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Yorkshire Water Using Satellites For Water Leak Detection

Water leak detection - H20 Building Services

 

It’s always interesting to see what methods suppliers use for water leak detection and there are quite a few options available to them, whether it’s water divining rods (apparently, still a thing) or even sniffer dogs that have been trained to find them.

 

But technology is perhaps still the best strategy for finding these leaks, since they’re more often than not hidden well below ground and can be so incredibly tiny that they’re practically impossible to spot.

 

Yorkshire Water, for example, has been trialling the use of satellites to help them find leaks and they’re just about to move to the second stage of the trials following the huge success of the first.

 

This kind of technology has traditionally been used to search for water on other planets like Mars, but water companies are now testing it to innovate in helping reduce leaks from pipes.

 

Yorkshire Water has succeeded in finding double the number of leaks when compared to usual methods used, which has seen an impressive 500,000 litres of water saved a day. The supplier teamed up with Israeli firm Utilis to use satellites to provide microwave ground-penetrating imagery to show any leaks on the network.

 

The company’s leakage technology manager Jason Griffin said: “Water supply is a big priority for Yorkshire Water and is one of the company’s five big goals.

 

“As a company, we have set ourselves a leakage reduction target of 40 per cent over the next seven years and we are hopeful satellites can play a role in helping us achieve that. We are thrilled with the results of the first trial and extremely excited about how satellites can help us find those burst pipes in remote locations.”

 

You may not even know it but your business premises could have a leak right now, wasting your money and even potentially causing lots of damage to the site itself. Having a water leak investigation carried out is certainly wise so you can find even the smallest of leaks and decide what action to take in terms of repairs to prevent further wastage and save you money.

 

Leaks can occur for all sorts of reasons and chances are it’s nothing you’ve done or could have prevented – a lot of the time, it’s simply a matter of bad luck. They could be down to animal damage, vibrations from the traffic overhead, age and general deterioration, poor connection of valves or joints… the list goes on.

 

If you don’t identify your leaks sooner rather than later, costs could soon spiral because more damage will take place. You may have to shell out for the likes of fungal growth removal, replacement of rotten wooden structures and soft furnishings, the removal and replacement of stone and brickwork saturated with damp, and redecoration following the repair works.

 

As you can see, it could soon become incredibly costly indeed… and a lot cheaper to prioritise prevention instead of cure!

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