Using the Watchman system to diagnose water distribution problems
in a multiple pump/well system 

A healthy water distribution system provides an adequate amount of pressure to maintain The Watchman System is designed to view the complete water distribution system in real time over the Internet as well as look at its recent history to quickly determine the health of the system and to determine if corrective steps need to be taken.maximum flow rates throughout the entire distribution system.  If unusual flows occur, such as a leak or broken pipe, then pressures drop below adequate levels at critical points in the system. 

A Case Study 

Consider a water delivery system that has three pump sites, P1, the lead pump, P2 and P3, as back ups, each with their own well and storage tank.  P1 is at one end, P2 in the middle ½ mile away and P3 is at the far end 1 mile away.  Connections are evenly distributed within the water distribution system.  With a Watchman installed at each pump site, pressure, flow, power and other critical parameters are monitored continuously. 

The lead pump, P1, is running with P2 and P3 off and in standby mode.  Suddenly a substantial water leak occurs in the system near the P3 site. P1 is now unable to handle the total system flow required at its set point pressure.  As the total flow drops off due to reduced pressure a text message is immediately sent to the system manager’s cell phone notifying him/her that system is reporting a low-pressure problem.  Since the system pressure has also dropped below the trigger-on point, P3 starts and tries to bring the pressure up.Pressure near P3 has dropped lower than its low-pressure alarm level due to the large flow moving through almost a mile of pipe to the water leak point.  When water flows through a pipe, pressure is lost through every foot of pipe.  Higher flows through the same length of pipe mean even higher-pressure losses.   

The system manager at this point having received the alarm message from Watchman can log onto their Internet account and execute the Watchman vPanel program.  It takes but a minute to look at readings from the three pump sites.  P1 and P2 pressures look OK but they dipped momentarily and flow at P1 dropped substantially from normal flows.  P3 pressure is still low but has moved up to a barely adequate pressure.  The manager also notices that P3 pump has just started and that the flow rate is high.  From the fact that both P1 and P3 are now running and that the P3 pressure dropped below the low-pressure alarm level momentarily, the manager concludes that there must be a concentration of flow near P3, which might indicate a broken pipe or a substantial leak. 

With the Watchman monitoring critical parameters in the system, emergency conditions resulting in critical down time are immediately recognized and the system can be managed keep it up and running saving time and money.