AT&T, IBM and Mueller Water Products have partnered to develop a new solution leveraging the Internet-of-Things (IoT) technology to help cities manage water and prevent leaks. The three companies shared the results of their field trials conducted in Atlanta, Los Angeles and Las Vegas at the recent National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Tech Expo where they created an enhanced water management solution as part of NIST’s Global City Teams Challenge.
The new solution showcased, said the companies, leverages Echologics sensors and sound technology from Mueller Water Products and AT&T’s LTE wireless network to detect water pressure, temperature and leaks while IBM’s Water Management Center brings all sources of the water data together, providing a complete view of past, present and future performance.
According to AT&T, the solution monitors the water system to prevent large-scale leaks and help cities to get information on the condition of their fire hydrants, underground pipes, and drainage systems which have been difficult to monitor in the past.
Mike Troiano, VP, AT&T Industrial IoT Solutions
A typical water pipe leak wastes almost 400,000 gallons of water per year. Cities are facing water shortages all over the world and need help identifying issues early to help avoid a catastrophic event. We’re giving communities more visibility into their water supply, and helping them better manage the future operation of their water systems..
Charles Scott, Engineering Project Manager, Las Vegas Valley Water District, COO, NPAW
With this new permanent leak monitoring technology, we can now monitor the pipe for small, subsurface leaks, which gives us a better opportunity to fix them before they develop into larger leaks. This reduces our risk, and allows us to focus our maintenance efforts to targeted sections of pipe.
