Beyond billing: AMI is a utility management game-changer

Right now, water utilities lose 11% on average of their treated drinking water to leaks, according to a new study by the Utah Water Research Laboratory at Utah State University.

Not surprisingly, aging infrastructure has been a key concern of water utilities for years, notes the American Water Works Association’s State of the Industry Report. Between the U.S. and Canada, Utah State’s water research team estimates that some 260,000 pipeline breaks occur annually and chalk up $2.6 billion in repair and maintenance costs.

Those costs could drop if utilities could find water distribution line leaks while they’re still small and prioritize maintenance based on that knowledge. Acoustic correlation leak detection analysis enables utility workers to do that cost-efficiently.

Fixed network leak detection solutions leverage time sync technology to pinpoint even the smallest and quietest leaks within 1-3 feet each night. The leading systems use acoustic data loggers, including automatic correlation functionality, which capture time-synchronized sound recordings. This data then gets transmitted to sophisticated analytic software that correlates the data between loggers and identifies high-probability leak locations.

Enhancing efficiency with acoustic leak detection

With acoustic analysis, utilities can catch leaks before they become street-closing gully-washers. They’ll avoid the cost of catastrophic failures, sinkholes, and paying overtime for emergency crews. Water managers will also have a way to prioritize line replacement or maintenance based on need rather than other criteria that are less efficient.

When the Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC), a wholesale water provider in California, launched an acoustic leak detection program, 18 affiliate utilities took advantage of it. In three years, the MWDOC team “surveyed 2,379 miles of water mains, located 764 leaks, and saved 508.3 acre-feet a year, or roughly enough water to serve 1,500 OC households,” noted a press release.

Taking a big-picture view

The sound of leaks isn’t the only thing utilities can track via an AMI system. These communications networks can serve as the backbone for communications to and from pressure monitors, sewer overflow sensors, water quality monitors and other devices. This enables utilities to improve operations and reduce operational expenses because utilities will be able to:

• Do more with less. Equipping distribution system infrastructure with sensors and instrumentation to identify the highest maintenance priorities can ensure the most efficient use of limited support staff. It also enables utilities to fix problems before they become more severe. ASCE notes that 47% of maintenance work undertaken by utilities now is reactive and done as systems fail. That makes repairs and replacements less convenient and more costly.

• Protect water quality. Linking water quality sensors in the distribution system via the AMI infrastructure can provide timely insights into changing water characteristics such as chlorine residuals, turbidity, PFAS (perfluoroalkyl substances), lead, or distribution byproducts (DBPs), and help to avoid potential penalties for non-compliance.

• Optimize asset management. Monitoring and managing pipeline pressures allows utilities to identify potential problem areas and respond with appropriate maintenance. For example, flow control interventions can minimize stresses on older infrastructure, reduce OPEX, and maximize the long-term value of infrastructure investments.

• Leverage a communications network for automation and control. Sensors communicating over an AMI system can cost-efficiently identify performance changes that require intervention. If control technology is added to the system, AMI can help utilities manage things like pressure-reducing valves, booster pumps, or zone shutoff valves from a central location. That reduces time and truck rolls.

Other networks – such as SCADA systems – also can bring such helpful data back. SCADA systems work well within the confines of a water treatment plant, but they’re expensive to deploy systemwide; AMI infrastructure goes everywhere the water distribution system goes.

Smarter planning

Water utilities in the U.S. still don’t earn an “A” grade from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Its most recent infrastructure report card from 2021 gave drinking water providers a grade of C-, an improvement from 2017’s grade of D.

What made the grade rise? The Committee on American Infrastructure, a team of 31 experienced civil engineers who volunteer their time to do the research necessary to create the report card, credits waterline replacements as one reason. The chair emeritus of the committee said that overall, water utilities had increased line replacement tenfold.

Another thing the chair applauded was an increase in the number of drinking water providers that are adopting asset management plans to ensure they manage their infrastructure assets as optimally as possible. In 2017, only 20 percent of utilities had such plans. By 2021, 29% had them, and another 55% were in the process of developing the plans.

Learn how to maximize AMI value

For utilities planning to add AMI or replace an existing AMI installation, the operational benefits of AMI should be part of the business case from the start. Learn how AMI, data, and analytics can optimize operations. This white paper from Aclara will help you plan for AMI wisely.

This blog was originally published in 2021 and updated in July, 2025