The STAR Zonescan leak detecting AMI system by Aclara (powered with leak detection technology from Gutermann) wins a "stand-out technology award" at AWWA's annual conference ACE 2012 in Dallas
Water Online editor Kevin Westerling identified STAR ZoneScan as particularly relevant to reducing the operational costs of a utility by helping them effectively find leaks in the water distribution system.
"The Aclara STAR ZoneScan is a breakthrough technology for the water industry," said Steve Pittman, vice-president of marketing for Aclara. "It allows water utilities to efficiently and automatically collect data that will help them accurately pinpoint potential leaks on water mains to within a few feet, saving both time and money."
The STAR ZoneScan solution was developed by Aclara in conjunction with Gutermann International, a Swiss firm that is a cutting-edge vendor of acoustic leak-detection systems. The Gutermann solution places loggers that monitor the acoustic characteristics of water flowing through pipes on concurrent valves in the water distribution system. The data collected by the loggers is analyzed by the utility to identify possible leak locations.
What makes the STAR ZoneScan system unique is that Aclara automates the process of collecting the data from loggers. Typically, utilities must physically be present at logger locations to collect acoustic data. This means sending a crew out to the logger site, usually in the middle of the night when noise from traffic won't interfere with reading accuracy. STAR ZoneScan eliminates this process by allowing the utility to trigger automatic data collection and transmission directly from the utility.
