Texas Water Utilities Uses Geospatial AI Technology Powered by Rezatec

Texas Water Utilities has extended its use of Rezatec’s Geospatial AI platform to monitor a total of almost 900 miles of distribution pipeline network. The Texas-based water utility is leading the way in adopting innovative new technology to help managers and engineers identify and fix potential pipe failure before it happens to prevent leaks, conserve water and better target vital infrastructure investment.

Having piloted Rezatec’s pipeline risk monitoring product on 152 miles of network in Granbury, Texas, with highly accurate results validated in the field, Texas Water Utilities has expanded to a total of 880 miles of distribution mains.

“At Texas Water Utilities, it is vital that we save water and direct funding towards upgrading infrastructure before it degrades, to deliver value to our communities. We found that utilizing algorithms to pinpoint investigation areas increases efficiency and cost-effectiveness,” explains Katie Zheng, PE, PMP, Planning Manager at Texas Water Utilities.

“Rezatec’s AI-powered likelihood of failure (LoF) predictions in our pilot project on an initial 152 miles of network, correlated strongly with field validation, with 62% of water losses found within the top 10% of at-risk network, which made leak detection crews four times more efficient at finding leaks in the highest risk 30% of the network,” she continues. “This accuracy and precision gave us the confidence to assess the wider network, with the expectation of identifying around 330 miles of at-risk pipe for investigation.”

“For Texas Water Utilities, with over 1,500 miles of pipeline, predominantly small diameter plastic, acoustic methods alone struggled to identify leaks effectively. Rezatec uses satellite SAR (synthetic aperture radar) together with environmental and the utility’s data including pipe break history, soil types, slopes, pipe size, age and material to predict failure using their AI algorithms. We found the AI predictions to be more effective than traditional leak detection methods.”

Camilla Braithwaite, Head of Product at Rezatec, adds: “We help our customers monitor for risk of potential failure at scale and upgrade the highest risk pipe segments before they fail by delivering new insights into the condition of their assets.”

“It’s the combination of big satellite, environmental and customer network data sets fused with the most advanced analytics available that enable Rezatec to predict highest risk of failure with next-level accuracy. In addition, we double validate the predictions, prior to and during field inspections, enabling Texas Water Utilities to cost-effectively prioritize resources and plan investment with new conviction.”

Rezatec’s Geospatial AI platform empowers water leaders to dynamically manage their ground-based assets and mission critical infrastructure – at scale. This means they can prioritize investment in the right place at the right time, boost the value of their assets, accelerate more powerful decisions on resource deployment and keep communities safe.

Texas Water Utilities is the second-largest, investor-owned water and wastewater utility in Texas, providing service to more than 74,600 water connections and 21,000 wastewater connections. Committed to Texas since 1996, Texas Water Utilities owns and operates 179 water and 34 wastewater systems across 46 Texas counties. As a company with deep Texas roots, Texas Water Utilities employs almost 190 Texans who are dedicated to building a better water utility for Texas—together. Water empowered. For Texans, by Texans. Additional information may be found on the company’s website: www.swwc.com/texas