By Keaton Clay, National Account Executive:
Oldcastle Infrastructure CivilSense
Beneath our communities lies a complex network of pipes, pumps, and treatment infrastructure essential for public health, economic stability, and daily life. Much of this critical water infrastructure is aging, deteriorating, and increasingly vulnerable to failure. The consequences of failure are significant, including disruptive service interruptions, catastrophic main breaks and substantial financial losses through non-revenue water (NRW). For municipalities and water managers, shifting from a reactive repair model to a proactive asset management strategy is now a necessity.
The challenge is immense. Many of our nation’s water systems were built decades ago, with some pipes dating back over a century. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) consistently gives the nation’s drinking water infrastructure a “C-” grade, pointing to a water main break every two minutes and an estimated loss of six billion gallons of treated water each day. This NRW represents a massive drain on resources. It is water that has been abstracted, treated and pressurized at a significant cost, only to leak back into the ground without ever reaching the customer.
Addressing this issue requires a fundamental change in mindset, moving beyond emergency repairs to embrace a forward-thinking, data-driven approach to infrastructure management.
The High Cost of Reactive Maintenance
Historically, many water utilities have operated on a “run-to-failure” basis. Assets are repaired or replaced only after they break. While this might seem cost-effective in the short term, the long-term consequences are severe and multifaceted.
- Financial Strain: Emergency repairs are significantly more expensive than planned maintenance. They involve overtime labor, expedited material procurement, and often result in more extensive damage to surrounding public and private property like roads and buildings.
- Disruption: Unplanned shutdowns inconvenience residents and can cripple businesses that rely on a consistent water supply, such as restaurants, hospitals, and manufacturing plants, while main breaks directly disrupt and reduce access to businesses, infrastructure, and essential services.
- Public Health Risks: Main breaks can lead to pressure loss in the system, creating a risk of contamination from groundwater infiltration. This can trigger boil-water advisories and pose a serious threat to community health.
- Resource Depletion: Every gallon of water lost through leaks is a waste of the energy, chemicals, and labor used to treat and distribute it. In an era of increasing water scarcity and focus on sustainability, this level of waste is untenable.
The issue of NRW exacerbates these problems. It silently drains utility budgets, forces rate hikes for paying customers, and places unnecessary strain on water sources. Effectively managing an aging system means getting a handle on NRW.
The Power of Proactive Asset Management
A proactive approach to water infrastructure management focuses on understanding the condition of assets, predicting potential failures, and prioritizing maintenance and replacement activities to maximize system reliability and minimize lifecycle costs. This strategy empowers water managers to make informed decisions that extend the life of existing infrastructure while planning for future needs.
The benefits are clear and compelling:
- Reduced Operational Costs: By identifying and repairing small leaks before they become major breaks, utilities can save millions in emergency repair costs, reduce water loss, and lower energy consumption for pumping.
- Enhanced System Reliability: A planned maintenance schedule ensures that the most critical components of the network are in good working order, significantly reducing the frequency and impact of unexpected service interruptions.
- Improved Capital Planning: With a comprehensive understanding of asset health, utilities can develop accurate, long-term capital improvement plans. This allows for strategic budgeting and prevents the financial shock of a sudden, large-scale failure.
- Increased Sustainability: Conserving water by minimizing leaks is a powerful act of environmental stewardship. It protects precious water resources, reduces the carbon footprint associated with water treatment and distribution, and builds community resilience.
Implementing a proactive strategy is about moving from guesswork to data-driven certainty and requires the right tools and technologies.
Leveraging Technology for Intelligent Water Management
Modern advancements in sensor technology and data analytics have revolutionized how underground infrastructure is monitored and managed. These smart solutions provide the real-time visibility needed to transition from a reactive to a proactive operational model, allowing managers to see what’s happening within their distribution network without expensive and disruptive excavation.
This is where solutions like Oldcastle Infrastructure’s CivilSense™ prove invaluable. This AI-driven technology operates alongside existing systems, using network and sensor data to analyze network performance, identify risks, and optimize asset management. By temporarily deploying sensors that gather data to identify the telltale acoustic signature of an undetected leak, CivilSense™ transforms passive structures into active data collection points across the water network.
To further empower water managers in making informed investment decisions, Oldcastle Infrastructure offers the CivilSense™ ROI Calculator. This user-friendly tool enables utilities and municipalities to evaluate the financial impact of adopting proactive solutions, including early leak detection and predictive maintenance. By inputting system-specific variables, decision-makers can quantify potential cost savings, reductions in non-revenue water, and improved operational efficiency. The ROI Calculator provides clear, data-backed guidance, demonstrating how technologies like CivilSense™ deliver measurable value over time — making it easier to justify investments and prioritize projects.
With access to precise ROI data, water managers can transition confidently from traditional practices to advanced asset management models, ensuring sustainability and long-term savings.
This constant stream of data and actionable insights provides unprecedented system performance visibility. For water managers, this provides the ability to:
- Detect Leaks Early: Subtle changes in flow patterns or water levels detected by sensors can indicate a leak long before it surfaces. This early warning allows crews to perform a targeted, planned repair at a fraction of the cost of an emergency response.
- Monitor System-Wide Health: Aggregating data from multiple points provides a holistic view of the entire distribution network. This helps identify systemic issues and pinpoint areas of high water loss.
- Predict Failures: Advanced analytics can process historical and real-time data to identify trends that signal an impending asset failure. This predictive capability allows utilities to intervene proactively and replace a vulnerable pipe or valve before it leads to a catastrophic event.
By equipping decision makers with this insight into the health of their water infrastructure systems — and leveraging financial evaluation tools like the CivilSense™ ROI Calculator — building a smarter, more resilient foundation for our communities can become a reality. It’s an investment in prevention that pays dividends through reliability, cost savings, and sustainability.
Building the Resilient Communities of Tomorrow
The challenge of aging water infrastructure is not going away. As pipes continue to age and climate change places additional stress on water resources, the need for intelligent, proactive management will only intensify. The cost of inaction is far too high to ignore.
Municipalities and water managers must take decisive steps to get ahead of the problem. This involves securing funding for infrastructure renewal, adopting comprehensive asset management plans, and embracing innovative technologies that provide critical operational insights.
Oldcastle Infrastructure is committed to engineering solutions that help build stronger, safer, and more sustainable communities. By integrating smart monitoring like CivilSense™ into the very fabric of our water systems, Oldcastle Infrastructure provides the tools necessary to manage these vital resources effectively. A proactive approach protects our infrastructure, conserves water, and ensures that our communities can continue to thrive for generations to come. The future of water management is not about reacting to the past; it’s about intelligently preparing for the future.
About CivilSense™
Oldcastle Infrastructure’s CivilSense™ is an advanced water infrastructure management platform that leverages artificial intelligence, predictive analysis, and real-time data to proactively detect and address leaks before they escalate into emergencies. With a market-leading accuracy rate of 93%, CivilSense™ enables municipalities to transition from reactive maintenance to strategic, data-driven asset management, effectively reducing water loss and associated costs. By integrating multi-source data — including GIS, infrastructure, and climate insights — CivilSense™ identifies high-risk pipeline segments, allowing for targeted interventions that enhance the resilience and sustainability of water systems. This innovative solution empowers communities to safeguard their water resources, minimize service disruptions, and optimize infrastructure investments.
About Oldcastle Infrastructure
Oldcastle Infrastructure, a CRH company, is a leading provider of engineered building solutions across North America. With nearly 80 manufacturing facilities and a workforce of over 4,000 employees, the company delivers a comprehensive portfolio of more than 16,000 products, including precast concrete, polymer concrete, and plastic components. These solutions serve critical sectors such as water, energy, communications, and transportation, supporting the development and maintenance of essential infrastructure.
Committed to sustainability and innovation, Oldcastle Infrastructure aligns its operations with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, focusing on responsible consumption, climate action, and the advancement of sustainable communities. As part of CRH plc, one of the world’s largest building materials companies, Oldcastle Infrastructure combines global resources with local expertise to deliver reliable, high-quality solutions that meet the evolving needs of modern infrastructure projects.
