SACRAMENTO, CA, April 16, 2015 -- Electro Scan Inc., a global specialist in the leak-detection and pipe-certification market, recently announced that it has joined The Global Water Council (GWC). Based in Milwaukee, Wis., The GWC is an organization dedicated to transforming the Great Lakes and Upper Mississippi River region into an international hub for water innovation.
The GWC is comprised of more than 150 water technology companies and includes the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Science and the Institute for Water Business, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. More than 100 academic scientists and researchers addressing water challenges -- including supply, treatment, distribution, and reuse -- are members of the Council (see "GWC Provides Research, Accelerator Platform for Existing, Emerging Companies").
"Our prolonged drought conditions in California has prompted us to seek out innovative partnerships as we begin rollout of our next generation leak-detection technology," said Chuck Hansen, Electro Scan chairman. "To put things in perspective, an 8-percent water loss from leakage is equivalent to losing a one-month supply of water, with most utilities experiencing from 10 to 30 percent in water losses [apparent and real losses] each year."
Last month, Electro Scan chose World Water Day (Sunday, March 22) to announce its entry in the water leak-detection market by posting a YouTube video explaining the technology. Releasing a focused array of low-voltage high-frequency electrical current (40 milliamps) inside a water pipe, the company's international patent-pending technology records data such as distance, water pressure, total current, and defect measurements every 14 milliseconds.
Often recording between 14,000 to 20,000 data points for every 300 feet (100 meters) of pipe, data is automatically stored on a mobile field device and transmitted to Electro Scan's CriticalH2O cloud application with detailed reports available in minutes. Any water leak at a pipe joint, service connection, pinhole, or crack in a pipe wall is automatically identified without operator interpretation or third-party data analysis.
"Geophysics tells us that if a pipe leaks water, it will also leak electric current," said Hansen. "For a constant applied voltage, the larger the opening, the greater the amount of electric current that will flow through an opening. Applied to water leaks, the larger the hole, the greater the flow, so we can both locate and estimate (gallons per minute or liters per second) of defect flow for any size of leak.
"Along with our membership in the Council comes the opportunity to expand our network of potential partners," he continued. "By cultivating strong ties with water industry leaders, Electro Scan will help utilities move beyond legacy inspection methods."
Mark Grabowski, Electro Scan vice president and general manager, added, "The Electro Scan-Council membership reflects our commitment to improving the systematic condition assessment of critical water infrastructure and helps water companies prioritize their mains for repair or replacement and also provide a tool to assess post-rehabilitation effectiveness."
See also:
"Water Council announces Batch II winners of BREW Accelerator"
"WI opens first-of-its-kind water business, research facility addressing world water challenges"
About The Water Council
Created by leaders in both business and education, The Water Council is convening the region’s existing water companies and research clusters, developing education programs to train talent, and building partnerships that cut across all sectors and geographic boundaries. The Water Council believes it can advance Milwaukee’s global position by becoming a magnet that attracts creative talent, innovative ideas and is recognized as a World Water Hub for research, education and economic development. For more information, visit www.thewatercouncil.com.
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