ABB Flowmeters Help Cut Water Leaks by a Half Billion Gallons/Year in UK
Warminster, PA, - Electromagnetic flowmeters from ABB are playing a key role in cutting water leakage for the Ministry of Defense (MoD) in England, with reductions of 60% achieved at some sites. Leakage has already dropped by about 528 million (US) gallons per year across more than 1,500 MoD sites where C2C Services manages water and waste utility assets.
C2C Services is a consortium of Severn Trent Services and Costain. C2C provides water services to MoD sites in the North, East and Southeast of England, known as 'Package C'. The 25-year £1 billion ($1.66 billion US) contract is part of Project Aquatrine, which transferred responsibility for MoD's water services to three different contractors.
Mark Amor, C2C's water resources manager, says that the AquaMaster magmeters from ABB have been central to the success of C2C's leak reduction program. "We've used a targeted approach based on the availability of high quality data," he says.
Pinpointing water leaks
About 900 AquaMaster magmeters have already been installed, with more meters planned. With a measuring range of 1000:1, AquaMaster magmeters are accurate across a wide range of flows, making them ideal for this project. One set of meters measures the overall consumption at each site by monitoring the total incoming water. These also find use for continuously validating custody revenue meters used by local water companies to generate bills. Another set of magmeters, called "Night line meters," provide a critical indication of leakage levels during periods when legitimate consumption is at its lowest.
A key capability of the AquaMaster magmeters is the convergence of flow measurement, data logging, and cell-phone text-message technology. Using this technology, C2C can remotely set the integral data logger to either high resolution (1 measurement per minute) for in-depth investigation of night lines, or a standard frequency (one measurement per 15 minutes) for normal operation. Once a day, all the readings are uploaded to a central server using text messages sent via the AquaMaster's built-in GSM facilities.
Once data resides on the server, AutoChart software from Information and Performance Services (I+P) takes over. AutoChart's Windows-based interface lists all the meters and their readings graphically or numerically. It also shows the status of each meter using a traffic-light alarm system. The C2C project is one of the first major deployments of ABB's AquaMaster meters in conjunction with AutoChart.
The server is secure, permitting authorized persons to read and manipulate data over
the internet from anywhere in the world. "This approach means that C2C doesn't need to have sophisticated software loaded onto all of its PCs," says I+P Managing Director, Ashley Roe. "It's all on the server."
Enhanced accuracy and calibration
The combination of the AquaMaster magmeters and AutoChart software provides higher accuracies than many other systems. "Other systems use inferred readings from pulses sent by the meters to separate loggers," says Roe. "But our system reads the meter itself. This makes it more accurate by eliminating the errors normally associated with signal conversion to pulsed outputs necessary for transfer to loggers."
To meet its contractual and business needs, C2C monitors the water supply across its region to a high standard of accuracy. The information serves for both leakage cost reduction and billing. "Electromagnetic meters are really the only way to achieve that accuracy," says Amor.
C2C must also be able to verify that the meters continue to provide accurate readings throughout their lives. "We're required to demonstrate that we're within compliance and to provide an audit trail, so verification is very important," says Amor. All the AquaMaster meters have been electronically fingerprinted, so any deviation from the original factory electromagnetic performance and calibration can be detected using ABB's CalMaster2 verification system.
For each managed site, C2C has identified a point at which further leakage reduction will be uneconomical and the aim is to reach that level in each case. "Once we have reached the economic point of leakage repair, continued monitoring will enable us to spot any new leaks as they occur." says Robin Phillips, Deputy General Manager for C2C.
"As for all organizations with private distribution systems, our economic point of repair is significantly lower than a typical water utility's because our cost of leakage is based on the price paid for water as opposed to the much lower cost of water production," says Phillips. "With ABB technology, our technicians can reduce costs by identifying and repairing leaks very quickly."
"Any reduction in leakage as seen in this application not only saves water for C2C and MoD, but also saves energy used to pump and produce water," says Tony Hoyle, ABB's UK Flow Products Manager. "This also has a positive environmental impact, enabling C2C's clients to significantly reduce their carbon footprint and minimize utility costs."
ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 107,000 people.
For more information please contact
ABB Instrumentation
Rob Mapleston
Tel: 1-215-674-6580 or 1-800-829-6001
robert.mapleston@us.abb.com
www.abb.com/instrumentation
