Storm-Hardened Communication Network from Sensus Helps Utilities Weather Winter Blast

South Carolina water providers praise leak detection capabilities

RALEIGH, N.C.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#SensusNews–(Click-to-Tweet)
– The new year rang in with a bitter, two-week cold snap followed by
snowy conditions throughout South Carolina. Chesterfield County
experienced nine days in a row of frigid temperatures, with the daytime
high never breaking 37 degrees, and a wintry mix that delivered more
than five inches of snow to the southern part of the county. But the
storm-hardened Sensus
FlexNet® Communication Network from Sensus,
a Xylem brand, stood up to Mother Nature and weathered the intense
winter conditions.

“The Sensus FlexNet communication network worked flawlessly,” said Chesterfield
County Rural Water Company CEO Charlie Gray. “Our water system
experienced very few weather-related operational issues.

In regions with moderate climates, such as South Carolina, many service
lines are buried less than a foot deep. “An unprecedented number of
customers suffered from frozen water lines,” said Gray. “We used more
water on Monday, January 8, than in the history of our system—all due to
customer leaks from thawing service lines that burst.”

The FlexNet system is part of the utility’s smart
water network that allows them to remotely monitor water usage and
pinpoint any problems. The network communicates via dedicated,
FCC-licensed spectrum, ensuring secure and reliable data transmissions.
Gray credits the system with allowing his team to identify, quantify and
notify their customers of leaks from ruptured lines in a matter of hours.

“I firmly believe FlexNet helped us keep up with the intense customer
demand,” said Gray. “Thanks to this smart technology we caught the leaks
and saved our customers from increased water bills at the end of the
month. Without it, we would have run out of water.”

Just three-and-a-half hours farther south, Mount
Pleasant Waterworks, also in South Carolina, had a similar
experience with the storm-hardened FlexNet system.

“The FlexNet system gives us a lot of options, especially in inclement
weather situations,” said Mount Pleasant Waterworks Meter Solutions
Supervisor Terry Hughes. “We notified approximately 100 customers of
possible leaks during our recent cold snap as we monitored thousands of
meters.”

Mount Pleasant has approximately 12,000 smart meters installed and
counting. The FlexNet system provides the communications backbone to
transmit data seamlessly between the utility and its meters. Using the
system, the water provider’s team analyzed data during the Lowcountry’s
frigid temperatures in January which pinpointed trouble spots and helped
them proactively alert their customers.

“The ability to run the many reports is priceless,” said Hughes. “We
could easily see how our customers’ water usage changed with the
weather, especially the ones who failed to winterize their irrigation
systems. Our system performed outstandingly.”

Learn more about the benefits of the FlexNet system in the Sensus
FlexNet Resource Center.

About Sensus

Sensus helps a wide range of public service providers—from utilities to
cities to industrial complexes and campuses—do more with their
infrastructure to improve quality of life in their communities. We
enable our customers to reach farther through the application of
technology and data-driven insights that deliver efficiency and
responsiveness. We partner with them to anticipate and respond to
evolving business needs with innovation in sensing and communications
technologies, data analytics and services. Learn more at sensus.com
and follow @SensusGlobal on Facebook,
LinkedIn,
Twitter
and Instagram.

About Xylem

Xylem (XYL) is a leading global water technology company committed to
developing innovative technology solutions to the world’s water
challenges. The Company’s products and services move, treat, analyze,
monitor and return water to the environment in public utility,
industrial, residential and commercial building services settings. With
its October 2016 acquisition of Sensus, Xylem added smart metering,
network technologies and advanced data analytics for water, gas and
electric utilities to its portfolio of solutions. The combined Company’s
nearly 16,000 employees bring broad applications expertise with a strong
focus on identifying comprehensive, sustainable solutions. Headquartered
in Rye Brook, New York with 2016 revenue of $3.8 billion, Xylem does
business in more than 150 countries through a number of market-leading
product brands.

The name Xylem is derived from classical Greek and is the tissue that
transports water in plants, highlighting the engineering efficiency of
our water-centric business by linking it with the best water
transportation of all – that which occurs in nature. For more
information, please visit us at www.xylem.com.

Contacts

For Sensus
Kim Genardo, +1-919-376-2566
[email protected]
or
Mark
Van Hook, +1-919-459-6481
[email protected]