Thames Water has reduced the time in which it can locate leakage hotspots with state-of-the-art technology from Israeli water network monitoring firm TaKaDu.

In the past two years, the company has installed a TaKaDu infrastructure monitoring system across the whole of the capital to help locate where leakage is most prolific, and where there are more likely to be bursts.

The devices work as a 'smart grid', fitted with a hi-tech “central nervous system” that detects hot spots under the streets of London.

Thames Water’s partnership with TaKaDu’s water infrastructure monitoring system allows it to monitor water flow and pressure changes in water mains and analyse real-time data and historical data to detect potential problems ahead of time.

The water company claims that the use of TaKaDu’s solution has meant leaks can be detected twice as quick using the data it provides and has helped to get particularly weak areas of the network repaired before the pipe has burst.

Piers Clark, Thames Water's commercial director, said:

"Although we will never be able to prevent every burst, we have come a long way in the last couple of years to help get problem areas fixed before they become disruptive.

"Clearly it is only the burst pipes which people know about, and we know that we still have a long way to go in upgrading our network but this technology allows us to better manage what we do have.

"Not only is this system helping us to repair leaks to help prevent disruption, it's also saving us a lot of water from being wasted - something that is vitally important as we face the risk of a potential third dry winter."