SOUTH West Water (SWW) has reduced the amount of water lost to leaks by more than 10 million litres a day, the water company has announced.

This is thanks to the efforts of its teams and the use of new technology.

Over the last 12 months, SWW has increased the amount of leaks its teams are detecting by 93 per cent, driven by enhanced digital tools.

This has been achieved by investing in new, highly sensitive detection equipment that can detect noise from leaks hundreds of metres away, and by trialling new techniques from using dogs who sniff out chlorine in drinking water to satellite imagery and drones, looking for signs of leakage in harder to reach areas, the company says.

As a result, last year the company repaired more than 16,100 leaks, averaging 44 leaks per day, every day, and despite having reduced leakage by over 20 per cent since 2020, it has plans to halve it by 2050.

As well as fixing leaks on its own network, around 30 per cent of water loss in the region comes from pipework that belongs to customers.

The company says it is working hard to help customers find these leaks and to support people with repairs.

Karl Little, South West Water’s Water Loss and Control Delivery Manager, said: ‘Thanks to a range of innovative technologies and techniques, we are now finding record numbers of leaks which means our brilliant teams can focus on making repairs and saving as much water as possible when it is needed most.

‘We also know that around 1 in 3 leaks in our region are on customer supplies and we are here to help.

‘I would encourage anyone who thinks they may have a leak at home to visit our website and see the support we can offer’.

For more information on how to report a leak, and how to check for leaks at home, visit www.southwestwater.co.uk/household/help-support/report-a-problem/leaks