Southern Water Prioritises Water Leak Detection & Repair

To help it halve the number of water leaks across it’s pipe network, Southern Water has announced that it will be increasing the size of its leakage team and focusing on introducing new tools and techniques to detect and repair problems.

During 2020-2021, the water supplier installed 7,400 acoustic loggers, as well as increasing the number of find and fix teams, succeeding in completing 20,000 repair jobs, with 250 staff in the field, supported by 50 analysts and planners.

And now it has committed to tripling the rate of leakage reduction, with major investments set to come in technology to help it find and fix leaks, ensuring that taps and rivers alike keep flowing as part of its pledge to customers and the environment. The company is currently on track to reduce leakage by 15 per cent come 2025 and 50 per cent by 2050.

Regional demand manager Phil Tapping explained that customers are asked to reduce their usage and consumption when the weather gets warm because demand can start to outstrip the supplier’s ability to treat water and pump it through the network, which results in low pressure.

“We’ve worked hard over the last few years and have reduced the amount of treated water lost through leakage, including repairing more than 63 leaks a day, every day, for the last year.

“It’s important for people to know that we are chasing down every leak we can at the same time as we’re asking them to think twice about the length of their shower or not using a hose to water the garden or clean the car,” he went on to say.

Back in April, Southern Water also announced that it would be moving to a new 100 per cent renewable energy tariff as part of its commitment to becoming net zero by 2030. It’s expected that it will succeed in reducing its carbon footprint by around half as a result, since treating and pumping water and wastewater is such an energy-intensive process.

It also confirmed that it is, indeed, on track to meet its net zero goals in time, in line with the Water UK public interest commitment target for emissions associated with its operations. In addition, it has plans to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions through efficiencies, developing lower carbon solutions and increasing renewable power generation.

Dr Alison Hoyle, director of risk and compliance with the supplier, said that investing in renewable sources of power is just the beginning of the move towards net zero and over the next four years, some of the company’s biggest programmes will be rolled out, with hundreds of millions of pounds spent on schemes to directly benefit the environment.

This includes supporting the Water Industry National Environment Programme, re-naturalising rivers, reducing flood risk, solar power installation and reducing water usage and consumption.

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