Energy News of the Weird

Duke Drinkard, Energy Consultant for Southeastern Freight Lines (SEFL), reported that the company was able to identify a water leak from a toilet in a bathroom that no one knew existed, just by using utility bills.

SEFL’s utility tracking software revealed a spike in water use at a facility. Investigation revealed an unused restroom that had been walled off in a previous renovation. A water line to the toilet had started to leak, but there was no visible sign of damage since the water was running into an adjacent floor drain.

After the leak was repaired, the utility bill savings were not as high as Drinkard had anticipated, so he continued his investigation. Eventually SEFL discovered that a security guard was routinely allowing another company to fill a 7,000-gallon water tanker twice every weekend from an SEFL-owned water line at the same site. The abuse had been taking place for at least as long as SEFL had been tracking the water use (four years). The company “interrupted” the abuse and “appropriate measures” were taken to correct the issue.

To find out more about how SEFL uses utility bill data to pursue the company’s quality control vision, read the SEFL case study.