Tuesday 18 Feb 2014 @ 15:15
Innovate UK
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Swindon company leads on water security - Success

Millions of pounds go down the drain every year while water companies search for the holy grail of the business - finding the leaks.

Leaks are the bane of the water business, but to fix them - first, you have to find them.
 
Consultancy WRc (the Water Research Centre) of Swindon has come up with a solution, and tracing leaks in smaller pipes has now become a whole lot easier.

As much as 40% of some countries' water supply pours straight into the ground. In the UK, over 3bn litres disappear this way every day. 
 
WRc was one of ten companies that were awarded funding in a Technology Strategy Board competition on water security.
 
The consultancy received £48k for a feasibility study of technologies that might speed up the process of finding and mapping leaks in pipes less than 100mm in width. The project was called INFO-Leak.

Feasibility project power 
Feasibility projects enable businesses to develop their early stage ideas for innovative new technologies in the expectation that they may go on to be larger projects and give birth to the new markets of the future.
 
‘We knew this technology had world-wide application with significant export potential. If successful, the developed technology could, in one year, save more water than is needed every day for a city the size of Sheffield,' explained Julia Trew, Senior Project Manager for INFO-Leak.
 
Leaks in the pipes that run under streets and carry water to houses are notoriously difficult to find. Hunting them down has involved monitoring changes in water flows at night when not much water is used. Engineers then go to suspect areas and listen for water escaping.

Click here for full success story


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