In June of 2019, the town of Oneida, Tennessee was experiencing an impossible situation. With increasing state regulations and massive water loss, the water department was taken over by the local government.

Oneida produces 400 million gallons of water a year and saw a 51% water loss, meaning that over 200 million gallons a year were being lost to leaks. The loss cost the city $186,000 annually and caused the water treatment plant to operate on 12- to 14-hour days to keep up with demand.

Oneida was put on notice by the EPA, like many rural municipalities with limited resources and aging infrastructure, Oneida was overwhelmed by increasing expectations and was out of ideas.

“We were in trouble. We didn’t know what to do. We didn’t know what to buy.”

“To me, the scariest thing about this project was the topography.”

During the initial three-month period after the Kamstrup meters were installed, Oneida uncovered and repaired a single leak that had been running for five months at an estimated cost of $21,000 per year.

The relationship between Kamstrup and Oneida was established with the arrival of a new General Manager, Stephen Owens to the Oneida water department. As a veteran water steward, Owens came out of retirement to help the town and set the precedence that before the city could overhaul its infrastructure, it needed to fix the leaks.

Owens sought an AMI partner (Advanced Metering Infrastructure) with ALD experience (Acoustic Leak Detection) to help detect leaks for the city. Owens started with Kamstrup, an impressive company he encountered years earlier at a tradeshow.

The city of Oneida became Kamstrup’s first fully ALD system in the U.S.

“The system is performing better than expected. We think it’s even surpassed what Kamstrup expected.” 

– Stephen Owens, General Manager, Oneida Water Department

Oneida installed 4,600 Kamstrup meters and erected 12 collectors in the EPA’s designated five week timeframe. A huge success with no more than four, or .08% meters non-operational upon arrival.

Once the meters were installed, Oneida shifted its focus to activating the ALD system. “It lit up like a Christmas tree,” which was a relief for the water department as it gave them information, and direction and pinpointed exact locations to start fixing leaks.

In the first three months after the Kamstrup meters were installed, Oneida’s non-revenue water was reduced by 23%. The city’s 51% water loss was reduced to 38% loss, and the water treatment plant operation was reduced by three hours per day. With leak detection on its side, Oneida has transitioned to recovery and are steadily upgrading their infrastructure, utilizing a two-man crew to fix an average of five to six leaks per day.

“We’ve been able to cut back our water treatment plant operations by three hours a day, which means our guys can do other things like fixing leaks.”

The water department has become adept at using the Kamstrup ALD system. They are doing the hard work of methodically addressing leaks and repairing their infrastructure. The city aims to repair two miles of pipe per year and reduce their water loss to under 15%. With leaks and loss under control, the Oneida water treatment plant continues to improve its operating time.

Oneida is now a showcase for municipal water management in Tennessee. In the spring of 2022, the city was awarded additional grant money for infrastructure improvement due to their proactive efforts and transformation.

As partners in leak detection and water management, Kamstrup and Oneida actively share intelligence and insights. The project has exceeded every expectation. In the words of Oneida’s Stephen Owens, “We think the system performs even better than Kamstrup thought it would.”

“We went from being on probation to being a source of pride for the state of Tennessee.”