It was no ordinary February across the state of Texas. Severe and uncommon winter weather conditions led to a state of emergency. Fortunately, the City of Jacksonville, Texas kept the water flowing for its more than 5,000 residents with the help of its smart utility network from Sensus, a Xylem brand.

Imagine it’s winter in Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey and temperatures drop to the low twenties by sundown. Summery, beach weather is nowhere to be seen in this coastal town and most residents have fled to warmer temperatures until summer returns. Water pipes can’t flock to warmer temperatures though, and while homeowners are gone, pipes can easily freeze and burst.

As the foundation is set for smart city applications across the utility industry, the future of managed services seems boundless. With so many utility solution providers jumping on the managed services bandwagon, the key is to ensure utilities are entering into effective and efficient partnerships for successful outcomes.

“Everyone in the utility industry helps each other out,” said Ivy. “One of the first groups to call and offer support was Xylem’s Sensus. We’ve been a Sensus customer for 12 years now, and I consider them my friends.”

Virtually all modern water distribution networks are pressurised to a level set by industry practice or regulation, and measured at the connection pipe to the end-customers property. Sometimes, the pressure requirement is also set to meet the needs of the fire service, who need a minimum pressure of water to deal with fires in standard residential dwellings.