There is technology out there that can search for underground water on Mars.
That same technology will be brought to Beecher to look for leaks in the village’s water system.
The village board voted on May 11 to approve a $36,000 deal with San Diego-based ASTERRA, for its satellite leak detection service.
According to ASTERRA’s website, it uses the same technology to search for water on Mars and other planets.
“From an orbiting satellite, a band of radio spectrum penetrated the Earth’s surface and an algorithm, fine-tuned to detect treated drinking water, revealed underground leaks as small as 0.5 liters per minute,” the website says.
It sounds a little like science fiction, but if it can save the village money in lost water because of leaks, it will be worth a try.
“They don’t have a great success rate of finding leaks that have surfaced – these are more sub-surface, which is what we are kind of looking for,” Beecher Public Works Superintendent Matthew Conner said. “It can depict between chlorinated water, ocean salt water, oceans, streams and things of that nature.
“It sounded pretty promising. It’s definitely a new technology era and we’re trying to give it a shot and see if it’s something that helps us out.”
Conner said it’s something they don’t have to do yearly. He said that doing it once every two years would be the way to go.
“It will pay for itself with the cost of what we’re pumping and what we’re billing,” Conner said. “It’s new to us and we’ll see how it goes.”
According to the website, ASTERRA has located 100,000 leaks in the United States, Italy, the UK, Chile, South Africa and other countries since 2016 and added it has saved its customers 368 billion gallons of drinkable water.
Big party planned
The board approved a permit from the Crete Protestant Reformed Church for a 100-year celebration from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Aug. 1 at Fireman’s Park.
Since the church estimated that the event could draw between 250-300 people, village officials said it must pay for police to be present.
Looking for signs
Members of the Hunter’s Chase community asked the village for more signage regarding private property at the private pond in their area.
They said that young people who are not from the area are fishing in that pond and are looking for more signs to deter them.
Beecher bits
- The board approved use of the village’s multi-use courts for a Beecher Community School District 200U Futsal Tournament fundraiser to take place at 10 a.m. through 5 p.m. on July 17.
- The next board meeting is moved from May 25 to May 26 due to the Memorial Day holiday.