Meet Sam Godfrey at TML in Austin
SAMCO’s Sam Godfrey will be in Austin next week attending the Texas Municipal League Conference. Stop by the SAMCO Booth #546 to learn more about how SAMCO can save you water – and money – during the drought.
Texas Municipal League Annual Conference
Oct. 8-11
Austin Convention Center
State funding can help pay for repair
Several well-stocked state funds are available to help a utility repair its leaking infrastructure. Here’s a brief list:
- The Texas Water Development Fund
- The Water Infrastructure Fund
- The Rural Water Assistance Fund
- The Agricultural Water Conservation Grant and Loan Program
- The Economically Distressed Areas Program
For more information, contact the Texas Water Development Board at 512-563-
4841 or click here.
What SAMCO can do for you
Reduce your water losses and enhance your water revenues with SAMCO’s services:
Comprehensive Acoustic Leak Survey
SAMCO’s experienced technicians will sound on water system access points to identify where water is escaping from the system. The leak report will include findings showing where water flows through meters but is not being registered.
Meter Evaluation Option
In addition to the leak report that will cover any discovery of meters found to have unregistered flows, this option will
provide physical inspections of those larger meters that are subject to measuring errors due to issues resulting from improper sizing, type selection, and installation. This option may be further extended to include accuracy testing of meters inplace where it is practical to do so.
Investigation of Unbilled Water Service
In addition to the existence of unmetered service connections that may be disclosed during the course of the leak survey, the scope of services may be extended to include a search for users that are metered but for various reasons are not being
billed.
GPS Option
SAMCO will generate GPS data on the location of each discovered leak to sub-30 centimeter accuracy. At your option, this service may be extended to include other system features such as meters, valves, fire hydrants or flushing valves, blowoffs, manholes, etc.
Rains, cooler weather won’t fix utilities’ drought-ravaged systems
Most of Texas can look forward to more drought through Nov. 30, according to the Climate Prediction Center.
The CPC in August predicted some portions of north and east Texas may see some improvement, but since those areas are already in dire shape, the improvement may be from bad to not-quite-as-bad.
In the last report of September, the US Drought Monitor showed about 80 percent of Texas was in moderate drought, and almost half the state was in severe drought.
That will put more strain on utilities trying to provide water to thirsty customers. TCEQ reported at the end of September that more than one-in-four Texas utilities is restricting water use.
Even if rain returns with the fall weather, utilities won’t be completely in the clear. The strain put on their distribution systems during the hot summer may have caused leaks they don’t know about….leaks that will continue until they’re found, rain or shine.
Utilities who want to make sure they aren’t wasting water call Sam Godfrey, the Leak Whisperer.
Godfrey of Austin-based SAMCO Leak Detection Services, Inc. (www.www.samco-leakservice.com) has more than 26 years experience in dealing with water system integrity.
Finding underwater leaks is not easy, even with high-tech listening devices. SAMCO crews carefully inspect the route of a utility’s distribution system. The acoustic equipment allows SAMCO to identify and pinpoint leaks, then summarize the findings and make recommendation for repairs.
“Utilities used to just wait for the water to bubble up. When they saw a big puddle where it wasn’t supposed to be, they knew they had to fix it,” Godfrey said.
But the littlest leaks can rob a utility, and some may never show up. “I’ve identified water leaks and water loss that would never have been located if we hadn’t used our listening devices,” Godfrey recalls.
Those drought-caused leaks will be wasting water all fall and winter, but with Godfrey’s help, utilities can tighten their system before next summer’s onslaught.
