Leaks and breaks are wasting billions of gallons of water – not to mention dollars – each day across the United States alone. In this article, we discuss the route to a more proactive approach that is helping network owners prioritize everyday upgrades before they become critical.
More than 40 percent of the water infrastructure in the US is considered unstable, according to American Water Works. In addition to this, a pipeline failure occurs every two minutes causing six billion gallons of lost water each day. As infrastructure across the country continues to age and networks spend scarce resources fixing leaks after they’ve occurred, managers will continue to have a major pipeline problem on their hands.
The reactive approach is not working. Engineers or managers are responding to leaks on a near constant basis, which is costing networks vast amounts of time and money. But it’s also the end customer who pays a price when things go wrong. Leaks mean access to clean, safe drinking water is put at risk. And unplanned repairs are disruptive to neighbourhoods and communities, which creates further issues for pipeline network managers.
Despite the rising costs that come from being reactive, a solution that helps you become more proactive isn’t always obvious. For instance, how do you get ahead of leaks when the majority of your assets are buried? How do you know where to prioritize your scarce resources when it comes to critical maintenance? And how can you plan an efficient longer term upgrades schedule when it relies on accurate, accessible information? The answer is to level-up your data collection and analytics. But rather than looking underground, this can be done using satellites, by adding a Geospatial AI-powered pipeline management system to your technology tool kit.
How AI-Powered Pipeline Monitoring Works To Help You Manage Your Network
Advances in earth observation and its associated analytics are enabling pipeline operators to be more proactive with their network management and get ahead of leaks and breaks. Where previously they relied solely on manual inspections, engineer site visits or static maintenance plans, now advanced technology is helping to spot areas of concern ahead of time. Using data collected from space, Geospatial AI enables visibility of an entire network, no matter how large, from the comfort of your desk. Topographical and vegetation information is merged with historical data and advanced algorithms are put in place to predict where pipeline failure is most likely to occur. The result is a map of visual flags showing patterns and trends that help you not only prevent a pipeline problem before it occurs, but also make smarter business decisions and improve efficiency.
Imagine being able to learn where to direct your resources next. And imagine having predictive technology and advanced analytics that, combined with your own data, helped you to send engineers to a particular zone in your network before a failure or leak occurred. This is the power you can gain from a Geospatial AI-powered pipeline management system. Rather than being solely about leak detection, advances in this technology enable smarter business decisions. New insights are a game changer when it comes to every part of a pipeline network organization – from cost savings to planning maintenance and upgrades years in advance. It is the answer to reactive repairs and costly pipeline failure.
Another significant benefit in addition to dialling up insights is the frequency of data. Manual inspections take time. It can be weeks or sometimes months before engineers can file reports to determine the fate of a particular area in your network. And although this information is still vital to prevent a pipeline problem, Geospatial AI enables constantly refreshed intel. What this means for your overall operations is quick decision making, reduced disruption and supercharged business efficiency.
The Future Of Pipeline Failure
Rezatec’s Pipeline Risk solution establishes the likelihood, consequence and cost of failure using satellite and Geospatial data fused with advanced analytics. Constantly refreshed insights enable you to prioritize engineer visits, optimize upgrade schedules, increase productivity and maximize water value. The platform remotely determines the top 20% of at-risk pipelines in an entire network.
As we established earlier in this article, much of America’s water infrastructure is at risk, with most owners, managers and engineers just waiting for the next pipeline problem. But using constantly refreshed insights and enhanced data you can prioritize repairs, plan and optimize areas for investment and drive significant productivity gains. Ultimately this helps minimize the massive costs associated with pipeline failure and maximize water value across the network.
Book a FREE demo of Rezatec’s Geospatial AI pipeline management technology today and discover how you could save your ageing pipeline network.
Take a look at geospatial AI in action. Explore how satellite data can provide a view of your entire asset base across vast areas. Discover how analytics drill down to a level of detail you never knew existed.
