Missouri American Water will begin using a new method to detect leaking and broken water mains in Jefferson City Next week.
The company has partnered with EnTech Engineering to use its patented Infrared Energy Pattern Analysis, along with acoustics and Ground Penetrating Radar, to locate leaks and breaks without digging or busting up streets and sidewalks. The technology looks for temperature differences in the ground between the surrounding soil and any water leaking out. It also can identify distinct shapes that indicate an underground, invisible leak or break.
“Many of the breaks this technology can find are breaks we would not otherwise be able to find,” Brent Haas, Missouri American operations manager in Jefferson City, said in a news release. “In addition, this makes the work we do much safer for our employees, and our customers benefit by finding these breaks more efficiently and getting them repaired, which keeps costs down.”
The technology uses van- and aircraft-mounted tools to scan underground water mains and identify possible leaks and breaks, with an accuracy of better than 80 percent. Qualified EnTech professionals can, in the course of a precipitation-free night, scan 15-20 miles of underground water main and provide Missouri American Water a snapshot of possible locations for breaks.