The Challenge
One of the UK’s largest construction groups had recently installed SMART FLOW across their live construction site.
The main goals were simple:
- Monitor water consumption for sustainability reporting
- Protect the site from plumbing leaks during the construction phase
From the outset, the client was confident: “We don’t have any leaks on this site.”
The Discovery
While SMART FLOW was still in learning mode, the system began sending alerts to the client’s team. The data was clear — continuous water flow of 6,800 litres per hour.
That’s:
- 180,000 litres per day
- Enough to fill 72 Olympic swimming pools per year
The client’s response?
They suspected a faulty device or inaccurate data — after all, there were no visible signs of a leak anywhere on site.
Data Doesn’t Lie
To address their concerns, our monitoring team carried out a remote device health check.
Every reading was accurate. Every data point was consistent.
We assured them:
“This is not a device fault , there is a real water issue onsite.”
However, the client decided to wait before investigating further.
17 Days Later…
For 17 days, the water continued flowing — a total loss of over 3 million litres before the client took action.
At that stage, our team stepped in with bespoke leak location assistance.
We guided their on-the-ground crew step-by-step, focusing the search in the most likely areas.
The Result
After just 3 hours of searching, the culprit was found:
A 28mm pipe with an open end, buried underground, discharging water straight into the ground.
Once it was capped, water consumption plummeted from 180,000 litres per day to just 300 litres per day.
The Savings
In financial terms: Annual cost avoided: £160,000 in water charges
Water saved: 65 million litres
(That’s enough drinking water for over 890,000 people for a day)
Why This Matters for the Construction Sector
Hidden leaks like this are more common than you think.
They can occur:
- During site setup when temporary plumbing is installed
- After pressure testing
- Post-handover when small defects go unnoticed
The construction phase is one of the highest-risk periods for plumbing leaks — and underground leaks are the most expensive and wasteful because they can go undetected for months.
The Insurance Shift
Insurance providers are tightening their stance on water damage claims in construction.
Some now require leak detection technology as a condition of coverage.
Why?
Because one burst pipe can:
- Delay projects by weeks or months
- Cause structural damage before handover
- Cost millions in repairs and lost time
SMART FLOW gives insurers and contractors confidence by detecting leaks before they cause damage.
If you manage construction projects, ask yourself:
- Do you know how much water your site is using right now?
- Would you know if you had a hidden underground leak?
- How much would that cost in water charges, delays, and reputation damage?
SMART FLOW helps the construction industry:
- Detect and stop leaks early
- Reduce water costs
- Improve sustainability reporting
- Protect against insurance risk
💧 Protect your project. Protect your budget. Protect our water.
📞 Contact us to discuss SMART FLOW for your construction sites.
📞 Ireland and Europe : +353 1685 5220
📞 United Kingdom : +44 203 368 8131
📞 United States : +1 (212) 220 7258
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