National Leakage Research Test Centre

National Leakage Research Test Centre

Led by: Northumbrian Water

Partners:  Water Research Centre, HR Wallingford, The University of Sheffield, Southampton University, Anglian Water, Thames Water, Severn Trent, Portsmouth Water, SES Water, United Utilities, Irish Water, Dwr Cymru Welsh Water, Northern Ireland Water, South East Water, Southern Water, Wessex Water, Yorkshire Water, British Water, Isle Utilities

Water leakage is a serious environmental problem and it must be drastically reduced to protect water security. There are plenty of ideas to tackle leakage but development of solutions needs to be accelerated.  The National Leakage Research and Test Centre will be a 5km buried water pipe network specifically for developing and testing inventions without disrupting customers’ supplies or affecting water quality.  It allows things like repair robots and sealants to be inserted into the water supply to see how they perform.  The centre’s staff will issue certifications to show water companies how well each innovation performs.  The network will include new and old pipes in a variety of materials and diameters just like a live water network but it will allow researchers to insert and move deliberately leaky section of pipes.  It will collect and recycle leaked water and will even simulate customers drawing water whilst tests are taking place. There is also scope for the centre to be used for training and other research.

“Establishing the National Leakage Research and Test Centre is a significant step in enabling the water industry to achieve its ambitious leakage reduction targets.  It will accelerate innovation in the field of leakage repair and detection helping us to conserve precious water resources and deliver more resilient service to our customers.”

– Keith Haslett, Water Director, Northumbrian Water Group

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Update from the project (July 2024)

We are now embarking on the detailed design phase of the project with our project partners. This includes developing the centre specification into a design we can use for the purpose of tendering the construction. We are also engaging with the local authority to discuss planning permission.

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Update from the project (October 2024)

The project has now substantially completed the detailed design work required for the NLRTC. The project has completed a pre-application meeting with the local authority who received the proposals positively we limited comments. This gives the project team the confidence that when a planning application for the centre is submitted it will be approved.