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Anglian Water Prioritising Water Leak Detection

It seems that water leak detection is at the top of the agenda for supplier Anglian Water, which has just revealed that it will be making excellent use of advanced noise loggers to help it find weak spots across its network.

 

Writing for the East Anglian Daily Times, the company’s David Hartley explained that Anglian Water is in fact already leading the industry where leaks are concerned, with about half the national average compared to other suppliers – but it’s keen to reduce this even more.

 

As such, advanced noise loggers are set to be fitted inside the pipes so they can listen out for changes in sound in the flow of water in order to find tricky leaks, part of a £120 million investment due to be made before 2020 to reduce leakage rates to the lowest in the world.

 

Head of leakage Sean McCarthy had this to say on the news: “The noise logger is a permanent fixture within the water pipe, taking readings every night when any noise from leaks can be heard more clearly and analysed by our leakage team. Essentially, we’re listening for leaks; these are our ears in the ground.

 

“We are fitting thousands of these across the region to reduce leakage by a further 22 per cent before 2025. To help with this work, we are also employing an additional 200 leakage technicians to help drive down leaks.”

 

It’s not just suppliers that can take action against leaks, however, and businesses can also do their part to spot these on site and reduce wastage. Unfortunately, because the majority of leaks are tiny and take place underground, they can be incredibly difficult to identify – so you could very well be sat on a leak without even realising it.

 

Damage to pipes can happen for all sorts of reasons, whether it’s just age of the network and general deterioration or something like weather erosion, traffic vibrations, animals or poor connection of joints and valves.

 

Over time, even a really tiny leak can become very problematic for businesses and you could find yourself hit with not only a massive bill because of the amount of water wasted through the leak but also with a huge bill for water damage repairs.

 

These repairs can include costs for the likes of removing and replacing stone and brickwork saturated with damp, replacing rotten wooden structures and soft furnishings, removal of fungal growth and redecoration after all the repairs have been carried out.

 

As you can see, it could prove very costly indeed not to have a solid detection strategy in place for water leaks – but it can be hard, almost impossible in fact, to find these leaks yourself. Get in touch with us here at H2O Building Services if you’d like to find out more about how we can help you with your water supply today.

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