This article was originally published on Connected World.
We know our infrastructure needs an update—and technology can serve as one tool to help provide better insights. Case in point: water mains. There are more than 2 million miles of water mains in the United States and Canada, and this costs roughly $2.6 million annually in maintenance and repair costs. Predictive modeling can help.
As one example, BlueConduit has launched water main prediction technology to help water utilities forecast likely water main breaks, leaks, and potential impacts on service levels. With data science and AI-enabled-process and technology solutions, cities and water systems can better manage water mains—all while doing condition assessment and replacement.
Here is how this can help:
- Assess risk, which enables informed decision making.
- Identify which high-risk mains are candidates for more expensive, intrusive physical condition assessment or immediate removal.
- Better manage water mains by predicting what will happen before it happens.
With more than a quarter million water main breaks each year, we will likely see a rise in this type of technology in the years ahead.
