Fiber cables that detect leaks
Openreach is trialing a ‘distributed acoustic sensing’ system that uses fibre‑optic broadband cables to detect plumbing leaks — the tech could identify small leaks early and conserve millions of liters of water if scaled Computer Weekly, The Register.
[Openreach announced]openreach.com it ran the pilot in partnership with Affinity Water and UK sensing developer Lightsonic. The trial monitored about 650 km of Affinity Water pipework across five sites — Walton‑on‑Thames, Hemel Hempstead, Luton, Chesham/Amersham and Ware — and located more than 100 leaks in three months.theregister.com [Openreach reported]openreach.com the sensing work prevented roughly 2 megalitres of treated water per day (about 700 million litres a year), a figure Lightsonic says is enabled by its DFOS contract awarded by Affinity Water on 11 August 2025.openreach.com Openreach has also been running related trials with partners including Arcadis, Thames Water and Cadent, and vendors such as FiberSense, to apply distributed acoustic/fibre sensing for water, gas and infrastructure monitoring.ispreview.co.uk
