{
  "id": 9325715,
  "title": "Southern Water taps fiber network to sniff out leaky pipes",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/23/southern-water-taps-fiber-network-to-sniff-out-leaky-pipes",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-09-23T11:29:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Register Science",
    "slug": "the-register-science",
    "url": "https://www.theregister.com/networks/2026/09/23/southern-water-taps-fiber-network-to-sniff-out-leaky-pipes/5298527"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Southern Water, a UK water utility provider, is using fiber-optic telecoms cables as underground sensors to detect leaks in its water network. The company is testing Lightsonic's technology, which utilizes Openreach's fiber network to identify leaks. Lightsonic's system analyzes minute changes in light traveling through fiber-optic cables to detect vibrations caused by leaks. Machine learning helps distinguish these signals from background noise and estimates the location of the escaping water. This allows engineers to investigate and repair leaks more quickly, preventing the loss of over four million liters of water daily across 650 km of the UK's water network. Southern Water is adopting this technology following a particularly dry summer in Britain, with almost three-quarters of England under drought conditions. The utility hopes the trial will help it meet its leakage-reduction targets for 2030 and improve drought resilience. Southern Water provides water and wastewater services in parts of Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, West Sussex, East Sussex, and Kent.",
  "summary": "Another utility sees the light in putting existing telecoms infrastructure to work",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Register",
        "title": "Southern Water taps fiber network to sniff out leaky pipes",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/23/southern-water-taps-fiber-network-to-sniff-out-leaky-pipes-9328802",
        "published": "2026-09-23T11:29:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}