TPT September 2011

19 / 199

S eptember 2011 17 ›
Industry N ewS
With over 45 years of excellence,
Pillar is your partner for induction heating solutions.
Pillar Induction
21905 Gateway Road Brookfield, WI 53045 800-558-7733
• Seam Annealing
• Upsetting
• Heat, Quench, & Temper
• Normalizing
• Stress Relieving
• Coating & Galvanizing
• Special Applications
Induction Heating
Solutions
Induction O.E.M. for
Renewing
Kansas
City water
distribution
system
WACHS Water Services, a provider of
solutions for the management of aging
water infrastructure in North America,
has announced a service contract worth
up to $6mn over a renewable multi-year
period, awarded by the Water Services
Department of Kansas City, Missouri
(KCMO), to perform asset location,
operational condition assessment and
GPS location mapping services of more
than 35,000 water main valves in the
Kansas City water distribution system.
Valves are installed in water mains
to control the flow of water. However
with a high percentage of water mains
reaching the end of their useful life in
many urban areas, the operability of
valves has become one of the most
critical concerns for utilities dealing with
sustainability, main breaks, repair and
replacement activities.
Working closely with KCMO, Wachs
Water Services will be primarily focused
on improving the reliability of the small
and large valves in the water network
and creating an accurate information
knowledge base for each asset that is
accessible to all water utility stakeholders,
including engineering, operations and field
personnel.
“The Kansas City Water Department
has taken another big step toward
ensuring water distribution sustainability
and we are proud to be supporting the
utility in their efforts,” said Cliff Wilson,
president, Wachs Water Services. “More
and more utilities are discovering that
gaining control of their water network and
obtaining accurate system information is
the critical first step in results-oriented
asset management. Wachs Water
Services has a proven track record,
with successful programmes in over 200
utilities, including Baltimore, Washington
DC, Atlanta and Houston.”
According to the Environmental
Protection Agency, there are about
240,000 water main breaks in the United
States each year. The US Geological
Survey estimates that these water main
breaks waste more than 1.7 trillion gallons
of water at a cost of about $2.6bn annually.
An additional challenge facing utilities
is the operability of aging water main
valves to help control and minimise the
consequences of these main breaks.
Wachs Water Services has seen an
average initial water main valve operability
of only 60% in more than 500,000
inspections nationwide. This means that up
to 40% of a utility’s water main valves are
likely to be inoperable and either cannot
be located, accessed or opened/closed.
“Aging water networks are becoming more
challenging to manage with each passing
year,” added Mr Wilson. “The good news
is that with the support of Wachs Water
Services, utilities are boosting their water
main valve operability as high as 97%
and achieving significant and measurable
efficiency gains as well.”
Wachs Water Services – USA
Fax: +1 847 415 2196
Email:
Website: