SWORDFISH Special Edition Released to Support 50,000 U.S. Water Utilities to Inventory Challenging Buried Lead Pipes
The Electro Scan SWORDFISH and SWORDFISH SE measure a pipe’s electrical resistivity to tell the difference between #lead, galvanized steel, plastic, and other pipe materials.
Both SWORDFISH models automatically detect #leaks, while the SWORDFISH SE does so with greater maneuverability.
While SWORDFISH handles most standard meter settings, SWORDFISH SE navigates difficult-to-access piping networks.
Purpose-Built to Navigate Complex Fittings, Valves, and Meter Settings Without Digging, SWORDFISH SE is Able to Survey Pressurized & Unpressurized Pipes.
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES, April 11, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ — Electro Scan Inc. today announced the release of SWORDFISH SPECIAL EDITION (SE) for plumbers and #water #utilities to detect lead pipes in challenging and poorly constructed water service lines.
Last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (#USEPA) estimated that 9.2 million lead pipes carry drinking water to American taps.
However, the actual number of U.S. lead pipes may be double or triple USEPA estimates given the lack of data and poor mapping of customer-owned service lines, now covered by USEPA regulations.
Lead pipes were commonly used by plumbers and water utilities until they were banned in 1986 when Congress amended the Clean Water Act to prohibit the use of lead pipes and lead soldered joints in public water systems.
Lead was often melted and used by water utilities to seal joints in Asbestos Cement pipes transporting water to customer homes.
Exposure to lead, a harmful toxin in drinking water, can stunt neurological development in children and cause a host of brain, kidney, and heart problems in adults.
Previously, water utilities were only responsible for water services from their water distribution network to a customer’s property line or meter.
Today, U.S. water utilities are responsible for assessing the entire length of each water service line for lead, whether utility or customer installed.
As a result, water utility owners and operators face an endless number of unmapped pipes, with undocumented pipe materials, fittings, diameters, changes in direction, and elevations, that may have lead.
“The ability for Electro Scan’s SWORDFISH to achieve a 100% verification of lead pipe, without digging, is a game-changer,” stated Chuck Hansen, Chairman & CEO, Electro Scan Inc.
Prior to the release of SWORDFISH, water utilities were forced to hydro-excavate water service lines to expose pipes and test for lead.
Reducing time-consuming, inconvenient, and costly field work, Electro Scan’s SWORDFISH eliminates the need to excavate and manually test buried.
Rather than spot-checking underground pipes by excavation, SWORDFISH assesses the entire water service line in minutes.
To help achieve 100% replacement of all U.S. lead-based water service lines, the USEPA has mandated that utilities must complete a detailed inventory of all services, public and private, by October 16, 2024.
The SWORDFISH SE was designed In response from water utilities to help overcome challenging underground pipe configurations.
Purpose-built, SWORDFISH SE navigates and surveys the most severe pipe configurations, often found in customer-side water service lines.
Using its patented machine-intelligent electrified probe, Electro Scan’s SWORDFISH easily enters common meter settings, valves and water fixtures to automatically test pipe materials from inside pipes.
The SWORDFISH probe emits a continuous low voltage electric current equivalent to six AA batteries. This high frequency signal both eliminates interference from stray currents and allows standard devices to track its underground location.
Often referred to as electrical resistance testing, real-time measurements show specific resistivity levels that can be matched to common pipe materials, including lead (Pb).
Industry experts agree that most homes with lead-based water service lines have gone unmapped and undetected since their installation.
Lack of historical construction records, inaccurate maps, and incorrectly digitized geographic information systems (GIS), allowing neurotoxins into household water taps.
Homes without lead service lines may still be ‘at risk’ as many service line pipe joints were often made watertight by plumbers and contractors using melted lead solder.
Electro Scan is nearing completion of their 26-CITY U.S. SWORDFISH ‘GET THE LEAD OUT’ ROADSHOW, in which they are providing nationwide seminars, including ‘live’ SWORDFISH field demonstrations for water utilities, consultants, and contractors.
Some utilities, such as Denver Water and Miami-Dade Water and #Sewer, provided ‘challenge courses’ to test the Company’s accuracy in locating buried lead service lines.
Electro Scan understands that a wide variety of construction techniques were used to install water service lines, combining different makes, models, manufacturers, and methods.
To address the water industry’s more complex networks, the Company began working on a special purpose-built device, SWORDFISH SE, that could overcome challenging bends, poorly aligned joints, and other potential obstructions.
Navigating some of the most difficult piping #infrastructure, SWORDFISH SE delivers unparalleled in-pipe maneuverability.
“The number of lead pipes that supply America’s drinking water may be substantially higher than most people think,” stated Hansen.
Last week the USEPA released their estimate for the number of lead pipes for 3,500 water utilities. Yet, the U.S. has nearly 50,000 water utilities that are subject to the Lead and Copper Rule Revision mandates.
According to the USEPA survey, the State of Florida led the nation with an estimated 1.16 million lead pipes, while the Natural Resources Defense Council had estimated 200,000 lead pipes in the state in 2021.
The USEPA survey ranked the State of Illinois as second, with 1.04 million lead pipes, followed by Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and New York.
Contact Electro Scan Inc. for a recommendation on which SWORDFISH is right for your Agency based on your pipe standards and unique configurations.
DISCLAIMER
Water service lines may require repair or maintenance before assessment. Valves that cannot be fully opened or closed, impassible pipes due to excessive debris, corrosion, or bio matter, pipes with greater than 90-degree angles, calcification, coiled piping, or pinched piping, may require repair and/or cleaning and flushing to remove or correct obstructions before conducting a SWORDFISH survey.
ABOUT ELECTRO SCAN INC.
Electro Scan Inc. is a leading supplier of machine-intelligent pipeline assessment, #leak detection, and quality assurance products and services for the water, #wastewater, and gas pipeline markets. The company designs, develops, and markets proprietary equipment, delivering field services and SaaS-based cloud applications that automatically locate, measure, and report leaks typically not found by legacy #inspection methods.
HASHTAGS
#acousticsensors #ai #amp8 #artificialintelligence #asce #askchuck #awwa #awwam77 #britishwater #californiadrought #chuckhansen #cipp #conditionassessment #conductivity #deeplearning #drainage #drought #electromagnetic #electroscan #epa #esg #esginvesting #fell #gettheleadout #gpm infrastructure #innovyze inspection #iot lead #leaddrinkingwater leak #leadpipe #leaddetection leaks #leakdetection #leakdetectionoftheyear2021 #lps #m77 #machinelearning #megadrought #ml #nassco #pacp #pcat #piperepair #pressuretransient #resilient #resiliency sewer #sewerai #sustainability #swan #trenchless usepa utilities wastewater water #waterai #wsaa #worldbank wsaa
Janine Mullinix
Electro Scan Inc.
+1 916-779-0660
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