This year at the Sensors Converge Conference and Expo, the Best of Sensors Awards were presented for products in 14 different categories of sensors. The awards were created to honor the best new sensor products and the people who created them, and a panel of industry experts selects the winners. This year, Electro Scan won the award in the Clean Tech/Sustainability category for Swordfish.
Swordfish is a machine-intelligent sensor that identifies and locates buried lead water pipes using electrical resistance. In the past, locating underground lead pipes required digging test holes or using hydro excavation to break up the soil and expose the pipes. With U.S. President Joe Biden challenging 50,000 water utility companies to remove all lead pipes, the old process is not feasible.
However, Electro Scan made the process quicker and easier with their new patented and patent-pending sensors. Swordfish can be used in either pressurized or non-pressurized pipes and measure the variance in electrical resistance of the pipe walls to identify what they are made of. It will not only detect toxic lead pipes but also lead fixtures and soldered lead joints.
The cost savings are 100 times or more "compared to digging," said Charlene Soucy, senior director of Sensors & Electronic, who was also the presenter at the Best of Sensors awards ceremony. "The product's results are confirmed in the field using 3M's Lead Test of its sensor for a 100% verification."
Swordfish is currently the only commercially available product that gives users the ability to locate underground lead pipes and lead joints without digging, despite widespread research and testing in the industry. In 2020, a study by the Water Research Foundation concluded that electrical resistance could detect lead pipes, but that the technology could not be adapted to the field at the time. Yet, with more than 40 years in the water industry, Electro Scan made it happen.
Swordfish is a hand-held device that's powered by an 18-volt rechargeable battery. It uses an automated system to feed its cable and the low-voltage conductivity probe through pipes with diameters between 0.5 to 3 inches (or 12 to 76 millimeters) and up to 80 feet (or 25 meters) from the opening. The design of the Swordfish allows users to hold the device in one hand while using the other hand to guide the cable and probe in and out of the service line pipe insertion device.
The cable feed system of Swordfish keeps feed speed consistent even through multiple 90-degree pipe bends via a rotating action. The cable drum is fully enclosed to eliminate free spinning parts and provide users with more protection when working in tight quarters.
Responding to the win, Electro Scan Chairman and CEO Chuck Hansen said he was delighted to see the company "as the sole product and services provider in the water business to be considered for such a prestigious award. Our team is delivering unmatched AI machine-intelligent actionable data to help drinking water suppliers replace toxic lead water service lines."
Founded in 2011, Electron Scan Inc. is a leading supplier of machine-intelligent pipeline evaluation and quality assurance products and services for water, sewer, and, recently, petroleum products. The company designs, builds, sells, and supports proprietary equipment, delivers field services, and provides SaaS-based cloud software that can find, measure, and report leaks that aren't usually found by traditional methods.
To discover the other companies providing innovative sensors, visit our article on the Best of Sensors Awards