Boston Completes Pipe Condition Assessment
Echologics recently completed a condition assessment survey of several distribution and transmission mains owned by Boston Water & Sewer Commission using ePULSE, Echologics' non-invasive acoustic pipe condition assessment solution.
Echologics, an affiliate of Mueller Co., is a developer and provider of acoustic-based technologies for water loss management, leak detection and pipe condition assessment. It is part of the Mueller Water Products Inc. group of companies.
The Commission selected Green Intl. Affiliates Inc., a multi-disciplined civil engineering firm, to lead the Water Main Corrosion Study, RFP 13-206-003. Green Intl. partnered with Echologics on the project, which included corrosion assessments of several large-diameter steel mains and also ductile iron pipe in one neighborhood.
ePULSE is a non-invasive pipe condition assessment solution that provides municipalities with an accurate measurement of the remaining (minimum) average wall thickness of selected pipe segments, and can also simultaneously identify leaks. Municipalities can use this information to efficiently and cost-effectively mitigate risks associated with deteriorating pipe walls, reduce non-revenue water, and prioritize repairs and replacement.
Consistent with its focus on asset management, the Commission was particularly concerned with determining the overall structural condition of the steel mains.
"Excavating test pits in Boston streets to assess pipe condition is extremely expensive and time consuming. To minimize disruption to Boston's busy streets, we needed to employ non-invasive technologies to assess the structural condition of the mains," said Peter Richardson, vice president for Green Intl. "Using Echologics' ePULSE technology allowed us to gather more useful data than we would have gathered measuring wall thicknesses at a few random locations and has helped us make informed decisions about the condition of the Commission's water mains."
Source: Echologics, Mueller Water Products