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topicnews · July 17, 2025

NJ Utility uses drones to save billions of gallons water

NJ Utility uses drones to save billions of gallons water

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  • The drones identify leaks by capturing temperature differences between the escape water and the surrounding soil.
  • In addition to drones, Veolia uses sensors and has replaced thousands of service lines to combat leaks.

Veolia North America – whose aging system from North Jersey was once so leaked that the company has saved up to 25% of the water that it has ever reached as a customer in recent years by discovering drones with thermal images.

Thermal pictures taken by drones can highlight the temperature difference between the escaped water and the surrounding soil.

When there is a leak, the freed water is cooled down the surrounding soil in the summer months and heated up the surrounding soil in the winter months, said Doug Reger, director of Asset and Workforce Management at Veolia North America, which heads the drone program.

The story continues under the photo gallery.

The drone program was an important part of the technology used by Veolia to solve a long -term problem that many water providers are facing in the state. Because numerous water pipes are so old, they are susceptible to leaks.

In a state report published in 2018, it was found that New Jersey American Water, the state's largest water supplier, had 8,700 miles, with more than half installed between 1870 and 1960. About 15% were 100 to 140 years old.

The Defense Council for Natural Resources once estimated that the state lost 130 million gallons per day – enough to fill the Empire State Building about every two days.

This not only wastes money and natural resources, but also causes road changes, cooking water advice and inadequate water pressure to combat fires. New Jersey American Water estimated that it costs ten times more to carry out emergency repairs than to carry out routine infrastructure upgrades.

17,000 service lines have been replaced since 2019

For this reason, Veolia assumed drone technology to identify problems before getting too big.

Veolia also has about 2,300 sensors that actively listen to leaks and precisely determine their locations, said Debra bottle, communications director of the profit-oriented water supplier. Veolia has replaced 17,000 service lines since 2019 and has found and resolved licks on the way, said Fläschchen.

Veolia, formerly called Suez, manages 2,500 miles underground water networks and over 270,000 underground service lines throughout New Jersey. Veolia's system supplies 800,000 inhabitants in the counties Bergen and Hudson.

“Underground leaks can sometimes remain undetected over longer periods of time, which may lead to considerable breaks,” she said. “In other cases, we could bubble water to the surface, but it can be a challenge to put the exact position of the break.”

A Veolia drone discovered a leak in Washington township after earlier excavations had appeared dry holes.

The company recently also discovered a leak in a hacking sac, in which water occurred constantly in the middle of a street. No clear source could be found, but drone heating cameras recognized temperature anomalies in an underground place, the leak was used.

Veolia also uses drones to carry out tank inspections. The small structure and camera of a drone can reach parts of water tanks that are otherwise difficult to analyze.

“In the past, they would have to either get scaffolding or, depending on the tank, you may have to be manipulated and used someone and tear down the pages of the tanks,” said Reger, the Veolia Asset Director.

The cameras increase the deterioration or corrosion that form in tanks. They also allow Veolia to carry out more frequent checks and to identify potential problems at an early stage, which in the long run saves costly repairs.

The drone technology also helps to identify interventions in water catchment area ownership and activities.

Now start to rely on artificial intelligence

Now Veolia is starting to use artificial intelligence to help with these inspection processes. AI helps to identify patterns in pictures to recognize concerns, mainly in tanks. This accelerates the process of identifying problems.

“By considering historical pictures and pictures for most current pictures … [we can determine] What is the difference between these two pictures to identify us whether there is something instead of having a single person [go through the] Film material, ”said Reger.

The AI will simply condense a four -hour inspection for one hour by helping the analyzer to go through all the film materials, said Reger.

There are many ways of monitoring Veolia water problems over and underground, with drones being one of these assets. Since the AI is integrated as another, Veolia hopes to prevent durable problems.

“We look at several different ways to identify leaks through sensors, and this is just a tool that we used to identify,” said Reger.

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