Specially trained sniffer dogs have successfully detected 21 suspected leaks in rural areas of Scotland, helping Scottish Water to reduce water wastage and improve leak detection.

The dogs, with their highly sensitive noses, can detect treated mains water at very low concentrations, making them effective in pinpointing leaks in difficult-to-access rural and remote areas.

So far, the clever caninines have successfully identified 21 suspected leaks in the Borders and East Lothian areas and now, Scottish Water, in collaboration with Cape SPC - the UK’s only canine assisted water leak detection team - plans to expand the use of these sniffer dogs across more rural parts of Scotland.

Scottish Water has 50,000km of water mains and the utility's water supply system is very different from the majority of systems in England, reflecting the geography and topography of the country.

Stewart Hamilton, a Scottish Water customer services operations team manager working with Cape SPC, said, “We take our responsibility to manage water very seriously, and since 2006 leakage has been reduced by over 50% due to increased investment and pressure management.

“We use modern technology such as ground microphones, correlators, hydrophones, and other devices to pinpoint the exact location of underground assets and leaks. However, some bursts in rural locations are more difficult to pinpoint and we are always looking for innovative ways to do the job more effectively and to continue reducing leakage.

“That’s where these sniffer dogs come in because their sensitive noses can detect treated mains water at very low concentrations. When the dogs help pinpoint the exact locations of leaks we then come back to that point, investigate, excavate, and repair the bursts.”

Hamilton added: “It is often very difficult in wet, boggy terrain to source leaks, but dogs are part of the solution. We call in the team when we see an increase in flows in our data. It’s effective using the dogs in rural and remote areas and when the weather is wet. The handlers walk the mains, following a mains app, and the dogs are very efficient and differentiate between the smells of surface water and treated water.”

So what makes our canine companions so adept at locating leaks? Dogs have a phenomenal sense of smell, vastly exceeding ours. In fact, a dog's nose is packed with olfactory receptors – up to 300 million compared to a measly six million in humans! This allows them to detect odours at incredibly low concentrations.

Luke Jones, managing director of Cape SPC, said: “The dogs’ noses are an amazing tool that can be used in many different situations. The dogs’ sense of smell is about 40 times greater than human beings’. They are trained by scent association and rewarded for smelling chlorine, which rises to the surface from pipes, with prizes of balls, toys or treats.

“Using dogs to help people like the police and border security search for drugs and explosives is well known, but there are a host of other applications that we are exploring. We really enjoy this work with Scottish Water and we hope that the dogs can be used to help locate leaks in more parts of the rural network going forward.

“Initial trials were held a few years ago but our approach and versatility have evolved considerably and we are really pleased with these latest successes in the Borders and East Lothian and are confident of achieving more in the future.”

The use of sniffer dogs, alongside modern technology, has proven to be an innovative and efficient approach in Scottish Water's efforts to reduce leakage and manage water resources.

So, the next time you see a dog with a handler meticulously exploring an area, it might not be just a walk in the park – they could be sniffing out a hidden leak, saving water and preventing damage to the environment.