Rutherford College, North Carolina – April 2, 2013

by Rachel Harris

 

The Town of Rutherford College has been on a proactive mission to lower its water loss, and has reached a significant milestone in its Water Loss Control Program.  Will Jernigan, P.E. of Cavanaugh & Associates, P.A. reported at the April 1st Monday night council meeting that the water loss volume has been reduced by 50%.

The reduction in water loss can be attributed to the AWWA Water Audit and the Water Loss Control Program subsequently performed and developed by Cavanaugh.  The Water Loss Control program established sound accounting and benchmarking practices that guided water loss control activities such as meter repair and leak detection.    The benchmark audit, conducted in mid – 2012, revealed water loss levels at approximately 25%.  To date the Program, implemented in late 2012, has reduced water loss from over 22% (in February 2013) to under 13% (in March 2013), which represents the target low level of water loss for the Town.

The Town, led by Manager Kenneth Geathers, is extremely pleased with the cost savings and the efficiency improvements afforded by the audit and Program.  With report of the Program outcomes, Councilman Satterwhite expressed, “This is great news.  I suppose the question now is, where do we go from here?”  Jernigan reported to the Council that continuance of monthly data tracking and analysis of the water data on a monthly basis, are essential to monitor future rise of water loss in the system.  Additionally, continued data tracking is a vital part of making informed decisions about future water loss control activities.   “The Town is to be commended for its proactive approach to managing water loss with best practices from the American Water Works Association,” Jernigan said.

Cavanaugh is a North Carolina-based firm that is nationally recognized as an industry leader in Water Loss Control, Waste to Energy and Innovative Infrastructure.

For more information, contact:

Will Jernigan, P.E. – Director of Water Efficiency

Cavanaugh & Associates, PA – 828.255.7596

will.jernigan@cavanaughsolutions.com