Sector · GPR Survey
GPR Survey for Water Boards, Jal Nigams & Sewerage Networks
Non-revenue water is the largest measurable loss most Indian utilities carry — and it is being managed from drawings that stopped being true decades ago.
1.5 lakh+ km of GPR survey completed since 2003, peak output 100 km a day, fastest recorded delivery 700 KM in 30 days — all on company-owned systems. Because mobilisation runs from Faridabad, sites beyond Delhi NCR carry a ₹1,00,000 per-project minimum. Inside NCR no minimum applies.
Quick AnswerMezux Touch surveys and maps buried water and sewerage networks for municipal water boards, jal nigams, development authorities and their contractors. Work covers trunk main route tracing, leak zone investigation, sewer alignment mapping and network-scale programmes supporting non-revenue water reduction.
The economics are unusually clear here
Most survey work is justified against a risk that may not happen. Water is different: the loss is already happening, it is measurable, and it is being paid for in treatment and pumping cost every single day.
A utility that cannot say with confidence where its trunk mains run cannot zone its network, cannot isolate a district reliably, and cannot target repair. Surveying the trunk network is the step that makes every subsequent NRW intervention possible, which is why we usually recommend starting there rather than with the zones showing the worst readings.
The arithmetic is straightforward enough that a board can calculate the payback itself, which is not something we can say about most of our work.
Where the water surfaces is not where it left
Water escaping a pressurised main travels along whatever path the ground offers — a service trench, a sand seam, the outside of another pipe — and appears wherever that path allows. Excavating under the visible damp is how utilities end up with three empty pits.
Radar reads the saturated and eroded zone around the pipe itself, and route tracing fixes where the main actually runs rather than where the drawing claims. Combined, they narrow a repair to one targeted excavation.
We are direct about the limit: radar detects the ground condition around a pipe, it does not hear the leak. Acoustic correlation remains the tool that pinpoints an active leak, and we work alongside it rather than claiming to replace it.
Sewers, and why they are their own problem
Gravity sewers are usually deeper than distribution mains, frequently non-metallic or brick, and in older cities they predate any systematic record. Radar reach in the clay and saturated ground where sewers typically sit is also more limited.
So we scope sewer work honestly: what depth is achievable in that ground, where complementary methods or manhole survey are needed, and where the answer will require intrusive confirmation. A survey promising uniform sewer clearance across a city is promising something the physics does not support.
Where a leaking sewer is washing fines out of the surrounding soil, the resulting void is often the more urgent finding, and it is reported as such.
Network programmes rather than one-off jobs
Utilities are better served by a programme than by repeated call-outs. A single mobilisation covering trunk mains and priority zones costs less per kilometre than a series of emergency visits, and produces a consistent record rather than a scatter of unrelated drawings.
Output is a coordinate-tied network record in CAD and GIS that the board's own team can maintain as the network changes, rather than a static document that ages out within a few years.
District metering and zoning
Non-revenue water reduction runs on district metered areas, and a DMA only works if its boundary is genuinely isolated. Utilities regularly discover an unrecorded interconnection that quietly feeds water across a boundary they believed was sealed.
Finding those interconnections is survey work, and it is often the single most valuable output of an early-stage NRW programme, because every subsequent measurement depends on the zone being what the drawing says it is.
Coverage spans 28+ States/UTs on 14 owned systems. See leak investigation and utility mapping.
Chambers, valves and the surface record
The surface features of a water network — chambers, valves, hydrants, air valves, washouts — are the most under-used asset record a utility holds. Many are buried under resurfacing, and a valve nobody can find is a valve that cannot isolate a district.
Locating and surveying those features alongside the buried mains gives operational value that pure route tracing does not. A field team that can find and reach a valve can isolate a burst in minutes rather than hours.
We record them as surveyed points tied to the same coordinate framework as the mains, so the two halves of the record work together.
Scoping a programme a board can approve
Water utility budgets move through committees, and a proposal that cannot show its arithmetic does not move. We scope programmes so the board sees what each phase covers, what it will produce and what it will enable.
Typically that means trunk mains first, priority zones second, and distribution detail only where the earlier phases justify it. Phasing this way lets a board approve a defensible first step rather than a whole-network figure it will hesitate over.
Outside Delhi NCR the minimum accepted order value is Rs 1,00,000 per project, which on network-scale programmes is well below a single phase.
What twenty-two years on owned equipment adds up to
FAQ
Water Boards & Sewerage — common questions
It narrows the search substantially by showing where the ground is saturated or eroded, but acoustic correlation is what pinpoints an active leak on a pressurised main. We are clear about that rather than overselling radar.
Usually with the trunk mains rather than the worst-reading zones. Without confident knowledge of where the trunk network runs, a utility cannot zone reliably or isolate a district, which limits every later intervention.
Yes, using radar rather than electromagnetic locating, which only sees conductive lines. Where an accessible entry point exists, a sonde can trace a non-metallic main directly.
Generally less so. Sewers sit deeper, are often non-metallic or brick, and the clay and saturated ground they occupy limits radar reach. We scope that honestly rather than promising uniform clearance.
Frequently, and it is often the more urgent finding. A sewer washing fines out of the surrounding soil creates a cavity that will eventually appear as a road collapse.
Outside Delhi NCR the minimum accepted GPR order value is Rs 1,00,000 per project, because mobilisation runs from Faridabad. On a phased network programme this sits well below a single phase. No minimum applies within Delhi NCR.
Yes, as a programme with a single mobilisation rather than repeated call-outs. It costs less per kilometre and produces one consistent record instead of unrelated drawings.
We have pushed to 100 km a day on unobstructed corridors, using night working and company-owned radar systems. The strongest month we have logged is 700 KM of survey in 30 days. Cumulative delivery has now passed 1.5 lakh km of GPR survey. Realistic pace for a specific route is set by congestion, working windows and the deliverable agreed.
Losing water and working from old drawings?
Send your trunk network extent and NRW figures — we will scope a programme you can calculate the payback on.
Request a Sector QuoteGPR for water and sewerage networks — specifications, standards and detailed questions
Mezux Touch surveys water and sewerage networks against economics that are unusually clear. Most survey work is justified against a risk that may not happen; here the loss is already happening, it is measurable, and it is being paid for in treatment and pumping cost every day. A utility that cannot say with confidence where its trunk mains run cannot zone its network, cannot isolate a district reliably and cannot target repair. That is why we normally recommend starting with the trunk network rather than with the zones showing the worst readings.
How the work is run
Route tracing establishes where mains actually run, using radar for non-metallic pipe that electromagnetic locating cannot see, and a sonde where an accessible entry point exists. Surface features are surveyed alongside the buried network, because a valve nobody can find cannot isolate a burst. Sewers are scoped honestly rather than optimistically: they sit deeper, are often brick or non-metallic, and the clay and saturated ground they occupy limits radar reach, so we state what depth is achievable rather than promising uniform clearance. Programmes are run as single mobilisations rather than repeated call-outs.
What you receive
A coordinate-tied network record in CAD and GIS that the board's own team can maintain, with survey date, method and confidence per feature. Surface features — chambers, valves, hydrants, air valves and washouts — surveyed as points in the same framework as the mains. District boundary verification identifying unrecorded interconnections, which on an early-stage NRW programme is frequently the single most valuable output. Void and washout findings reported separately, since a sewer washing out fines creates a cavity that will eventually surface as a road collapse. Achievable depth stated by section rather than as one figure.
Beyond the basics
Can GPR pinpoint an active leak? It narrows the search substantially by showing saturated or eroded ground, but acoustic correlation is what pinpoints an escape on a pressurised main.
Where should an NRW programme start? Usually with trunk mains rather than the worst-reading zones. Without confident trunk knowledge a utility cannot zone reliably or isolate a district.
Is sewer mapping as reliable as water main tracing? Generally less so. Sewers sit deeper, are often brick or non-metallic, and the ground they occupy limits reach. We scope that honestly.
Why survey valves and chambers? Because operational value depends on them. A field team that can locate and reach a valve isolates a burst in minutes rather than hours.
What does district boundary verification find? Unrecorded interconnections quietly feeding water across a boundary believed sealed, which invalidates every measurement taken in that zone.
Terms used on this page
Non-revenue water — water produced but not billed, lost through leakage, metering error or unauthorised use. District metered area — a zone isolated for measurement, which only works if its boundary is genuinely sealed. Interconnection — an unrecorded link between zones, which invalidates district measurement until found. Trunk main — a large distribution main serving a whole area, the network element that makes zoning possible. Washout — a cavity formed where escaping water has removed material from around a buried pipe.
