New Jersey American Water Leak detection fact

THE IMPORTANCE OF DETECTING LEAKS

Even the smallest leak in a water system can cause the loss of thousands of gallons of water each month.

New Jersey American Water Leak GraphicNew Jersey American Water is committed to finding and fixing leaks quickly and efficiently using innovative leak detection technology and practices. Once a leak is detected, New Jersey American Water will either repair or replace water pipelines that have reached the end of their useful life.

We also have a strategically focused and proactive leak detection program to identify leaks before they surface. Addressing leaks faster saves water, and potentially reduces customer impacts and prevents leaks from becoming major main breaks or extended service disruptions. On the flip side, allowing subsurface leaks to go unaddressed can result in significant damage.

Allowing a small service line leak go unrepaired for 16 days can waste 3x more water than an 8-inch main break that takes three hours to repair.

Using Technology to Locate Leaks BEFORE They Surface

Since 2016, our operations and engineering teams have installed 11,300 EchoShoreDX® sensors, an acoustic monitoring technology from Echologics. This technology allows our team to locate subsurface leaks with exceptional accuracy, BEFORE they bubble to the surface.

New Jersey American Water Leak detection - hydrant image

 

Acoustic Leak Monitoring at a Glance

When we identify a subsurface leak, our teams work closely with the leadership of the communities we service to repair these leaks quickly which can significantly speed up the repair process and reduce the amount of time these leaks go unaddressed which results in reducing the potential customer impact.

  • Where Units are Deployed: Essex, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Union and Warren Counties
  • Units Installed: 11,300 since 2016
  • Subsurface Leaks Located and Repaired: 1,566 (95% were non-surfacing leaks that could have otherwise gone on undetected)
  • Water Saved: > 6.4 billion gallons. Not treating and pumping this amount of water saves energy and reduces our carbon footprint.
  • Energy Saved: 11.8 million kWh
  • Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduced: 3.8 thousand tons of CO2 emissions (equivalent of taking 760 gas-powered cars off the road for a year)

New Jersey American Water Spacer

New Jersey American Water LEAK DETECTION MAPClick the image above to see the full map of where this technology is installed.

EPA Water Sense logo

American Water earned the 2023 WaterSense Excellence in Education and Outreach award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA"). 

Learn more about how to detect leaks in your home here.