Echologics, a Toronto-based engineering company that specializes in acoustic detection of water main leaks and condition assessment, celebrated the opening of its new ?Innovation Site? in Walkerton, Ontario on Sept. 10. The Innovation Site is a large-scale research and development site for advancing innovations in water main leak detection and condition assessment technologies.
The opening was attended by local public officials and dignitaries, water professionals, media and Echologics officials and staff. Speakers included Mayor Dave Inglis of Brockton, Ontario (which governs the municipality of Walkerton), WaterTAP CEO Peter Gallant, and Echologics Vice President/GM Marc Bracken.
The site includes a pump house that creates and maintains pressure conditions commonly found in municipal and industrial settings and more than 2,000 ft of buried plastic and metallic water mains ranging from 6 to 16 in. in diameter. The? site is unique in that it can replicate almost any pipeline operating condition found in real-world water distribution systems, and can simulate almost any type or size of pipeline leak.
Echologics offers a suite of technologies for leak detection and condition assessment, including correlators, permanent monitoring systems and mobile monitoring systems. The technologies help clients to prioritize capital spending, avoid failures and recover the cost of non-revenue water. Various stations were set up at the Innovation Site demonstrating Echologics? technology.
?Water scarcity and aging water infrastructure are leading communities to look more at new tools to help optimize their water distribution systems,? Bracken said. ?We have developed technologies that have a track record and have improved capabilities that take advantage of low cost, low power communications.?
The Innovation Site will also serve as a training and certification facility for Echologics and engineers and field staff, as well as Mueller Water Products, Echologics? parent company. The Innovation Site is strategically adjacent to the Walkerton Clean Water Centre, which was created in 2004 to provide training for drinking water operators across Ontario, with a particular emphasis on small or remote systems.
