WINDSOR, Conn. – TRC Companies, Inc. (TRC), a global professional services firm providing integrated strategy, consulting, engineering and applied technologies in support of the Energy Transition, has been accepted as a NASA Satellite Data Early Adopter.
The NISAR satellite, scheduled to launch in 2024, is a joint Earth-observing mission between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). NISAR will measure Earth’s changing ecosystems, dynamic surfaces and ice masses providing information about biomass, natural hazards, sea level rise and groundwater and will support a host of other applications.
TRC was accepted as an Early Adopter by identifying an existing use that would benefit from NISAR data: conserving drinking water by locating underground leaks from pipes. TRC plans to use NISAR data to help clients with water conservation, energy efficiency and climate resiliency.
The potential for water savings in the U.S. is massive. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) estimates that every day nearly 6 billion gallons of treated drinking water is lost due to leaking municipal water main pipes in the U.S.
“Using satellite data is significantly more cost effective than the current method for finding and repairing leaks,” says Beth Baxter, Associate Director, Energy Efficiency. “With state-of-the-art satellite data, we will help clients future-proof their water supply systems and proactively decide where to focus resources while furthering water conservation and climate resiliency.”
Water loss can have multiple consequences for utilities, including system contamination, decreased revenue, undue stress on source water supplies, unnecessary capital improvements, customer service disruption and excessive production costs. Due in part to leaks and aging infrastructure, the U.S. EPA estimates that the U.S. will need to spend up to $200 billion dollars over the next 20 years to upgrade transmission and distribution systems.
“TRC collaborates with our clients to make the Earth a better place for the communities we serve through technology and problem-solving,” said Mike Caranfa, Senior Vice President of Advanced Energy at TRC. “We’re proud to be an Early Adopter for the NASA-ISRO satellite mission to help save water and energy through smart use of data.”
About TRC Companies
TRC is a global leader providing environmentally focused and digitally powered solutions tailored to meet the unique challenges of the energy transition. With over 55 years of proven expertise, our tested practitioners deliver innovative resolutions to the toughest challenges facing our critical infrastructure. With a dedicated workforce of over 8,000 professionals, we offer advisory & consulting, construction, engineering and management services, guiding complex projects from conception to completion. Our commitment to creating new pathways for the world to thrive is unwavering as we navigate the energy transition. We help our clients adapt, regardless of the climate in which they operate, they achieve enduring, sustainable results while solving the challenges of making the Earth a better place to live — community by community and project by project. TRC is ranked #16 on ENR’s list of the Top 500 Design Firms, #5 for Power and #3 for Transmission and Distribution.