Aging pipes, modern solutions: How Hot Springs cut water loss by 50%

The city of Hot Springs, Arkansas, had a problem hidden beneath its feet – millions of gallons of treated water disappearing every day. The culprit? Aging pipes and undetected leaks. Today the city is back in control, using advanced digital technology that has reduced non-revenue water loss from 44% to 24%.

Located in central Arkansas, Hot Springs is home to approximately 38,000 full-time residents, but its water system must also support the millions of tourists each year who visit its historic bathhouses and natural thermal springs. Managing the city’s water resources efficiently is crucial for both the local community and the countless visitors who come to enjoy its renowned waters.

The challenge of aging infrastructure and non-revenue water loss

Like many older cities, Hot Springs faces challenges with aging infrastructure, including a complex network of water mains – some over 140 years old – spread across rocky terrain. With 923 square miles of water distribution lines, detecting leaks was difficult, leading to significant non-revenue water loss. Determined to address this issue, the utility found a solution that provided continuous monitoring and early leak detection.

"We uncovered a significant issue on a 24-inch water line during our routine leak detection efforts,” said Monty Ledbetter, Director of Utilities for the City of Hot Springs. “A broken air release valve was causing a massive water loss of nearly four million gallons per day. Thanks to our advanced leak detection technology, we identified the problem quickly and stopped the leak, preventing further water loss.”

Cutting non-revenue water loss nearly 50%

Hot Springs’ journey to better leak detection began in 2011. The city made a strategic decision to replace outdated meters with Sensus residential water meters connected to the FlexNet communication network. With advanced metering infrastructure, the city could collect and transmit accurate meter readings in real time and detect leaks faster.

As a next step in leak detection, Hot Springs deployed 30 portable acoustic listening devices in its water network. The devices monitor changes in sound frequencies within pipelines overnight, then report flow conditions – and possible leaks – directly to the utility via FlexNet.

The utility continued its digital transformation with the implementation of virtual district metering areas using Xylem Vue, an integrated software and analytics platform. This helps the city find the location of leaks much faster and fix them before they become critical.

“With Xylem Vue, we're not just reacting to leaks,” said Ledbetter. “We're proactively detecting them before they become major issues. This ability to pinpoint problem areas in real-time allows for substantial cost and time savings.”

With the combined power of these solutions, Hot Springs can now securely monitor water data across its network. The early results are promising, and they're not stopping there. The city is planning to expand its virtual zones and push its non-revenue water loss down even further, aiming to bring it down to just 10%. This effort will help secure a reliable, affordable water supply for all residents, even during the demanding tourist season.

Learn more about the future of smart water metering.