Learn how leading utilities are approaching these issues through integrated resiliency strategies designed to reduce risk, extend service life, and improve long-term performance.
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Municipal Water Systems are Deteriorating
America’s water infrastructure creates compounding operational risks that make it harder for utilities to maintain reliability, protect infrastructure, and plan confidently for long-term performance.
Non-Revenue Water
Nearly 1 in 5 treated gallons are lost or unbilled, costing U.S. water more than $6.4 billion in lost revenue every year.
Corrosion
Microbiologically-induced corrosion (MIC) kills valves and costs U.S. municipalities $80 billion in unnecessary repairs annually.
Pressure Instability
A water main breaks every 2 minutes, turning hidden pressure fluctuations into costly leaks, failures, and service disruptions.
5 Signs Your Water Distribution System Is Operating Under Hidden Stress
Water Loss Keeps Rising Despite Ongoing Repairs
Persistent non-revenue water can indicate deeper infrastructure issues,
including corrosion, pressure instability, and aging assets that continue
driving losses beyond individual leak repairs.
Asset Failures Are Becoming More Frequent
Increasing valve failures, main breaks, and component replacements often
signal accumulated system stress and advancing infrastructure deterioration.
Pressure Problems Are Showing Up Across the System
Pressure fluctuations can accelerate leaks, increase failure rates, and
magnify existing weaknesses in aging water distribution networks.
Maintenance Costs Continue to Increase
When maintenance spending rises without corresponding improvements in
reliability, underlying system conditions may be driving recurring repairs
and operational inefficiencies.
You Have Limited Visibility into What Happens Between Failures
Without real-time monitoring and system insight, developing issues can
remain hidden until they become costly leaks, failures, or service
disruptions.
Designing Resiliency into Aging Water Infrastructure
Aging water infrastructure can increase pressure on nearly every part of a utility’s operating model:
Recurring maintenance and emergency repairs
Difficulty prioritizing limited capital and labor
Increased pressure to justify long-term infrastructure investments
Learn how leading utilities are approaching these issues through integrated resiliency strategies designed to reduce risk, extend service life, and improve long-term performance.
ArmorTek® Corrosion Protection
Protect critical water infrastructure from microbiologically induced corrosion (MIC) and premature deterioration. Defend critical assets against one of the leading causes of infrastructure degradation.
Patented three-layer corrosion protection system
Available on select valves, strainers, and backflow preventers
Helps extend asset life and reduce maintenance demands
A Legacy of Innovation
More than 150 years of experience supporting safe, reliable water systems
Industry’s Largest Portfolio
A broad range of solutions for water safety, flow control, drainage, HVAC, monitoring, and more.
Support from Assessment to Specification
End-to-end service to help select the best solutions for your system, budget, and project goals.
Frequently Asked Questions
If your utility is managing rising non-revenue water, corrosion-related deterioration, pressure instability, recurring failures, or limited visibility between maintenance events, an integrated assessment can help identify where these risks may be overlapping.
Yes. Routine maintenance addresses known issues, but corrosion, pressure instability, and NRW can point to broader system conditions that continue driving failures over time.
Not necessarily. Targeted upgrades, corrosion-resistant components, and connected monitoring can help utilities reduce risk and extend service life without replacing the entire system.
Yes. Watts solutions can support retrofit, replacement, specification, and monitoring strategies across a range of municipal water applications, including monitoring and alerts through existing SCADA systems or the Nexa platform.
ArmorTek®-coated equipment has shown strong, long-term performance in corrosive environments, including third-party testing where standard valves corroded approximately 14x faster than ArmorTek-coated valves. Plus, Armortek-coated valves feature the industry's only 8-year MIC warranty.*
ArmorTek® Protects Vegas Infrastructure from MIC-Related Corrosion
A Las Vegas water utility faced recurring corrosion-related failures at a challenging site where multiple replacement backflow preventers had deteriorated due to microbiologically induced corrosion (MIC).
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Customer Snapshot
Market: Municipal Water Utility
Application: Backflow Prevention
System Type: ArmorTek® Advanced Coating System
Challenge: Recurring microbiologically induced corrosion (MIC) and premature valve deterioration
The Challenge
During routine testing at an apartment complex on Las Vegas Boulevard, the local water district repeatedly
discovered severe corrosion on backflow preventers installed at the site. Multiple replacement valves had
already been installed, but each experienced similar deterioration due to the site's harsh water conditions.
Further investigation identified the presence of microbiologically induced corrosion (MIC), creating the need
for a solution that provides greater protection than traditional coatings alone.
The Solution
The utility agreed to pilot a backflow preventer treated with ArmorTek®, a patented
three-layer coating system consisting of an anti-corrosion primer, microbial inhibitor, and protective
epoxy-polyester topcoat. The corroded valve was replaced with an ArmorTek-coated version of the same model.
Third-party testing later found that standard valves corroded approximately 14 times faster than
ArmorTek-coated valves under corrosive conditions.
The Results
No signs of MIC activity after five years in service
Valve appearance remained virtually unchanged compared to uncoated alternatives
Improved long-term protection against corrosion-related deterioration
Easier ongoing maintenance due to the clean condition of the coated surface
Greater confidence in long-term asset reliability in a highly corrosive environment
Fill out the form below to talk with an expert, get a quote, and discover how an integrated resiliency strategy can improve reliability, reduce maintenance demands, and maximize the value of infrastructure investments.
