DWU Water Leak Detection and Repair/Replacement Programs
December 31, 2024
Dallas Water Utilities (DWU) is a local and regional provider of safe drinking water, serving over 2.6 million people. The water system consists of 5,077 miles of water mains ranging in size from 0.75 to 108 inches in diameter. The service area of this pipeline system extends approximately 700 square miles. DWU has made significant investments in leak detection, condition assessments and main replacement programs. The leak detection program utilizes multiple types of technology to detect hidden and hard-to-find leaks and covers the entire water system every 1.5 years.

The DWU Leak Detection Program was implemented in 2004. Some of the benefits of the program include:
- Minimize unmetered (non-revenue) water loss
- Prevent service disruptions due to main breaks
- Prevent infrastructure and property damage due to main breaks
- Minimize repair section’s time spent locating leaks
DWU uses various leak detection technologies including Sahara® Inline Tethered Inspection Platform, Acoustic Loggers, SmartBall® Inline Free-Swimming Inspection Platform, TriCorr/TouchPro, SoundSens and Groundmic. Since the implementation of the DWU Leak Detection Program, over 7,000 leaks have been detected and repaired.
As part of the maintenance program, DWU performed approximately 3,000 pipeline repairs in the last fiscal year. Repairs are prioritized on various factors including:
- Unplanned customer service interruptions
- Fire protection
- Severity of water loss (emergency and scheduled repairs)
- Resource requirements (staffing, equipment, road closures, paving needs, etc.)
- Customer impact due to scheduled water service interruption (holidays, events, etc.)
- Inclement weather (freezing temperatures or extreme heat)
- Water quality concerns
In addition to leak detection and repair programs, DWU typically replaces over 45 miles of water pipelines each year and has replaced more than 450 miles over the last 10 years.
DWU offers enhanced reporting opportunities that allow customers to report water leaks through Dallas 311 online or on the mobile app available for download on iOS and Android devices.