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Tutorial Figure 1 Real-time Televent weather service map of Spartenburg, SC, on April 5, 2012. other means. Once this savings is determined, costs of retrofit are calculated. Once the retrofit costs are calculated, then this is compared to a portion of the anticipated savings. If the comparison is within the proper range, then the ESCO will secure a loan for the project and proceed with construction. Once the new system is in place, and savings are being realized, then the municipality pays the ESCO a portion of the savings until the loan is satisfied. Since the payment is realized from saving, the municipality's total budget is the same as before the project. The question arises as to what happens if the expected savings are not realized. In this situation, a quality ESCO will pay the municipality the difference between the real and anticipated energy savings. Thus for a municipality, this is a no-cost solution with a guaranteed pay check if the savings do not materialize. WEATHER FORECASTING In an article focused on reexamining how money is spent in a municipality, it might seem strange to mention weather forecasting; however, this is not your average weather forecasting. It is very specific up-to- the-minute oriented forecasting. Let's look at some examples. Some combined sewer overflow (CSO) applications have a solids removal mechanism, such as a sand filter or plate settler. These systems may use power and or 34 Water Online The Magazine, Cleanwater Edition ■ wateronline.com chemicals; therefore, there is a cost associated with running the system. Let's say the system takes about ten minutes to start running. With a general weather forecast you may be told that a storm is coming in the afternoon, so you may start the system at noon, but with a detailed forecast, you can monitor the storm as it comes in. For instance, the tool may show the storms arrival around 4:12 p.m., prompting you start the system at 4:00 p.m. If you start at 4:00 p.m. instead of noon, then you have just saved four hours of operating costs. In another example, advanced weather can save money through lightning mapping. If a facility is damaged by lightning, an insurance company may want proof that lightning was the cause. If you have this service, you will see when, where, and how strong the lightning strike was. This event can then be matched with SCADA alarms showing loss of communication and/or power that occurred about the same time. Without this service, positive proof may not be possible, and the claim may be denied. If this occurs, then the municipality must pay for the repairs out of its budget. A final example references a real-time picture of Spartenburg, South Carolina (see Figure 1 above). For illustration sake, let's say the water department is working to locate a leak near the airport. This map shows that the worst weather, and all the associated