WaterSignal Press Releases

WaterSignal Launches charity:water Donation Campaign

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 14:49:00 GMT

Leading Wireless Water Leak Detection Company Supports Non-profit Mission to Bring Clean, Safe Drinking Water to Developing Nations

Alpharetta, Ga. (April 16, 2013) – WaterSignal, a leader in water conservation for commercial, multifamily and institutional properties, today announced a year-long commitment to the non-profit organization charity: water, which is dedicated to bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. The announcement correlates with Earth Day, celebrated on April 22.

On Earth Day, WaterSignal will make an initial $5,000 donation to charity: water, which will sponsor a water project that will serve up to 300 people in a developing nation. The company also will launch a 12-month campaign during which a percentage of sales will be donated to the cause.

"’Saving water for a thirsty world’ is WaterSignal’s mission. It makes sense that our first corporate responsibility campaign would benefit an organization that brings fresh, clean water to people in countries where it is desperately needed,” said John Lie-Nielsen, founder – WaterSignal. “Water is one of our most precious natural resources, and our commitment is to do everything we can to conserve, protect and, in this case, share it on a global level.”

Founded in 2009, WaterSignal is the first real-time water monitoring, management, and alert system for commercial properties and institutions. By continuously measuring domestic, cooling tower, and irrigation meters, uncontrolled water loss can be eliminated by alerting management via text or email within minutes of excessive water flow. Customers can log onto a customized online dashboard to review their water usage at any time. WaterSignal has prevented catastrophic leaks and saved money for clients like Wells Realty, Jones Lang LaSalle, Caterpillar, Fulton County School system, Camden REIT, and Asset Campus Housing.

About WaterSignal
WaterSignal is a green technology company focused on water conservation. WaterSignal measures water flows in real-time to detect leaks and monitor irrigation systems and cooling towers for commercial, multifamily, medical and educational properties. Watersignal is located in Alpharetta, Ga. with operations in ten states. Contact www.watersignal.com, call 877-704-0890 or follow on Twitter@WaterSignal.

Contact:
Meigan Manis
communications 21 for WaterSignal
404.814.1330
mmanis@c21pr.com

How Technology Converts Going Green To Being In the Black.

Thu, 24 May 2012 04:00:00 GMT

ATLANTA - Going green in commercial buildings is a great initiative. In theory, it is supposed to be good for the planet and help with tenant relations who share the same mindset. However, while we’ve seen several building owners and managers around Atlanta implement LEED green initiatives, which are a good thing – many are still missing the big picture when it comes to one of our most precious resources – water.

And with one of the highest cost per thousand rates in the country, it’s costing you big money!

Through today’s technology, however, you can implement a water conservation program that not only replaces inefficient equipment to reduce consumption but can provide a proactive leak management system that can save you money.

What is water conservation anyway? It is defined as any action that reduces the amount of water withdrawn from water supply sources, reduces consumptive use, reduces the loss or waste of water, improves the efficiency of water use, increases recycling and reuse of water or prevents the pollution of water.

Sounds easy right? While buying and installing products may be simple, the hardest thing – and where most fail in creating an effective program – is developing the attitude that water conservation is important and the right thing to do… for your tenants, Earth and your bottom line.

Getting Started

One of the first things you should do is create a game plan for conserving water. An effective plan examines how much water is being used, when it is used and where it is being used. To accomplish this, your plan requires accurate data through a water audit to set a benchmark and use subsequent data to measure progress.

As we look at commercial buildings, a successful water conservation program can have a big impact – and cost savings – in three major areas:

Restrooms – which account for 40 percent of water used
Cooling/Heating – accounting for 28 percent
Irrigation – accounting for 22 percent

Through a water audit, you can obtain detailed information on where and how much water enters the system and where it leaves the system. One of the major objectives of the audit is to estimate and reduce unaccounted for water use that occurs through leaks, inoperative system controls and water used from unmetered sources. As the earlier percentages indicate, significant water usage – and big bills – could quickly add up if you’re not tracking what is going on.

An audit typically includes a wide range of surveys – from examining floor plans to occupancy to reviewing utility records for the past two years – to collect as much information as possible about a building’s water use now and in the future.

Additionally, it’s important to conduct a facility survey to understand how water is being used in the three major areas (restroom, cooling/heating, irrigation) and check the water-using equipment for discrepancies against standard operating conditions. Measuring fixture flow rates, irrigation system usage and cooling tower usage can help managers compute total water usage. Understanding the water usage for each major area is important because if there is a major difference between a facility’s total usage and the sum of each area, a major underground leak may exist that is running up your water bill.

Time To Execute

With the data and visual surveys you’ve collected, now you can create a plan of action to launch your water conservation program. A plan should encompass the system and equipment changes required to succeed as well as a return on investment forecast considering rising water/sewer rates.

Additionally, your plan should include short-term no-brainer fixes and long-term remedies for each of the three major water consumption areas of your building. Based on our experience, the following items are typical within a commercial water conservation plan:

No Brainer Fixes And Things To Do

Leads and drips of faucets… which can drip away more than 10,000 gallons per month if not fixed
Winterize outdoor spigots and pipes in unheated areas to prevent freezing and leaking
Check for wet spots and alligatored paving, which may indicate underground leaks
Keep accurate reports on your inspection to note changes that may indicate a potential problem
Educate tenants and employees on your conservation plan, what they can do to help and what to do if they spot a problem

Restrooms

Most toilets, urinals and facets in use today were not designed for water conservation and are the main culprits for water (and money) needlessly being washed down the drain. In fact, with 4.8 billion gallons of water flushed every day in America, toilets are responsible for approximately one-third of a building’s water use.

Here are some guidelines to conserve water and save money:

Install low flow fixtures and consider metered valve, self closing, infrared and ultrasonic sensor fixtures
Keep toilets in good working order by periodically inspecting and replacing flapper valves and ballcocks that deteriorate and case leaks and/or toilets to continually run
Consider waterless urinals
Adjust flush valve to use less water

Irrigation

While having a beautifully landscaped area helps with tenant retention, it can be costly to be pretty. Since most sprinkler systems are set for pre-dawn watering, most managers don’t notice if there is a major problem until 1) an area goes brown because of a malfunctioning device or 2) they get a high water bill at the end of the month.

Here are some guidelines for immediate water savings:

Inspect irrigation system for leaks, broken heads
Adjust sprinkler heads to ensure your watering landscape, not pavement
Install rain sensors so the system won’t start while it’s raining
Water before 9 am to minimize evaporation
Consider irrigating from detention ponds or reservoir
Stop using water to clean sidewalks, parking lots and other hard decks.

Heating/Cooling

Cooling towers keep us comfortable, but as the largest single water user, their water consumption can make us anything but. Designed to remove heat through water and evaporation process, the system continually replenishes water as it loses it from bleed-off required to remove suspended or dissolved solids left behind, drift (mist and droplets carried out of the tower) and leaks.

Some guidelines for conserving water are:

Inspect cooling tower for leaks and malfunctioning valves on a regular basis
Install flow meters on make-up and bleed-off lines
Read meters regularly and keep a log of make-up and bleed-off quantities
Recycle and reuse by investigating other uses for bleed-off water and find additional sources for make-up water

New Technology

Typically, water meters are read once a week while some managers do it every single day. But if a leak were to occur after the read, after hours or over a weekend, no one would know of the excessive usage spike until the next read, which by thousands of gallons would be lost and cost you $20/gallon.

However, new technology helps managers and owners manage their water conservation efforts through real time viewing of water usage and immediate detection of water spikes related to a potential catastrophic leak.

The new technology features a self-contained, non-intrusive device that listens to the pulse of a water meter. Through the process, data is collected and sent wirelessly to a website portal where managers and owners can view a property’s water consumption for the entire month or even down to the hour.

A daily reading bar chart provides a quick comparative view of how many gallons were used, if any day had excessive usage and if non-occupied days (weekends/holidays) recorded higher than normal use.

Much like an energy surge that pops a circuit breaker, when water spikes above the preset hourly or daily limit, the device detects the problem and immediately alerts the manager of the problem. Additionally, if a building has more than one meter being monitored, such as one for the cooling tower and another for the main line, the manager could quickly determine which meter spiked in order to isolate the problem area faster for repair.

John Lie-Nielsen, Scott Kale, WaterSignal LLC

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WaterSignal Launches New Dashboard

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 04:00:00 GMT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WATERSIGNAL, LLC
ATLANTA, GA
media contact
800-665-9994

WaterSignal Launches New Dashboard

Atlanta, GA – September 27, 2011 - Over the course of several months, WaterSignal claims victory in the release of its new, innovative online customer dashboard.

Usability and data precision ultimately proved to be key ingredients in bringing this new platform to life.

The clean design quickly allows users to see their current properties monitored by WaterSignal. The charts display as a bar graph with colors indicating water usage on each meter. Users can view usage in real-time by requesting a specified date range, day, hour, week, month, year and 3am hour. We note the 3am hour as the time of typical low usage. If higher usage occurs, usually there is a undetected leak.

An example of one new functionality allows users to email the chart to a friend at the click of a mouse.

CEO John Lie-Nielsen states, "The WaterSignal dashboard and charts are the cornerstone of our product. We are very pleased with the end result and commend the effort of the team that designed, implemented and tested this updated version until it was perfected. We strongly believe our new design will encourage our customers to become engaged."

About WaterSignal, LLC

WaterSignal stands alone in revolutionary technology with its breakthrough, wireless device that monitors your existing water meter. By measuring each pulse of water, the WaterSignal device sends out an immediate alert when a catastrophic water leak is detected. Don’t be taken by surprise when your water bill arrives. Many leaks go undetected and can cost thousands of dollars per day, not to mention repairs if flooding occurs.

WaterSignal’s headquarters and manufacturing facility is located in Atlanta with a second office in Dallas, while selling and servicing devices throughout the country.

WaterSignal is marketed by HandyTrac Systems, LLC

WaterSignal is a member of: The National Apartment Association, U.S. Green Building Council, BOMA Atlanta, Green Habitats, Southface, and John Lie-Nielsen, founder, is a member of the American Water Works Association. To learn more about WaterSignal, please visit www.watersignal.com, or call 1-800-665-9994.

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