Northumbrian Water, UK

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water network covered

points of investigation found

leakage reduction per hour

The challenge

Northumbrian Water (NWL) supplies more than 2.7 million people across the North East of England, managing a 17,500 km distribution network that spans densely populated urban centres as well as rural and remote communities.

With non‑revenue water at around 18%, the business has set an ambitious target to reduce leakage by 8% by 2030 and 55% by 2050. Having previously used FIDO AI successfully to support leakage investigations, Northumbrian Water wanted to test the potential of AI fixed network monitoring to help identify leakage earlier and at scale during the winter breakout season between October 2025 and April 2026, without adding pressure to already stretched analytics and operational teams.

The solution

Because UK leakage performance is calculated using rolling averages, the longer bursts remain undetected or unrepaired, the greater the adverse effect on overall leakage figures.

By analysing NWL’s detailed DMA leakage data, FIDO identified 17 DMAs where rising nightlines were proving hardest to control and where rapid intervention would deliver the greatest benefit

Network GIS data was then uploaded into the FIDO Portal, allowing FIDO AI to generate an optimised deployment layout for around 1,035 sensors and IoT relay devices.

Now deployed in the DMAs, the sensors automatically upload acoustic recordings collected overnight to FIDO AI for instant analysis. The AI identifies likely leaks, clusters identical data and uses this to map high‑confidence points of interest (PoIs)  for follow‑up investigations.

To minimise the time burden on Northumbrian Water’s analysts, a Data‑as‑a‑Service (DaaS) model was selected, where actionable PoIs are delivered directly to leakage teams, enabling focused field investigations and faster repairs.

The results

Despite a relatively mild winter, to date the programme has delivered leakage reductions of almost 267 m³ per hour (equivalent to 6.4 Ml/d), including three particularly significant step-change reductions. This impact is especially important for Northumbrian Water’s network, which is prone to bursts during winter periods and can take considerable time to recover.

The permanent fleet of monitoring sensors rapidly detect leaks as they occur, generating immediate points of interest for investigation. This early identification enables faster intervention, significantly reducing the duration and severity of leakage events and minimising their impact on Northumbrian Water’s overall leakage performance.