Southern Water trials fibreoptic leak detection in Hampshire

Summarised from 3 outlets · Updated 12 Oct, 17:30 · Archive

Southern Water is trialling fibreoptic technology to detect water leaks faster across Hampshire.

Southern Water is trialling underground fibreoptic technology to detect water leaks more quickly and accurately across Hampshire. The system, developed by UK company Lightsonic, uses Openreach's fibre network to analyse changes in light travelling through fibreoptic cables. These changes indicate vibrations from nearby leaking pipes.

Machine learning is then used to filter out background noise and pinpoint the location of leaks, helping engineers respond faster. A similar trial in the water industry prevented the loss of more than four million litres of water per day across just 650km of network.

Wayne Novelli, leakage and network strategy manager at Southern Water, said: "We've reduced leakage across our network for three consecutive years and continue to invest in innovative techniques and technologies to find and fix leaks even more effectively. We've been impressed by the leakage reduction metrics and proven success of Lightsonic's technology and are looking forward to working with the team to trial a new way of detecting and tackling them."

Southern Water hopes the Hampshire trial will further strengthen its drought resilience by reducing pressure on reservoirs and limiting the need to extract water from sensitive sources like the River Test.

How it is being reported

• Southern Water trialling fibreoptic technology to detect leaks fasterThe system, developed by UK company Lightsonic, uses Openreach’s fibre network to analyse changes in light travelling through fibreoptic cables.Andover Advertiser · 12 Oct, 17:00
• Southern Water trials fibreoptic technology to find leaks in Hampshire fasterThe system, developed by UK company Lightsonic, uses Openreach’s fibre network to analyse changes in light travelling through fibreoptic cables.Basingstoke Gazette · 12 Oct, 17:00
• Southern Water trials fibreoptic technology to detect leaks faster in HampshireThe system, developed by UK company Lightsonic, uses Openreach’s fibre network to analyse changes in light travelling through fibreoptic cables.Romsey Advertiser · 12 Oct, 12:00

In this story: Southern Water · Lightsonic · Openreach · Hampshire · River Test

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