Case Study: Halifax Water achieves 40 million litres/day leakage reduction with OSIsoft PI System

Drying up water leaks with the PI System

Halifax Water supplies drinking water to nearly 350,000 people across central Nova Scotia via nine supply plants and 1,600 km of pipeline. After a regional merger left data fragmented across incompatible systems, rising delivery costs and widespread leaky pipes made water loss a top priority—operators needed a faster, data-driven way to detect and locate leaks before expensive water was wasted.

Using the PI System as a central repository for pressure, flow and process data, Halifax Water established baselines, real-time alerts and expanded District Metered Areas to pinpoint leaks, effectively “breaking one haystack into 70 piles.” The program cut leakage by 40 million litres per day, saving over C$600,000 annually, while improving water quality monitoring, regulatory reporting and system planning—and enabling new services for large customers.

Halifax Water

Graham MacDonald

Superintendent of Technical Services, Halifax Water