Leak detection made ‘paw-sible’ with Kep!

Australia’s first leak detection dog Kep has snouted out her largest leak discovery yet.

Amidst a salt pan near Morawa, our expertly trained springer spaniel was sent to uncover why water was collecting near a very long buried pipeline. It’s not uncommon for the expansive area to turn into a lake during heavy rain. However, during a routine inspection Asset Monitoring and System Investigation Officer Andrew Blair became suspicious of unusual flora he saw growing in the area.

Soon after being deployed on her extensive mission, Kep excitedly pointed out two potential locations underground leaks were present. Andrew rushed over to assess further with acoustic equipment which confirmed our trusted canine’s discovery.

The ‘ultimutt’ outcome for the Mid West

Kep’s target scent of chlorine led her to isolate estimated leak rates of over 150 litres of water per minute.

Crew from our Morawa depot promptly headed out to fix the leaks and congratulate our professional sniffer dog and her trusty handler, Andrew.

In under two hours around half a million litres of treated water per day was saved from being wasted from the Arrowsmith Regional Water Supply.

Had it not been for our canine leak detection program, water wastages such as these could have gone undiagnosed for years. It would have taken considerable time and resources to uncover such a find.

Kep is one of a very prestigious list of detection canines performing jobs in the field of conservation around Australia. They are extremely effective and valuable teammates, cover large areas far quicker than humans, focus for longer and operate with acute senses that equipment can’t compete with.

To date, our canine program has found 84 leaks across the state including, Great Southern, South West Perth Metro and Mid West region. Kep has been working in the field for 2.5 years now and continues to remain everyone’s favourite crew member.

Always try to seek a leak

We all have role to play to conserve our previous resource. For Kep that’s sniffing out large scale underground pipe bursts but for us residential folk, the water meter is a good place to start.
Even a small leak such as a dripping tap can waste up to 10,000 litres of water a year.

Our online leak detection tool will help you perform a basic leak test in about 15 minutes. With a few public holidays just around the corner, why not dust off your to-do list and check to make sure you haven’t sprung a leak.