Yorkshire Water Sniffs Out New Recruits

Two highly trained springer spaniels will help Yorkshire Water reduce leaks in the region.

The water company is looking to reduce leakage by a further 15% by 2025, reducing waste and saving customers money on their bills.

In order to do so, it has introduced several innovations to its leakage team – including the trial of a smart water network in Sheffield and partnering with CAPE SPC to pilot the use of sniffer dogs, who will help to locate leaks in rural areas.

The dogs will look to improve the speed and accuracy of leak detection by surveying around 4km of pipeline per day. The dogs will search for specific scents that are associated with treated clean water, including chlorine used in the water treatment process.

Martyn Hattersley, head of leakage operations at Yorkshire Water, said:

“We’re looking forward to working our new team mates, Denzel and Kilo, during the trial as they help us to locate losses from large diameter pipes in rural areas and reduce water being lost by underground leaks.

“These leaks can often go unnoticed for longer than we would like as the water remains underground. In rural areas the dogs from CAPE will sniff out the leaks we can’t see above ground.”