In times of severe drought, homes and businesses in England potentially face having their water supplies cut off if the water industry does not continue to improve infrastructure and water efficiency.

This is according to a report (Preparing for a drier future: England’s water infrastructure needs) published this week by the National Infrastructure Commission.

According to the report, pressure on an already strained water supply system and additional challenges such as climate change, population increase and the need to protect the environment risk creating widespread water shortages.

The report suggests that concerted action is needed to address these challenges and offers advice to the Government and to water companies on how to avoid water shortages and the consequences that drought would bring.

Reducing leakage within the current water network is one of the key recommendations put forward by the National Infrastructure Commission, even going so far as to suggest a target of reducing leakage by half before 2050.

At HWM we design and manufacture a variety of solutions for the detection of leaks within water networks.

Our PermaNET+ system, for example, creates a fixed network to monitor leakage by combining a leak noise sensor with our versatile telemetry technology.

A variety of UK water suppliers, including Affinity Water and Yorkshire Water, are already using PermaNET+ to help reach their leak reduction targets. 

In a recent case study for HWM, Drew Richie, Managing Director of Wholesale Operations at Affinity Water explained that their leak reduction target is on track and that they are “achieving this with HWM’s PermaNET+, challenging industry thinking and methodologies to change the economics of finding leaks”.

In Yorkshire, the introduction of PermaNET+ sees an upgrade to the technology currently being used.  According to Head of Water Distribution, Dale Stevenson, PermaNET+ will enable Yorkshire Water to “get to problems on our pipes faster, preventing bigger bursts and helping us reduce the amount of water that is lost through leaks”.

The recent report by the National Infrastructure Commission puts emphasis on the important role leak detection has to play in order to maintain consistent water supplies in the future.   

Our PermaNET+ technology is already at the forefront of leak detection and is perfectly positioned to support water companies efforts long into the future.