Beneath the Surface: Using Satellite Leak Detection Across Different Environments

ASTERRA believes that Earth has more than enough resources to prosper, but not nearly enough to squander. Global non-revenue water (NRW) losses consistently run in the range of 20–40%, and water utilities carry a heavy responsibility to reliably deliver water to every household, business, facility, and school they serve.

Several recent customers made a commitment to save water with support from satellite leak detection: Duncanville, Texas; Garland, Texas; Honolulu, Hawaii; the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED); Roswell, New Mexico; and Santa Clara, Utah. Several built their pipe infrastructure on different ground, from rock and clay to volcanic soil and desert, and through the unique challenges faced in each of their climates, these innovative utilities showed what becomes possible when people and technology work toward the same goal.

Different Environments, Different Inspection Challenges

Duncanville, Texas. In a city of more than 40,000 residents, rocky soil carried most leaks through rock fissures and into nearby creeks without ever surfacing. With limited staff focused on emergency repairs, the city used ASTERRA to scan its 240-mile distribution system, and after analyzing their entire network, sent crews to targeted locations. Duncanville found 80 leaks in 15 days, 99% of them non-surfacing, representing more than 102 million gallons of water saved and more than $350,000 in cost savings.

Garland, Texas. Garland lies within Texas’s Blackland Prairies. According to the Texas Almanac, soils are “deep, dark-gray to black alkaline clays” known to crack due to dry weather.  After non-revenue water (NRW) rose from 5.9% in 2015 to 21.1%, Garland pursued proactive leak detection across a system of 972 miles of water main. Two satellite scans guided crews to 186 verified leaks, 76% of them non-surfacing, representing 232.1 million gallons per year of water savings and $696,000 in cost savings per year. Average NRW fell from 120 million gallons per month to 50 million gallons per month over the same six-month period one year later, a 58% reduction.

Honolulu, Hawaii. The Board of Water Supply (BWS) serves 920,000 residents through 2,100 miles of pipe, and its internal teams once needed six years to inspect the entire system. Oʻahu’s porous soil allows pipeline leaks to drain underground, making them nearly impossible to detect without advanced technology. Guided by ASTERRA’s determined points of interest (POIs), one-person BWS crews found 748 leaks, most of them non-surfacing, averaging 2.8 leaks per crew day. Repairs reduced water loss by nearly 1 million gallons per day and lowered NRW from 10.5% to 9.7%.

New Mexico Environment Department. Through its statewide grant program, LeakTracer, NMED brings satellite-based leak detection to rural utilities serving populations of fewer than 20,000 people, at no cost to participating utilities. Those utilities work across remarkably varied ground: according to the Soil Science Society of America, New Mexico has 1,331 named soils across a landscape of sandstone mesas, snow-capped mountains, and desert grasslands. In the program’s first 12 months, 43 utilities enrolled and 12 service areas were inspected, with 154 leaks found, representing an estimated 270.6 million gallons per year of water loss reduction and an estimated $417,000 in net savings.

Roswell, New Mexico. Roswell serves nearly 49,000 residents through 400 miles of pipe. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the Roswell Basin is layered with alluvium of gravel, sand, silt, and clay over limestone, dolomite, and gypsum, which groundwater moves through openings formed by dissolution. Working with engineering firm Freese and Nichols as part of a broader Water Utility Master Plan, the city confirmed 117 leaks after two satellite passes and 25 field days. Of those leaks, 83% were non-surfacing, and crews averaged 5.8 leaks per crew day.

Santa Clara, Utah. A small, drought-impacted utility serving about 7,500 residents, Santa Clara faced hilly desert terrain that made traditional acoustic surveys slow and resource-intensive. Field crews from partner McKim & Creed investigated 18 satellite-identified locations and found 48 leaks in six days, including 16 utility-side leaks responsible for approximately 58 million gallons of annual water loss and an estimated $94,583 in annual savings.

Recurring Themes

Different Soil Compositions with Specific Challenges. No two of these communities share the same ground makeup. Rock fissures carried Duncanville’s leaks into creeks, Oʻahu’s porous soil drained Honolulu’s leaks underground, and Santa Clara’s hilly desert terrain slowed traditional surveys. Garland sits on heavy clays while Roswell is located on top of alluvium over limestone and gypsum, and New Mexico’s rural utilities span more than a thousand named soils. In each place, ASTERRA’s satellite data gave teams a view beneath ground they could not efficiently get to.

Finding Water That Never Surfaced. All of these customers relied on satellite technology to pinpoint leaks that no one could see. Non-surfacing leaks accounted for 99% of leaks in Duncanville, 83% in Roswell^, 76% in Garland, and most leaks identified in Honolulu.

Extending Smaller Teams’ Reach. Staffing constraints are a common pain point for utilities. Duncanville’s limited staff had little capacity for proactive detection. Santa Clara needed to make the most of limited staff and budgets. New Mexico’s rural communities often have limited staff and financial resources. With satellite data guiding them, these teams were able to prioritize their time and inspect leaks where they were most likely happening. ASTERRA’s field data shows that guided leak inspection remains 3 to 4 times more effective than unguided inspection.

A Technology Layer that Empowers Utilities. For every utility, satellite scanning and analysis was a game-changing first step. Field crews confirmed each finding based on prioritized POIs. As noted in our whitepaper, satellite-based leak detection is most effective when prioritizing and enhancing traditional pinpointing methods, rather than replacing them.

Additional Insights From Inspections. Upon in-person inspections, several teams discovered something about their systems beyond leaks. In Duncanville, simple, low-cost repairs such as resealing fire hydrants produced substantial water savings. In Garland, 67 of the 186 leaks were found on hydrants, prompting a review of inspection history and a new approach to hydrant inspections. In Santa Clara, leaks below the detection threshold of existing meters produced valuable insight into meter performance and future asset replacement priorities. Roswell’s program structure is actively generating data to prioritize capital improvement projects.

Shared Successes

A Shared Commitment to Saving Water. Every one of these utilities set out to reduce water loss, and ASTERRA is proud to have supported each of them in achieving that goal. Duncanville saved more than 102 million gallons, Garland reversed a rising NRW trend, Honolulu moved closer to its NRW target of 8%, Santa Clara addressed approximately 58 million gallons of annual water loss, and Roswell’s utility-side leaks represent an estimated 308,160 gallons per day.

Savings That Return to the Community. Duncanville sought to reduce water loss so that rising purchased-water costs would not be passed on to ratepayers. Its program represents more than $350,000 in cost savings. Garland, Santa Clara, and the New Mexico program each have reported annual savings as well.

Utility Locations and Their Results

Together, these six teams found more than 1,300 leaks, and ASTERRA customers across the world have verified more than 200,000 leaks worldwide.

Giving Utilities The Intelligence to Act

These results highlight operations leaders, crews, and public officials who made a commitment to save water and then took action. ASTERRA gives utilities a clearer view of what lies beneath the surface, so they can direct their expertise toward addressing leaks quicker and in a more proactive way.

Our whitepaper, Satellite-Based Leak Detection: Advancing Water Loss Reduction at Scale explains the science behind these stories, including how satellite data integrates with acoustic, district metering, and continuous monitoring programs. Read the case study to find out how ASTERRA’s L-band polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (PolSAR) supports utilities of every environment.