At first glance, the sleek and sculptural 21-story Astor Place tower in New York City appears out of place in the heart of the fabled bohemian East Village. But true to the spirit of the neighborhood, Astor Place is challenging convention and advancing the ideals of energy conservation and sustainability.

Though it’s now a leading brand for Xylem Inc., one of the world’s largest pure play water technology companies, Bell & Gossett got its start as a family owned business. The B&G brand marks its centennial in 2016, remaining true to the precepts instilled by its founders 100 years ago.

Bell & Gossett manufacturer’s representative, Hydro-Flo, in Brookfield, Wisconsin, presented a solution to the VA’s pump room challenge: the VSX vertical split case pump.

New building codes continue to raise efficiency standards for new and existing buildings; economic conditions pressure organizations to cut energy costs wherever possible; and new corporate sustainability initiatives require steady efficiency improvements.

In 2016, EPAL recognized a deviation in the non-revenue water (NRW) trend since implementation of the DMA program. The issue was promptly identified in two supply zones, encompassing 150 kilometers of water transmission mains, predominately composed of large diameter reinforced concrete pipe built in 1965.

In recent years, the condition assessment of wastewater mains has become heavily regulated and required by law.

When the utility identified the main for priority inspection, they welcomed the strategy of combining a SmartBall leak detection inspection with a pilot run of Xylem’s cutting-edge PipeDiver Ultra, an advanced condition assessment platform that analyzes ultrasonic data to deliver actionable insights on the physical integrity of the pipeline.

In 2002, the EPA entered into a federal consent decree with MSD, mandating the elimination of sanitary sewer overflows and significant mitigation of combined sewer overflows into receiving waterways. Engineers estimated the cost to mitigate the sewer overflows at $3.1 billion, an unacceptable capital expense to pass along to MSD’s customers.

Around the world, critical valves are in poor repair, or even inoperable. When critical valves fail, managers have effectively lost control of their system, increasing vulnerability to water main breaks or any other system hazard. Once valves have failed, utilities have traditionally sought to replace them, often at great cost, both in terms of time and expense.

New standards of best practice for force main management involve a variety of methods and technologies to provide data and information with which to make decisions. Utilities can now often perform a detailed condition assessment while the force main remains in service.

This mid-sized utility located in Orange County, California has long been proactive in encouraging water conservation through regulations and outreach programs. Well over a decade ago, the utility became concerned with ongoing apparent water loss (water that is consumed but not properly measured, accounted or paid for) and the economic, social and environmental costs associated with this issue.