From Chasing Leaks to Managing Them: 8 Years of Satellite-Based Leak Detection at Green Bay Water

Water utilities face a constant challenge in reducing water loss. To make meaningful progress, leaks must be found and repaired faster than new ones develop. Aging infrastructure, more severe weather conditions, and limited resources make that challenge even more difficult. While a single leak detection survey can identify losses at a point in time, achieving sustained reductions in non-revenue water requires a proactive, long-term strategy.

Green Bay Water Utility (GBWU) in Wisconsin has taken that approach. Serving more than 35,600 connections through over 500 miles of transmission and distribution mains, GBWU has partnered with ASTERRA for the past 8 years to monitor its system using satellite-based leak detection technology. During that time, the utility has identified 192 leaks and an estimated 770 million gallons of water using the technology.

The results were clear from the start. In the first year of the program alone, GBWU crews identified 57 leaks using satellite-guided inspections, compared to an average of just 13 leaks annually using traditional methods over the previous decade. By narrowing field investigations to approximately 5-10% of the distribution network, satellite data enabled crews to focus their efforts where leaks are most likely to exist, dramatically improving efficiency.

Another benefit of recurring satellite scans has been uncovering hidden infrastructure issues that would likely have gone unnoticed using periodic surveys alone. In one area, satellite findings repeatedly identified leaks that crews repaired year after year. When the location was flagged yet again in the fourth year, investigators expanded the excavation area and uncovered a significant main break that had been acoustically masked by the smaller service line leaks. Without continuous monitoring, the larger leak may have remained undetected for years.

Join us for a discussion on how Green Bay Water implemented satellite-based leak detection into a long-term water loss management strategy that delivers measurable operational and conservation benefits year after year.

Join us to learn:

• The advantages of recurring satellite-based monitoring for reducing non-revenue water (NRW), revealing system conditions, and reducing main breaks.
• How L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) penetrates up to 10 feet underground across areas as wide as 1,400 square miles to identify hidden water loss at scale.
• A comparison of satellite-guided leak detection and traditional survey methods using results from Green Bay Water.
• How continuously refined AI algorithms enhance the accuracy and effectiveness of satellite leak detection over time.