Federal Energy Management Program Federal Energy Management Program

Best Management Practice 

Case Study #3

Distribution System Audits, Leak Detection, and Repair

Kirtland Air Force Base – Leak Detection and Repair Program 

Overview

Kirtland Air Force Base (AFB) performed an award 

winning leak detection and repair program in 2006. 

The results of the project are saving Kirtland AFB 

179 million gallons each year, which is over 16% 

of the total water use at the base. Kirtland AFB is 

located on 52,000 acres, southeast and adjacent 

to Albuquerque, New Mexico. The area is a high 

altitude desert, only receiving about 8 inches of rain 

each year. Kirtland AFB draws water from an underground aquifer via seven production wells throughout the base. The base also has access to water from 

the City of Albuquerque. The underground water 

supply is declining, which has spurred Kirtland AFB 

to develop a water conservation program, including 

the leak detection and repair program featured in 

this case study.

Figure 1: Photo of the largest leak found during the survey 

( joint offset ) with a water loss rate of 150 gallons per minute

Kirtland AFB team won 

the Federal Energy and 

Water Management, 

Water Conservation 

Award to Small Groups

Project Summary

Two leak detection approaches were considered by 

Kirtland AFB prior to commencing the project – 

passive survey and active survey. These two methods 

are described below:

1) Passive Survey:

•	 Method: Listening devices are installed on 	 	

water lines at 1⁄4 mile spacing to record the 

acoustic signatures that are used to identify 

leaks; if leaks are identified, additional equipment 

is required to find the specific leak locations.

•	 Best Application: Passive surveys are best suited

for a permanent installation and long term 

monitoring of water lines

•	 Benefits: Accurate leak location and size

determination; good option for long-term 

monitoring of water lines

•	 Disadvantage: The survey equipment can only

“hear” one leak at any given point in time; 

installation can be time consuming over long 

water lines

2) Active Survey: 

•	 Method: Leak detection crews use acoustic

listening devices, while walking each water line 

to find leaks

•	 Best Application: Active surveys are best suited

for a large network of water lines in areas where 

multiple leaks are suspected

•	 Benefits: Active surveys allow for a relatively 		

rapid survey of extensive water lines and provide 

exact leak locations as the survey progresses

•	 Disadvantage: This method gives a one-time 		

snapshot of system leaks; this does not provide 

on-going leak detection options.

After considering these two methods, Kirtland AFB 

decided that the active survey was most appropriate 

for their situation. Kirtland’s goal was to pinpoint 

leaks quickly, estimate the size and volume of leaks,

and develop a prioritization for repairs. An active

survey met these goals best. In addition to the 

quick location and repair, the site also wanted to be 

able to track the costs associated with location and 

repair so that a cost-per-gallon-saved metric could 

be developed. The active survey method allowed 

Kirtland AFB to track costs in this way because as 

the leaks were found, they were repaired. Kirtland 

AFB contracted the work through the Air Force Civil 

Engineer Support Agency (AFCESA). This allowed 

a quick avenue to access experienced leak detection 
Disclaimer

This document was sponsored by the United States Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and

Renewable Energy, Federal Energy Management Program. Neither the United States Government nor any 

agency or contractor thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes 

any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, 

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herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or 

otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the 

United States Government or any agency or contractor thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed 

herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency or contractor 

thereof.

Printed with a renewable-source ink on paper containing at least 50% wastepaper, including 10% postconsumer waste.

and repair contractors, which were pre-qualified 

through AFCESA.

In total, 108 miles of water distribution lines were 

investigated in the survey; this represents about 90% 

of the water distribution lines on the base. Through 

the survey, site staff determined that nearly 16% of 

the base’s water use was lost through the water 

distribution system leakage. A total of 31 leaks 

were identified with an estimated water loss of 

333 gallons per minute. The site found that major 

leaks were primarily caused by offset joints (i.e., joints 

that are misaligned), while smaller leaks were caused 

by corrosion of the pipe material. 

The largest leak that was found was in a 30 inch supply 

line in a remote, undetected area of the base, which 

flowed at about 150 gallons per minute at the time of 

discovery. This leak was caused by an offset joint and 

is shown in Figure 1. A smaller leak identified and estimated at 30 gallons per minute is shown in Figure 2. 

All repairs took place in a three-month window, with 

the largest leaks repaired first.

General Contact:

Will Lintner, P.E.

Team Lead, Climate Actions 

DOE/FEMP/EE-2L 

1000 Independence Ave., S.W. 

Washington, D.C. 20585-0121 

Tel: 202.586.3120

Fax: 202.586.7608

william.lintner@ee.doe.gov 

Mark Reichhardt

Federal Energy 

Management Program

Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy

U.S. Department of Energy

Tel: (202) 586-4788

mark.reichhardt@ee.doe.gov

Technical Contact:

Kate McMordie Stoughton

Tel: 720-379-3511

kate.mcmordie@gmail.com

DOE-00XX

January 2009

Figure 3: Award recipients of the Federal Energy and Water 

Management, Water Conservation Award to Small Groups (from 

left to right): Lawrence “Ski” Karbowski, Clifford “Cliff” Richardson, 

William “Kellis” Jones, Patrick “Pat” Montano, and Mark Plumley.

Figure 2: Photo of a

secondary leak found

during the survey, which

was losing water at a rate

of 30 gallons per minute.

Cost and Savings Summary

The cost of the leak detection survey was approximately 

$75,000 (or roughly $695 per mile) and the repairs cost 

an additional $514,000. The survey and repairs saved the 

site over 179 million gallons annually, representing over 

16% of the base’s total water use. This savings, valued 

at more than $330,000 annually at a water rate of 

$1.88/Kgal, provided a 1.75 year payback.

Including the survey and repairs, the project cost 

Kirtland AFB $3 per thousand gallons of water saved. 

In other words, for every thousand gallons of water 

Kirtland was losing, it will roughly cost only $3 to 

repair the leaks.

As a result of this project, the Kirtland AFB team 

won the 2007 Federal Energy and Water Management, 

Water Conservation Award to Small Groups. The 

Kirtland AFB team, proudly holding their awards, 

is shown in Figure 3.