Case Study here. Additional details of this CCTV-FELL North American benchmark study may be requested by contacting Electro Scan Inc.

ABOUT ELECTRO SCAN INC.

Electro Scan Inc., a leading supplier of machine-intelligent pipeline assessment products and services for the water & wastewater market. Named to Government Technology’s esteemed 2020 GovTech 100 list for the second straight year, Electro Scan develops proprietary pipe condition assessment equipment, capable of delivering on module mobile electronic in-pipe platforms, supporting a cloud-based architecture that automatically locates, measures, and reports defects in new and existing sewer, water, and natural gas pipelines, typically not found by legacy inspection methods.

Read the case study
11 Nov 2020
Company News, Featured Projects, In The Press Permalink

Electro Scan Appoints T4S as ‘UK Smart Wireless Provider’ Supporting Its Award Winning Water Leak Detection Solution

November 11, 2020

Track4Services Ltd. Supports Electro Scan’s Acoustic, Video, and Data Collection from Challenging Locations Throughout the United Kingdom

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, USA, November 11, 2020 — Electro Scan Inc. announced today that it has appointed Track4Services Ltd. (T4S) as its ‘Smart Wireless Provider’ to serve the UK water industry supporting its award-winning Multi-Sensor Water & Sewer Leak Detection solutions.

All Electro Scan inspection vans have installed licensed T4S wireless equipment to easily and efficiently transmit acoustic, video, and proprietary geocoded leak locations to Electro Scan’s cloud for water utility decision support and contractor water tightness testing.

“We are delighted to standardize our UK leak detection fleet on the advanced wireless solutions from T4S,” stated Chuck Hansen, Managing Director, Electro Scan (UK) Limited.

Track4Services hub portal
Track4Services (T4S) Hub Portal allows Electro Scan to track all its inspection vans, identifying specific signal strengths and boosting available Wi-Fi using its Smart Hub Communication technology.

Partnered with Vodafone since 2014, T4S was founded in London in 2011, the same year as Electro Scan Inc., with R&D facilities in Tampere, Finland.

A key factor in selecting T4S as its ‘UK Smart Wireless Provider’ was their proven UK geo connectivity coverage of 99.8%, compared to their rivals of 74%.

“In these times we are all being expected to do more with less resources. The answer to that conundrum is to innovate. We are delighted to serve the needs of such a forward-thinking clean tech organization, like Electro Scan, that is helping the UK water industry target its water losses,” stated Derek Greene, CEO, Track4Services Ltd.

“Electro Scan brings sweeping change to the global leak detection market, and given the challenging UK topology, we are delighted to be working with Derek Greene & other members of the T4S team to transmit large audio, video, and point cloud data intelligence from the field,” stated Hansen.

Legacy leak detection techniques have often delivered inconsistent, unreliable, and incomplete results.

Today, many water utilities, regulators, and contractors now realize that legacy leak detection methods are finding low-quality leaks that may compromise rehabilitation selection and are unable to certify new pipelines as watertight.

All leaks are located and measured in Gallons per Minute or Liters per Second, without relying on ‘seeing’ or ‘hearing’ defects at Joints, Customer Tap Locations, or Pipe Walls.

While utilities are deploying thousands of intelligent sensors to track down water losses to critical District Metered Areas (DMAs), the inability to quickly and effectively find where “X” marks the spot for major leaks causing high level of Non-Revenue Water (NRW) has been elusive.

Often taking hours, days, or weeks to isolate leak locations, by contrast, Electro Scan’s in-pipe machine-intelligent leak detection solution pinpoints specific locations in minutes, providing an estimated liters per second (LPS) or gallons per minute (GPM) for each leak.

Wireless equipment in Electro Scan’s UK inspection vans join a growing list of T4S water industry customers, including DEFRA, Environment Agency, Wessex Water, and Scottish Water.

“Data transmissions have been swift since installing the T4S equipment in our vans,” stated Brad Weston, Director, Electro Scan (UK) Limited.

“What I like most about T4S is the ability to be over 50 meters away from our vans and still have Wi-Fi coverage,” adds Weston. “Its a great relief not to worry about data communications, anywhere at anytime in the UK.”

ABOUT TRACK4SERVICES LTD
Track4Services (T4S) specializes in delivering consistent and reliable communications allowing organizations to deliver actionable intelligence from the field in an entirely new way. Revolutionizing the workplace by bringing the latest mobile technology to field/outdoor operations, T4S can be used by every person in an organization, each with their own data profile allowing companies to communicate with workforces via WiFi calling even when there is no signal on their mobile phone, amalgamate data, streamline reporting and share knowledge site to site and site to office and many more applications.

ABOUT ELECTRO SCAN INC.
Electro Scan Inc., a leading supplier of machine-intelligent pipeline assessment products and services for the water & wastewater market. Named to Government Technology’s esteemed 2020 GovTech 100 list for the second straight year, Electro Scan develops proprietary pipe condition assessment equipment, capable of delivering on module mobile electronic in-pipe platforms, supporting a cloud-based architecture that automatically locates, measures, and reports defects in new and existing sewer, water, and natural gas pipelines, typically not found by legacy inspection methods.

Contact Us

10 Nov 2020
In The Press Permalink

Decatur Utilities Adds Electro Scan to Improve Condition Assessment and Certify New & Rehabilitated Pipes

November 10, 2020

Alabama Sewer Utility adopts machine-intelligent Focused Electrode Leak Location to locate, quantify, and document pipe defects.

SACRAMENTO, CA, UNITED STATES, November 5, 2020 — Electro Scan Inc. announced today that Decatur Utilities (DU), Decatur, Alabama, has installed the Company’s next generation ES-620 pipeline leak detection equipment technology to DU’s Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) inspection fleet.

Electro Scan Van and Probe

“Electro Scan had been on our radar for the past few years as we are constantly monitoring and evaluating the latest in sewer inspection technologies. We were intrigued at the science and proven value of Electro Scan and Focused Electrode Leak Location (FELL) technology in not only identifying defects of various extents in the pipe but also providing a volume of Inflow & Infiltration (I/I) potentially entering our sewer collection system. Electro Scan’s ability to assess sewer pipes without bias and immediately provide decision-making results in gallons per minute, along with adding another layer of quality control for new installations is what prompted our request for a field demonstration,” said Jordan Young, Wastewater Operations Superintendent, Decatur Utilities, Decatur, AL.

DU operates and maintains 374 miles of gravity sewer mains ranging from 6-inch to 42-inches in diameter, serving a population of nearly 54,000 with over 20,000 customer sewer service connections.

“During the field demonstration, Electro Scan evaluated three (3) pipe materials: Vitrified Clay Pipe (VCP), Cured-in-Place Pipe (CIPP), and Polyvinyl Chloride pipe (PVC). This demo proved exactly what the previous defects the CCTV inspection discovered but provided further in-depth pipe analysis that will be useful for DU’s prioritization of repairs or main replacement. The VCP pipe was found to have defective joints and various cracks, the Cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) lines showed porosity and pinhole leaks that the CCTV inspection did not show, and the PVC line showed to be fully intact and leak-free. Again, FELL inspection provides powerful, target-rich data that will help us identify the exact lines in need of repair and improve our rehabilitation decisions to use ratepayer dollars most efficiently,” stated Young.

Mack from Electro Scan lowers probe into the manhole

In October 2020, DU’s Gas, Water, & Wastewater Operations Manager, Jimmy Evans, presented the Electro Scan expenditure to the DU Board and to the Decatur City Council which approved the procurement of Electro Scan’s FELL technology inspection system. The ES-620 equipment for Sewer Mains inspection system was seamlessly integrated into the DU’s existing Cues CCTV truck. Following equipment installation, Electro Scan staff provided training for DU personnel, so that going forward the FELL inspections will be performed by the DU Electro Scan-Certified Sewer Operation and Maintenance team.

“Electro Scan’s technology also allows for an in-depth analysis of our larger trunk mains that would otherwise not be possible without bypass pumping procedures. Providing leakage data in submerged large diameter pipes was a key factor in our procurement decision that we cannot feasibly obtain using bypass pumping and CCTV inspection,” continued Young.

Uncontrolled I/I in gravity sewers results in significant and unnecessary costs to DU and its ratepayers. By precisely locating and quantifying pipe defects contributing to I/I within the DU collection system, overall infrastructure integrity can be improved to maximize system capacity and avoid costly capital expenditures.

“Decatur Utilities will be able to measure pipe rehabilitation effectiveness immediately after liner installations using FELL technology. Inspection data allows DU to properly prioritize capital spending for only those sewers with the highest I/I flows, and to unambiguously certify that rehabilitation work meets DU’s standards for water tightness. We are thrilled to be supporting the City in these critical efforts,” states Mike App, Vice President, Electro Scan Inc.

Another significant feature to select Electro Scan’s FELL technology was its existing data integration capabilities with Innovyze’s InfoAsset Planner (IAP) asset management software application.

This powerful integration allows for FELL data to be seamlessly incorporated, through a first of its kind API (automated programming interface) with Innovyze, into the IAP decision matrix algorithm that generates rehabilitation actions by using customized decision trees.

“The ‘golden ticket’ of our industry is to measure the true condition of utility pipes, where pipe defects contributing to unwanted I/I can be located precisely and quantified in gallons per minute. Prior to Electro Scan’s FELL technology, there was no way for utilities like DU to quantify existing conditions, and even then, it was nearly impossible to determine leak locations and associated severity,” stated Chuck Hansen, Founder and Chairman, Electro Scan Inc.

“Our goal is to help agencies reduce I/I to the maximum possible extent. Focused Electrode Leak location technology supports every municipality in reaching this essential goal,” continued Hansen.

Electro Scan is the only worldwide supplier that produces reporting 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. Electro Scan has remained committed to safely servicing our customers and helping municipal agencies adopt FELL technology during the COVID-19 global pandemic.

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 Institute of Underground Infrastructure (IKT), the UK-based Water Research Centre (WRc), and the Japan Sewer Collection System Maintenance Association (JASCOMA) have all studied and approved of FELL technology for pipeline condition inspection.

Kazmier & Associates, Alpharetta, GA, is the exclusive representative of Electro Scan products & services in Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee.

decatur-utilities-map


For more than 80 years, Decatur Utilities (DU) has provided reliable utility service to the greater Decatur, Alabama area. Today, DU provides electricity, natural gas, water and wastewater services to more than 25,000 customer’s system-wide. DU is dedicated to delivering safe and reliable utility service at some of the lowest rates in the Tennessee Valley.

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 named to Government Technology’s esteemed 2020 GovTech 100 list for the second straight 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.