United Utilities and Northumbrian Water are taking an ‘out of this world’ approach to leak detection.
In their battles to tackle water leakage they have teamed up with SUEZ UK and satellite experts Utilis, a company that specialises in analysing satellite imagery acquired by Japanese satellite ALOS 2, to find potable water that’s leaked into the ground.
The raw aerial imagery, taken from satellite mounted sensors, is overlaid on Geographic Information System (GIS) systems and then processed using unique algorithms which detect treated water by looking for a particular spectral “signature” typical to drinking water.
As part of a trial United Utilities carried out intensive interrogation of the data, overlaying the leakage graphic report on a map with streets and pipes to help its team quickly and accurately pinpoint the leaks.
During the trial, around 1,800 possible leaks or points of interest were pinpointed on 23,000 km of pipe. Not only were more leaks detected but the detection process was also significantly faster, by around 15 per cent.
United Utilities expects that using the technology could save 600 thousand litres of water per day – enough water to supply around 2,000 homes.
Meanwhile Northumbrian Water said the first phase of activity will be focusing primarily on trunk mains as “these are the big pipes that often run through quite rural areas of the region” and are particularly “difficult to identify leaks on due to the terrain and geography of the region”.
The survey from space could result in problematic leaks in some of the most remote areas of the region being fixed and water being saved quicker than ever before, the utility said.
Martin Padley from United Utilities, said: “During the trial of this satellite technology our leakage detection team were able to find 60 percent of the leaks highlighted on the satellite map which is a fantastic result.”
