Galax to Use Machine-Intelligent Technology to Address Regulatory Violations By Finding Rain-Dependent Infiltration That Causes Sanitary Sewer Overflows

Sacramento, CA, USA, May 2, 2017 – Electro Scan Inc. is delighted to announce the selection of the City of Galax, Virginia for a complimentary Electro Scan Pilot to find and measure sources of infiltration in their sanitary sewer system. The pilot giveaway was held in conjunction with Electro Scan’s 2017 Trenchless Technology webinar, and was created to bring much-needed Electro Scan services to small agencies that have a desire to address issues with their system, but may not have the necessary budget and resources.

The City of Galax was selected because of their unique project attributes, pipe locations and criticality, and financial need. The 2-day project is expected to start in the fall of 2017, and will include the assessment of 5,000 linear feet of vitrified clay pipe (VCP) and polyvinyl chloride pipe (PVC). A full report will be provided to the City, quantifying potential infiltration in gallons per minute (GPM) to help them prioritize pipes for rehabilitation.

From 2003 to 2013, the City of Galax was under a Consent Decree from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VADEQ) where they were required to develop a Capacity, Management, Operation, and Maintenance (CMOM) Program.

“Initial CMOM inspection projects were able to identify and eliminate the larger, more obvious infiltration issues, but locating additional infiltration problem areas has since become very difficult. We are happy to have been selected for the Electro Scan Pilot because of the technology’s ability to find and measure potential sources of infiltration, even if there is not an active leak in that moment,” stated Edwin Ward, P.E., City Engineer, City of Galax.

One of the only manuals referenced in the EPA’s CMOM Program is the Volume One, Operation and Maintenance of Wastewater Collection Systems manual, authored by the late Ken Kerri, Ph.D., P.E. In the new seventh edition (published December 2015) of the manual, a chapter on Electro Scanning Inspection was included to overcome the limitations of visual inspection. The chapter recommends the use of Electro Scanning Inspection, over CCTV, to evaluate sewer pipes before and after rehabilitation.

“CCTV operators are rarely successful when they are forced to wait for a wet weather event to put a camera in a pipe to visually look for infiltration in an overwhelmed collection system. Electro Scan creates a wet-weather event from within the pipe to predict infiltration before it happens, and before a disastrous SSO occurs,” states Chuck Hansen, Chairman, Electro Scan Inc.

Electro Scan Inspection uses patented technology to measure the variation of electrical current that flows through cracks, bad joints, defective service connections, and other defects in non-conductive pipe materials.

Using its Critical Sewers® cloud application, defects are automatically located and measured in GPM, with unambiguous reports available in minutes from any device with an internet connection.

All Electro Scanning Inspection projects are conducted in accordance with ASTM F2550-13, Standard Practice for Locating Leaks in Sewer Pipes by Measuring the Variation of Electric Current Flow Through the Pipe Wall and the Seventh Edition, Volume One, of the Operation and Maintenance of Wastewater Collection Systems manual.

About Electro Scan Inc.
Electro Scan Inc. develops proprietary pipe condition assessment instrumentation and cloud applications that automatically locate, measure, and report defects in sewer, water, and natural gas pipelines, typically not found by legacy inspection methods.

Contact
Electro Scan Inc., Carissa Boudwin, +1 916-779-0660, info@electroscan.com

Findings Presented to California’s Leading Environmental Agency Show Citizens May Be at Risk Due to Slow Investment in Innovative Technologies That Accurately Identify Bad Sewers

Sacramento, Calif. – (BUSINESS WIRE) – Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSOs) being experienced by California cities and counties may be due to reliance on older visual-based technologies and faulty inspections by city crews and independent contractors.

Those were the findings recently presented by Sacramento-based Electro Scan Inc. to the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA), State Water Resources Control Board, Office of Enforcement as part of their ongoing technical forum with outside consultants & vendors to support state & regional inspectors.

As a result, the Office of Enforcement plans on encouraging Regional Water Boards to see Electro Scanning Inspection at various upcoming project and demonstration locations throughout California.

“California’s record rainfall has put a spotlight on sewer agencies that have not made the necessary investment in new technologies needed to combat SSOs,” states Chuck Hansen, former Chair, ASTM’s Inspection and Renewal of Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Committee and Chairman, Electro Scan Inc.

“Traditionally, cities have relied on Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras – a visual-based inspection technique – to identify and catalog cracks, defective joints, and poorly connected service connections,” states Hansen, an expert in pipe condition assessment.

“But, the inability to differentiate superficial cracks from cracks that go through a pipe wall, have frustrated efforts to accurately prioritize critical pipes and certify repairs, contributing to SSOs and flooding,” states Hansen.

California SSOs are tracked statewide by an interactive map maintained by the CalEPA State Water Resource Control Board.

Studies conducted by Electro Scan included work at over sixty (60) California sewer agencies where CCTV inspection results were compared to an innovative machine-intelligent technology that accurately locates and measures defects.

Highlighted findings presented to the State Water Board’s Office of Enforcement, included:

• One study that found CCTV inspections had missed eighty-eight percent (88%) of all sewer defects, including several CCTV reports on the same pipe that showed materially different assessments, completed by the same person working for the same company, just months apart.

• Several agencies with major defects in recently repaired sewers – leaking more after repair, than before repair.

• Major damage in a newly lined pipe caused by a Contractor’s acceptance inspection; however, its final report showed ‘Zero Defects.’

• Two connected pipes that showed the newly relined pipe leaking more than the existing 50-year old pipe; both certified by CCTV inspection.

• A Northern California agency showing ‘Zero Defects’ on a sewer located in an area prone to flooding. Yet, on re-inspection, the pipe was more than half-full of water – on a clear day, mid-week, and in mid-afternoon – showing major leaks at every joint, undetected by CCTV inspection.

• A re-inspected sewer with an 11-million-gallon water main break; missed by two previous CCTV inspections conducted in 2011 and 2014. One survey had been conducted by an independent contractor, while another was completed by city staff, respectively.

Referred by the USEPA as Focused Electrode Leak Location (FELL) inspection, the new inspection standard is being adopted by leading sewer utilities to provide an unbiased way to find sources of infiltration and to certify repairs.

Using the new technology, no operator judgment or third-party data interpretation is required, with each defect provided with an estimated defect flow in gallons per minute.

In December 2015, new guidelines were published for Inspecting and Testing Collection Systems, Seventh Edition, Volume 1, OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE OF WASTEWATER COLLECTION SYSTEMS, ISBN 978-1-59371-066-8, recommending Electro Scanning Inspection, in place of CCTV inspection, to assess all pre- and post-repair, rehabilitation, and relining projects.

In the first twelve months of the new inspection standard, Electro Scan found defects in 69% of Cured-In-Place Pipe (CIPP) – a leading alternative to dig and replace pipe rehabilitation – traditionally inspected by visual inspection.

Overall, 21% of CIPP surveyed in 2016 using new testing standards had defect flows of 20 gallons or more, after rehabilitation.

“CCTV was the best we had for a long time, but now there is a better tool to certify point repairs, service reconnections, and trenchless rehabilitation,” states Hansen.

Since December 2016, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) and the City of San Francisco Department of Public Works have issued public bids worth over $23 million requiring FELL as its new acceptance and certification standard to ensure delivery of leak-free rehabilitation projects.

The next generation technology uses a high frequency, low voltage, focused electric current to evaluate 360-degrees of a pipe wall to find and measure openings that provide a clear path for water to enter or exit a pipe through defects.

Tested by several independent studies funded by the US EPA, the new technology is compliant with ASTM F2550-13 Standard Practice for Locating Leaks in Sewer Pipes By Measuring the Variation of Electric Current Flow Through the Pipe Wall.

In addition to numerous benefits over CCTV Inspection, Electro Scan products also show superior results in comparison to acoustic sensors, electro-magnetic, ground penetrating radar, helium tracers, laser profiling, sonar, and zoom cameras, for leak detection.

Equipment to evaluate sewers ranging from 3 to 30 inches in pipe diameter may be purchased directly from the Company and added to a variety of existing CCTV trucks or vans.

Services are offered worldwide from the Company or an Authorized Partner.

Prior to founding Electro Scan Inc., Hansen was founder and former Chairman of Hansen Information Technologies. Founded in 1983, Hansen was a leading provider of asset management solutions for water and sewer utilities, and developed the State of California’s Department of Transportation (Caltrans) work management system.

 About Electro Scan

Founded in 2011, the Company develops and markets machine-intelligent pipe condition assessment products and services to evaluate and certify sewer, water, and gas pipelines.

Contact
Carissa Boudwin, Tel: +1 916 779 0660, Email: info@electroscan.com

Game-Changing Sewer Assessment Tool Completes Integration with Industry-Leading Wastewater Business Analytics Solution

Sacramento, Calif. – (BUSINESS WIRE) – Electro Scan Inc.­ has completed data integration between its flagship sewer condition assessment solution and the Innovyze® InfoMaster for Sewer product.

Electro Scan’s breakthrough technology evaluates 360-degrees of a pipe wall to accurately locate and measure defects in gallons per minute (GPM) or liters per second (l/s).

Recent studies indicate that 70-100% of defects are typically not found by legacy inspection techniques, such as closed-circuit television (CCTV) inspection, smoke testing, dye flood testing, laser profiling, and acoustic sensors.

Recommended to assess and certify pre- and post-rehabilitated pipes, a new chapter was recently added on Electro Scanning Inspection to the industry’s leading training manual, Operation and Maintenance of Wastewater Collection Systems, Seventh Edition, Volume One (2015), in accordance with ASTM F2550.

“We are delighted to integrate our game-changing pipe condition assessment solution with the leading business analytics solution for the wastewater industry,” states Chuck Hansen, Founder and CEO, Electro Scan Inc.

“The Innovyze® family of smart network modeling and asset management solutions continues to be the standard platform for existing and emerging diagnostic tools,” said Paul F. Boulos, Ph.D., BCEEM, Hon.D.WRE, Dist.D.NE, Dist.M.ASCE, NAE, President, COO and Chief Innovation Officer of Innovyze.

“We look forward to offering this new layer of condition assessment data to help our clients in their sewer rehabilitation decisions,” continues Boulos.

Electro Scan’s Critical Sewers® cloud application allows for up-to-the-minute monitoring of sewer evaluations, lining projects, point repairs, and new construction projects, while crews are still in the field.

Clients can easily identify pipe-specific problems before rehabilitation project acceptance.

Wirelessly transmitted to the Company’s award winning cloud application, defect flows are reported in minutes and incorporated into Innovyze® InfoMaster for Sewer product for display and analysis.

Since Electro Scan’s advanced low voltage conductivity technology does not rely on operator interpretation, third-party data analysis, or independent judgment, a key advantage is its ability to automatically provide specific location, size, and estimated flow for each defect and total pipe.

Customers wishing to utilize Electro Scan’s decision support data must be licensed users of Innovyze® InfoMaster for Sewer and Electro Scan’s Critical Sewers® cloud application, including associated integration module.

Once data is accessible, Electro Scan defect flows may be highlighted by location and severity by Innovyze® InfoMaster for Sewer, including the identification of defective joints, cracks, and leaking service connections, compared to CCTV inspection results.

Electro Scan and Innovyze® users can show pipe defects ranked by highest GPM and gallons per day per inch diameter mile (GPD/IDM), utilizing Innovyze’s 1D and 2D modeling and mapping features within Innovyze® InfoMaster for Sewer product.

Plans include the integration of Electro Scan’s 4-in-1 water leak detection probe with Innovyze® InfoMaster for Water to assess pressurized water mains.

About Innovyze
Headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, Innovyze® is a leading global provider of wet infrastructure business analytics software solutions designed to meet the technological needs of water/wastewater utilities, government agencies, and engineering organizations worldwide. Its clients include the majority of the largest UK, Australasian, East Asian and North American cities, foremost utilities on all five continents, and ENR top-rated design firms.

About Electro Scan

Headquartered in Sacramento, California, Electro Scan develops and markets advanced pipe condition assessment products, field services, and cloud applications that automatically locate, measure, and report defects in sewer, water, and gas pipelines.

Contact
Carissa Boudwin, Tel: +1 916 779 0660, Email: info@electroscan.com

Electro Scan and WRc Exhibit at No-Dig 2016, September 20-22, Peterborough, England

London, England – September, 15, 2016 – Electro Scan Inc., a global leader in pipe assessment, in partnership with WRc plc, is delighted to showcase its Electro Scanning Services capabilities for UK sewerage condition assessment at No-Dig Live 2016, September 20-22 in Peterborough, England.

First meeting at the 2015 United Kingdom Society of Trenchless Technology (UKSTT) Awards Gala in Birmingham, after receiving separate awards for achievement, a strategic agreement was negotiated with WRc’s Business Services Unit to become the exclusive provider of Electro Scan Services throughout the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland.

The teaming of Electro Scan and WRc was announced nearly a year ago with several projects already completed.

Electro Scan represents a next generation condition assessment technology that automatically locates and measures leaks in gravity mains and stormwater pipes.

Providing specific locations for each defect, the innovative technology provides an estimated defect flow in either gallons per minute or liters per second – for each defect and total sewer main.

By providing a baseline defect flow, before rehabilitation, Electro Scan can quantify a specific reduction in flow and certify trenchless repairs as ‘leak-free,’ prior to contractor acceptance.

Results are reliable, repeatable, and unambiguous, with data available within minutes after completing each survey.

No operator coding or third party interpretation is required, often finding defects not identified by visual inspection.

Unlike CCTV, it does not rely on a subjective visual observation – so even pipes that are fully surcharged can be assessed.

Data can also be integrated with the Innovyze® InfoMaster® for Sewer program for catchment planning.

Recommended by recently published standards and used by leading sewer agencies for pre- and post-rehabilitation assessment, WRc is spearheading Electro Scan Services in the UK to help address requirements in AMP6 among UK water and sewer companies.

Keith Walker, Head of Commercial Enterprise at WRc comments, “Electro Scan’s advanced technology combined with the experience and proven consultancy of WRc, make the partnership well positioned to bring the next frontier of innovative solutions to UK water clients.”

About Electro Scan
 Inc.
Founded in 2011, the Company manufactures patented instrumentation and provides professional services that find and measure pipe defects in water, sewer and gas pipelines.

Contact
Carissa Boudwin, Tel: +1 916 779 0660, Email: info@electroscan.com

Annual Rock & Roll Event for Water Professionals Held Prior to WEFTEC®, Saturday, September 24, 2016 at Generations Hall, New Orleans, Louisiana

Sacramento, Calif. – September 6, 2016 – Electro Scan Inc., a global leader in pipe condition assessment and the certification of trenchless pipe rehabilitation projects, announced its Platinum Sponsorship of Water Charities Fundraising (WCF), a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that produces the annual Jammin’4Water (J4W) event.

Uniting water professionals through music, WCF raises funds for the Water Environment Federation (WEF) Community Service Project and charitable organizations that focus on water and sanitation.

Representing a fantasy rock & roll experience for charity, musically talented water professionals make donations to become featured players on their favorite song. After months of preparation, donors perform in a concert venue with full rhythm section, backup vocalists, and horn section.

Sponsors and other patrons further support this fundraising event.

This year’s J4W will be held Saturday, September 24, 2016, from 6PM-1AM, at Generations Hall, 310 Andrew Higgins Drive, New Orleans – two blocks from the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center – site of the 89^th Water Environment Federation’s Technical Exhibition and Conference (WEFTEC®).

After J4W, Electro Scan Inc. will be exhibiting at WEFTEC® Hall D, Booth #2906.

“Dave Kinnear (President), Max Foster (Treasurer and Charitable Donations), and Matt Livingstone (Board Member and J4W Musical Director), deserve the credit for this event,” stated Chuck Hansen, Chairman, Electro Scan Inc.

Continues Hansen, “We are proud to be associated with such a worthy cause and impressed with the event’s selection criteria for its charitable projects.”

In 2016, WCF provided $70,000 for water projects in seven countries.

In addition to his company’s sponsorship, Chuck Hansen will be joining the horn section for the J4W house band.

Playing Baritone Sax, Hansen has performed with Tower of Power, Huey Lewis & The News, Michael Bolton, Eddie Money, Prairie Prince (The Tubes), and Micky Dolenz (The Monkees), among others, and was recently featured in Trenchless Technology magazine’s Special Music Section.

Other members of the J4W horn section include Matt Livingstone, Novozymes (Trumpet), David & Robert Kershner, Kershner Environmental Technologies, LLC (Trumpets), Bernhard Wessendorf, Börger GmbH (Trombone), Matt Bond, Black & Veatch (Trombone), Germano Salazar, Hampton Roads Sanitation District (Alto Sax), and Caroline Burger, Brown and Caldwell (Tenor Sax).

This year, 80 musicians/water professionals will perform on two stages before an audience of over 1,000 attendees.

Tickets may be purchased online at http://www.jammin4water.org/purchase-tickets/ for $50 or at the door for $60, with additional donations welcomed.

About Electro Scan
 Inc.
Founded in 2011, the Company manufactures patented instrumentation and provides professional services that finds and measures pipe defects missed by acoustic sensors, data loggers, closed-circuit television cameras, and other assessment technologies used to assess water, sewer and gas pipelines.

Contact
Carissa Boudwin, Tel: +1 916 779 0660, Email: info@electroscan.com

Rapid Adoption of Electro Scan Inspection By Northern California Sewer Agencies Follows Release of New Wastewater Guidelines

New Projects Address Violations of the Clean Water Act and Mandatory Reductions in Sanitary Sewer Overflows

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – June 13, 2016 – Electro Scan Inc. has begun numerous projects in Northern California to independently assess the condition of sanitary sewers, before and after rehabilitation programs.

“We are delighted to begin so many projects near our headquarters,” stated Chuck Hansen, Chairman of Electro Scan, “and to show how sewer agencies can reduce their reliance on outdated methods of inspection that may inaccurately prioritize defects and are unable to certify repairs.”

One recent survey compared sewer mains that were previously inspected using high-resolution cameras; however, closed-circuit television (CCTV) recorded less than 1 of every 10 defects found using Electro Scan Inspection.

In another, the majority of CCTV inspections rated pipes as ‘leak free’ or having no evidence of infiltration, with Electro Scan Inspection finding major leaks in over eighty percent (80%) of the pipes surveyed.

In previous surveys, visual inspections simply recorded factory tap locations that connect homes to the sewer main, without recording any defects. In contrast, Electro Scan Inspection automatically located and quantified leaks at each defective service connection.

Authored by the late Ken Kerri, Ph.D., PE, the Electro Scanning Inspection chapter was included in the new Seventh Edition, Volume One, Operation and Maintenance of Wastewater Collection Systems manual to overcome the limitations of visual inspection. The new manual now recommends the use of Electro Scanning Inspection, over CCTV, to evaluate sewer and stormwater pipes, both before and after rehabilitation.

“Sewer managers have long acknowledged the drawbacks of using visual inspection to rate the condition of sewers,” commented Hansen. “But, what surprises most people are the high number of defects found by Electro Scan in relining and point repair projects that were missed by CCTV inspection.”

Common defects in CIPP liners, not typically seen by visual inspection, include accidental cuts, accelerator burns, bad service reconnections, equipment damage, defective epoxy, over-cooking, and lining wrinkles that should be repaired or replaced before project acceptance.

Electro Scanning Inspection can be a contracted service or municipal sewer agencies can purchase equipment that can easily be added to an existing CCTV truck, able to switch from CCTV to Electro Scan, and back, in minutes.

Another recent project performed for a community on the Sacramento River Delta, assessed nearly 13,000 ft of pipe consisting of seventy-seven (77) sewer mains. Fieldwork was completed in 4 days.

In a single day, Electro Scan crews completed the evaluation of 3,978 feet or 28 sewer mains – a company milestone – including several difficult access points where several manholes were 40-ft deep and others located in the middle of a dry creek bed.

In December 2015, the first Electro Scan Leak Detection Van was delivered to San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), with 10 trainees achieving Electro Scan Certification in January 2016.

Today, SFPUC has a full-time team dedicated to running their Electro Scan Leak Detection Van to pinpoint pipe defects where seawater enters its combined sewer system.

Electro Scan Inspection uses patented technology to measure the variation of electrical current that flows through cracks, bad joints, defective service connections, and other defects in non-conductive pipes and estimates the amount of leakage in sewer, water, and gas pipelines.

Using its Critical Sewers® cloud application, defects are automatically located and measured in gallons per minute, with unambiguous reports available in minutes.

All Northern California Electro Scanning Inspection projects are being conducted by certified company field crews, in accordance with recommended guidelines published in the Seventh Edition, Volume One, of the Operation and Maintenance of Wastewater Collection Systems manual and in accordance with ASTM F2550-13.

About Electro Scan Inc.

Electro Scan Inc., headquartered in Sacramento, develops proprietary pipe condition assessment instrumentation and cloud applications that automatically locates, measures, and reports defects in sewer, water, and natural gas pipelines, typically not found by legacy inspection methods.

Contact

Electro Scan Inc., Carissa Boudwin, +1 916-779-0660, info@electroscan.com