Village of Skokie Brings High Tech Innovation to Drinking Water System Management in 2021
The Village of Skokie is now leveraging the resources of one of the nation’s largest energy companies to monitor the community’s drinking water infrastructure 24/7 with smart water technology and advanced analytics. Through a new partnership with Aquify – an Exelon Company, the Village will begin implementing a responsive analytics monitoring system to proactively address leaks and other system events to reduce and avoid unnecessary water loss, increase operational efficiency, and ensure affordable water costs for Skokie residents and businesses.
“Village staff is continually searching for ways to increase the Village's level of environmental sustainability while providing residents with excellent services,” said Public Works Director Max Slankard. “This new system will significantly increase the Village's stewardship of one of our most precious resources - water - while ensuring that the community does not shoulder costs for undetected water system leaks. I am very optimistic about the possibilities of the Aquify system that I believe will help us quickly and efficiently detect wasteful, potentially costly water system leaks. The Village's decision to invest in the Aquify system, with its technologically innovative approach, will deliver benefits to the community, and to the environment, that will outweigh its cost.”
Up until now, when a water main starts leaking, it typically takes time before the leak becomes noticeable on the surface or escalates into a serious issue resulting in a more costly repair. Identifying smaller leaks as they are happening in real-time can mitigate the effects of the larger, more disruptive breaks.
Phase I of Skokie’s new system with Aquify is expected to be operational by January 31, 2021, and fully operational by June 30, 2021. The system includes 36 sensors and artificial intelligence analytics software that will be used to identify and address emerging and maintenance needs. Aquify’s professionally-staffed control center will provide advanced analytical support to the Village while monitoring the system around the clock.
“In a time where communities are continually forced to ‘do more with less,’ we could not be more excited to provide a shared-service model that empowers the Village of Skokie to proactively manage their drinking water infrastructure as they remain highly committed to serving its residents and businesses,” says Lev Goldberg, CEO and Co-Founder of Aquify. “We have worked collaboratively with the Village’s dedicated Public Works team to design an optimal system to reduce costs, enhance sustainability, and provide previously unavailable insight into the operational effectiveness of the Village’s drinking water distribution network.”