Meet Sam Godfrey at TCEQ Public Drinking Water Symposium
SAMCO’s Sam Godfrey will be in Austin Aug. 5-6 attending TCEQ’s Public Drinking Water Symposium at the DoubleTree Hotel, 6505 I-35 Frontage, in Austin. The event is FREE. Stop by the SAMCO Booth to learn more about how SAMCO can help your utility.
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.
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
By Sam Godfrey
In case you needed it official: The Texas Water Development Board’s Best Management Practices for Municipalities, updated last November, lays it all out.
Identifying and fixing leaks is a Best Management Practice. Leak surveys and other components of identifying water losses can help a utility’s bottom line.
CUTTING EXPENSES: “A responsive leak repair program is essential to reducing water loss. Leak detection and meter testing can be done by the utility or contracted out. Timely repairs and an ongoing preventative maintenance and replacement program will allow the utility to operate efficiently, minimizing operational losses,” TWDB says.
BOLSTERING REVENUES: “Water loss impacts the supply side of water delivery. Therefore, any reductions carry not only the traditional conservation benefits of reducing demand, electricity and chemicals used in treatment and pumping, and water procurement costs, but also do so without reducing
utility revenues. Reducing apparent losses by improving data management and meter accuracy can even increase utility revenues.”
Texas Water Code Section 16.0121(b) requires retail public water utilities to conduct a water audit every five years, unless they have an active financial obligation with the Texas Water Development Board or have more than 3,300
connections, in which case they must conduct an audit annually.
With TWDB writing the rules for the new $2 billion SWIFT fund, more utilities will have a shot at TWDB financing. So we can expect more annual audits…and more efficient utlilities.
How Much Water Can You Afford To Lose?
As water systems plan their budgets for the upcoming fiscal year, they have to take into account the possibility of
continued drought and its effect on the bottom line. Though drought is beyond our control, other factors contributing to water loss – and excessive pumping – are factors that can be addressed.
As drought conditions persist, many water systems run the risk of over-pumping in order to keep up with demand. Leak detection surveys and other systematic procedures for identifying water losses assist utilities by increasing their efficient management of their current water supply from incurring penalties and fines.
Baby, it’s dry outside…
The drought has been with us a long time, and it’s going to take more than brief rains to run it off. This July 31 map from the U.S. Drought Monitor shows most of Texas experiencing dry conditions…or worse.
In this kind of climate, your utility can’t afford to waste water. Talk to a SAMCO representative today about how SAMCO can help get your water where it’s supposed to go.
