No dig leak repair solution achieves impressive trial results at Thames Water

UK water utility Thames Water has reported impressive results from using Origin No Dig® to repair leaks.

Leak repair with minimum disruption

The utility has been trialling the solution since February in an attempt to reduce the disruption caused by normal leak repairs – digging trenches, roadworks, traffic control – which are both expensive and time consuming.

The solution can be applied in approximately 15 minutes, essentially stopping leaks in almost-real time and without the need for road closures. And while the repairs are a temporary to allow further investigation and planning for further repairs, there have been instances of repairs lasting for more than a year on earlier adopter infrastructure.

Thames Water posted on LinkedIn that the trial had produced impressive results, including:

• A 90 per cent success rate on first visit leak repairs;
• An average repair time of 15 minutes, minimising public disruption;
• Enabled repairs complex sites without road closures;
• Reduced leak backlogs by 48,000 days;
• Saved approximately 12.5 Ml/day of water through leak reduction.

Food coagulant leak repair

Origin No Dig® is a food-grade coagulant that is injected into the pipe network. It goes through the pipes and finds the cracks, sealing them to stop the leak. It is not heat activated and uses no chemicals, it is made of water, gel and minerals.

John Marsden, commercial director at Origin Tech Ltd, told Aquatech Online: "Origin No Dig is patented technology developed with support from Northumbrian Water. We started product development in 2020 and as of today have completed over 2,000 repairs without roadworks or digging up the roads or paths."

On its composition, Marsden said: "It's made of just three components. Water, a food grade thickener like that found in yoghurts, and calcium carbonate particles sized to mesh together to block the water path out of a leak. There's no chemical reaction and the product has been tested and passed the tests required by the DWI."

The technology has been adapted from products that have been used in the oil and gas industry for many years, and was developed in partnership with Aubin, a provider of chemical solutions.

It has been tested in compliance with BSI standard BS6920 - Suitability of non-metallic products for use in contact with water intended for human consumption with regard to their effect on the quality of the water.

Origin started working with Thames Water in February (2024) and has so far repaired 500 leaks without causing any disruption to their customers.

Marsden added: "We are delighted that companies like Thames are adopting our technology which we believe will be a game changer at reducing leakage across the UK and eventually globally."

Developed with Northumbrian Water

Origin No Dig® developed the technology with Northumbrian Water. The utility has been using the solution for 18 months and in that time has carried out over 1,000 repairs.

Kieran Ingram, water director at Northumbrian Water, told Aquatech Online: "The revolutionary solution is helping teams to improve the speed at which they can fix leaks by avoiding us digging up roads and pavements, which can come at a real cost to the business. More importantly though, it helps to minimise customer disruption, as it avoids road and footpath closures as well as emergency traffic measures.

"The product was initially developed during a design sprint at our Innovation Festival back in 2021, alongside partners at Origin Tech - and now we are incredibly proud to see it being used in the field by operational teams across all of our operating areas."