LVVWD Deploys Technology – Nevada Business Magazine
A major part of any business’s bottom line in Southern Nevada is saving water. Not only is it critical to reduce water use to minimize expenses, but conservation is vital to the community at large as a shortage on the Colorado River will reduce the amount of water we can draw from Lake Mead—the source of 90 percent of our supply—by 8.1 billion gallons beginning in January 2023.
One way your business can cut water consumption is to track down and repair leaks. In that same vein, the Las Vegas Valley Water District (LVVWD) does its part to combat leaks in the water system by deploying state-of-the-art technology, which helps technicians find and repair leaks that otherwise could cause major damage to pipes, valves, and roadways—and could lead to serious water outages in the community.
Because water under pressure makes a distinct high-frequency sound as it escapes through a leak in a pipe, LVVWD technicians use a variety of acoustic equipment which can detect subsurface sounds and enables them to pinpoint the location of a leak.
These include hand-held devices with ground-sounding microphones, and others that can be attached to valves and can pick up the sounds of leaks in pipes. LVVWD technicians can then utilize software to determine the best course of action if a leak is detected.
Once first responders from the LVVWD investigate reported leaks, they are classified as emergency or non-emergency, depending on the nature and severity of the leak, the level of hazard the leak poses to the public, the risk of potential damage to private property or roadways, and its impacts on traffic.
With more than 7,000 miles of pipe in the LVVWD network, locating leaks in the system can be a daunting task. The LVVWD’s leak detection program is critical to the community’s water conservation efforts, as it has led to the discovery of more than 2,500 underground leaks and saved more than 665 million gallons since 2004.
Your investment. Your water. Use it responsibly.
To learn more, visit lvvwd.com.
Gloss