'Tap Track' uses software to monitor, flag costly sap leaks

The sweet business of syrup can be soured by costly losses at the sap tapping stage but a Sault Ste. Marie inventor sayshe has a solution.

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Mark Lutes is the co-owner ofTap Track, a product that monitorssap linesfor maple syrup producers who are trying to boostsyrup yields by nipping sap loss in the bud.

Instead of having to personallycheckmilesof sap tubing over many acres for leaks, syrup producers can hook their lines up to "Tap Track" sensors that report line compromises, he said.

If there's a problem, Lutes said an alert pops up on a cell phone with instructions on where to go to fix the leak.

"It's an amazingly big [issue]," Lutes said of sap loss.

"Apparently the biggest problem is squirrels chewing through the lines ... and other animals, too. We've had reports of porcupines, and even bears will chew on the biglines."

Lutes said the scale of some syrup operations in the region makes technological innovations a necessity especially because a compromise in one line can reduce pressure in the whole system..

"Some of these producers have well the one we work with, Doug Thompson he has 20,000 taps, so it's quite a chore to keep track of all of that."

Lutes said the "Tap Track" system, which he claims can save between 8 and 12 per cent in lost product, is being well-received in the industry.