The City of San Diego recently contracted the San Diego based remote-sensing data company, Utilis, to conduct a pilot study survey of the city’s drinking water distribution system as part of their innovation exploration program. Over the course of two days Councilmember Scott Sherman (district 7), and representatives from the districts of Council President Pro Tem Bry (district 1), Councilmember Campbell (district 2), Councilmember Kersey (district 5), as well as a representative from U.S. Congressman Scott Peter’s office (52nd district) joined Utilis and their leak detection partners from Utility Service Associates (USA) as they toured the project study area and observed the satellite leak detection method in action.
“This is an excellent opportunity to showcase how the Utilis method is applied in the field and being in our home town of San Diego makes it so much more meaningful,” observed James Perry, Utilis VP of Business Development.
Utilis has completed over 200 projects around the world, but this is their first in the City of San Diego. Besides pilot, Utilis offers service contracts that allow a water utility to set-up a schedule to monitor their entire network on an ongoing basis. Utilis uses synthetic aperture radar satellite data along with their proprietary algorithm to specifically identify areas with soil moisture at a depth underground that often signifies drinking water leaks from pipes. This information is provided to water utilities to use along with their current leak detection and repair programs.
