Case study
Over 450,000 litres saved in four months — and the clearest compressor graph we've produced
Compressed airWaterFood & Beverage ProcessingBulk Handling & Rail Logistics
>450,000 litres of water saved in four months, and the clearest before/after compressor graph we've ever produced.
PDI Bulk
Photo slot · case-pdi-compressor — pending the photography cull (§K.3 #27).
How it went.
Every study on this site runs the same four beats, in the same order.
01
Alert
Overnight water flow nobody could see, and a compressor cycling constantly to hold pressure in a leaking system.
02
Cost
>450,000 L in 4 months — Metering revealed overnight flow, leading to leak detection and process changes at one location.
03
Fix
Water metering on the incoming service and major consumers · Compressed-air header pressure and compressor runtime monitoring · Railcar temperature monitoring for in-transit QA/QC · Alerting on overnight baseline flow
04
Restored
Overnight flow stopped; compressor runtime down and header pressure stable
In full.
The problem
Two problems, one plant. Water was leaving the building overnight, and the air compressor was working far harder than the demand justified.
“At PDI, the compressor was running harder than it should have been — cycling constantly to maintain pressure in a system that was losing significant volume to undetected leaks…”
What we installed
Metering on the incoming water service and the major consumers, header pressure and runtime monitoring on the compressed-air system, and railcar temperature monitoring for in-transit QA/QC.
What the data showed
“Metering revealed overnight flow, leading to leak detection and process changes, saving over 450,000 litres of water over 4 months at one location.”
What changed
“We identified the losses, worked with the team to address them, and then watched what happened. The compressor runtime dropped. The pressure stabilized.”
The number
Over 450,000 litres of water, in four months, at one location. Source: NB Power RFP 0770-25-S510, Reference 1.
Also true
The work became a national rollout across eight facilities in Ontario, Alberta and Quebec.
What the data looked like.
Hover or arrow-key across the trace to read any interval. The flagged point is the one that started the conversation.
| Interval | Incoming service (L/min) |
|---|---|
| 00:00 | 9 |
| 00:30 | 8 |
| 01:00 | 9 |
| 01:30 | 10 |
| 02:00 | 10 |
| 02:30 | 8 |
| 03:00 | 9 |
| 03:30 | 10 |
| 04:00 | 10 |
| 04:30 | 9 |
| 05:00 | 10 |
| 05:30 | 9 |
| 06:00 | 44 |
| 06:30 | 46 |
| 07:00 | 48 |
| 07:30 | 51 |
| 08:00 | 53 |
| 08:30 | 52 |
| 09:00 | 53 |
| 09:30 | 53 |
| 10:00 | 51 |
| 10:30 | 51 |
| 11:00 | 48 |
| 11:30 | 48 |
| 12:00 | 45 |
| 12:30 | 43 |
| 13:00 | 41 |
| 13:30 | 40 |
| 14:00 | 38 |
| 14:30 | 36 |
| 15:00 | 35 |
| 15:30 | 36 |
| 16:00 | 35 |
| 16:30 | 37 |
| 17:00 | 37 |
| 17:30 | 40 |
| 18:00 | 9 |
| 18:30 | 9 |
| 19:00 | 10 |
| 19:30 | 8 |
| 20:00 | 8 |
| 20:30 | 9 |
| 21:00 | 9 |
| 21:30 | 10 |
| 22:00 | 9 |
| 22:30 | 10 |
| 23:00 | 9 |
| 23:30 | 10 |
| Before | Overnight flow running unseen; the compressor cycling constantly to maintain pressure |
|---|---|
| After | Overnight flow stopped; compressor runtime down and header pressure stable |
The published totals are the §H.1 figures. The interval shape is a representative reconstruction and is flagged as such in the dataset; the measured series drops into the same file under G6 with no markup change (§K.3 #28).
What changed.
Before
Overnight flow running unseen; the compressor cycling constantly to maintain pressure
After
Overnight flow stopped; compressor runtime down and header pressure stable
>450,000 L
in 4 months
Metering revealed overnight flow, leading to leak detection and process changes at one location.
Source: NB Power RFP 0770-25-S510 FINAL, Reference 1 (§H.1 claim 3)
In their words.
…immediate annual savings of over $150,000…
Jeff Inkes, General Manager, PDI Bulk
G2 — quoted verbatim from the archive. Where only a fragment is on file it renders as a fragment with its attribution; the middle is never invented. Full verbatim text required before launch — [TOM-REVIEW].
Where to go next.
The sector, the sibling studies, and the calculator that runs this same arithmetic on your own numbers.
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Illustrative scenario
Find out what’s hiding in your plant.
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