THAMES Water says it has launched a ‘three-pronged aerial attack’ to find and fix leaky pipes.

The water company are launching a ‘fleet of drones, an aeroplane and a satellite’ to hunt out leaks, which are responsible for a staggering wastage of 697 million litres per day.

Thames Water says the ‘eyes in the sky’ have already spotted dozens of possible leaks using state-of-the-art thermal imaging and infrared cameras.

Reducing leakage is a key priority for the company, which has pledged to get back on track with its targets by 2020..

Euan Burns, chief engineer at Thames Water, said: “Reducing leakage is one of our main priorities, and we know it’s really important to our customers too.

“We’re always looking for innovative ways to help solve operational issues, and this aerial approach with the latest technology will give us another perspective and another tool to help find leaking pipes. We’re in the early stages of introducing this at the moment, but the signs have been encouraging and we’re looking forward to seeing the results our eyes in the sky can bring.”

Currently, technicians use acoustic loggers on pipes to listen for water escaping, and also use data to track how much water is going through pipes compared to how much was produced at the treatment works. Visible leaks are also reported by both staff and members of the public.

The company’s fleet of five drones, all manned by fully-qualified pilots, can fly more than 100 metres high and a distance of 500 metres to survey huge landscapes.

In July, they flew 28 times with on-board thermal imaging cameras beaming live footage back to screens where experts look for leaks. In three flights, they found leaks within 60 seconds of launching, which are now in the process of getting fixed.

Two weeks ago, the company announced a second consultation on a planned reservoir nearly the size of Heathrow Airport in Abingdon.