Water company using AI technology to spot leaks

10 hours ago

Holly Rattley,Wiltshireand

Nick Jewers,BBC Radio Wiltshire

News image — The AI-generated satellite technology detects moisture and movement in the ground

Origin Tech A person's zoomed-in hand holding a black smartphone which displays an app. The apps title is Orbit Origin. There is a blurred orange jacket to the left of the picture along with a blurred grey background. — The AI-generated satellite technology detects moisture and movement in the ground

A water company says it hopes new AI technology could prevent up to 100 million litres leaking a day.

Thames Water, which serves the majority of Swindon and its surrounding areas in Wiltshire, is working with Origin Tech to use satellite technology to detect moisture and movement in the ground.

In the UK, about 19% of water is lost to leakage before it reaches customers, according to the Environment Agency.

Co-founder of Origin Tech, John Marsden, said the satellites pass over Swindon "roughly every six days" and produce "points on a map" where leakage is suspected.

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The two companies are working together for 13 months after a trial period.

Marsden said the technology is "at least five times quicker" at detecting "invisible leaks that are really difficult to find" than a person working unassisted on the ground.

A computer programme produces a map of leakage pin-points, which staff from Thames Water can then use.

"It's the same way they've done it since Victorian times, but with the insight from satellite technology," Marsden added.

During a previous trial, 800 leaks across Thames Water's network were found.

The company said this helped to save an estimated 8.7 million litres of water per day, enough to fill more than three Olympic-sized swimming pools.

According to Thames Water, several of the leaks detected during the trial ran at a speed of more than 10 litres per second, saving enough water to run a bath every eight seconds.

Origin Tech A man wearing a hi vis orange jacket and black cap with the words 'no dig' on it. He is bending down and holding machinery with a long white tube in the ground — Origin Tech's leak detection technology scans the ground from above for 'invisible' leaks

Thames Water's Head of Leakage, Shane Gloster, said: "A huge proportion of our leaks are never seen by customers, as they are underground and hard to find.

"Partnering with Origin Tech, deploying their satellite data to detect leaks gives us a faster and more accurate indication of where the network has issues, enabling us to work more efficiently in our pursuit of bringing down water loss."