Water utilities turn to AI to find leaks and prevent sewage spills

In short: Water utilities are replacing manual leak checks with AI and sensor systems to find problems earlier and reduce water loss and sewage overflows.

What's going on

For decades, many water companies sent technicians out with “listening sticks” to find leaks. The method is simple but slow, like using a stethoscope on the ground to hear a faint hiss from a pipe.

Now utilities are using AI, which here means software that learns from lots of data, to spot trouble faster. In places like Singapore, authorities collect several terabytes of data a day and use it to predict which parts of the network are most likely to fail. Asit Biswas, a water management adviser, says leaders including Singapore, Japan, and China have been doing this for years.

The difference shows up in leak numbers. England and Wales still lose about 20% of treated water to leaks, while Tokyo and Osaka lose around 3.8%, and Singapore around 5%, according to Biswas. He also said leakage rates in world-leading systems like Singapore are about 75% lower than in England and Wales.

In the UK, some firms are starting to roll out new tools. Northumbrian Water is using a system from Origin Tech that combines satellite radar readings with AI to spot leaks, and the company says it can do this with 80% accuracy. Northumbrian Water is also using weather forecasts and 750 sensors inside pipes to predict sewer overloads, and it estimates up to 80% of storm overflows could be prevented.

What to watch

More UK utilities are likely to add sensors and forecasting tools, but results will depend on how quickly companies replace old equipment and standardise data across their networks. Customers may notice fewer outages, fewer hosepipe bans in dry periods, and fewer sewage incidents, but progress could vary widely by region.

Source: Financial Times