FIDO Tech Ltd

FIDO Cloud Correlation is a new technique which uses FIDO AI in the cloud to simplify and cut the cost of leak location on any network and, in tests, is accurate to within a metre.

The technique – the result of an ongoing collaborative innovation partnership between FIDO Tech Ltd and United Utilities - reduces room for human error and eliminates the need for additional specialist equipment.

Simple free* palm-sized samplers called FIDO Bugs collect all the acoustic data, removing the need for multiple, proprietary devices. Super accurate analysis is done by FIDO AI in the cloud, with instant results direct to an engineer’s phone.

Water firm United Utilities, which serves seven million people in the north west of England, has a track record of driving down leakage and leakage innovation. Its development partnership with FIDO Tech emerged from its respected Innovation Lab in 2019.

CEO of FIDO Tech, Victoria Edwards said Cloud Correlation would do for leak location what FIDO AI had already done for accurate leak analysis and leak-sizing.

“AI has removed human error from acoustic and kinetic leak data analysis because extraneous noises, or sounds below the threshold of human hearing, don’t matter. Plus, it can tell a leak’s size just by listening. No human, or any other tech, can do that.

“With Cloud Correlation, FIDO AI uses this knowledge to automatically decide which sequence from a range of complex calculations will give the most accurate result. The phenomenal computing power of the cloud is what enables this. It is beyond the capability of an independent device in the street. With no need to enter any technical, location or pipe material data, there is no need for specialist training.”

Where GIS network data is also available, FIDO will auto-calculate the distance between assets further removing the need for human interaction.

Leakage Technical Manager for United Utilities Paul Parr said: “As a leakage manager I am always pushing the boundaries on technology to help us in our drive to be more efficient and accurate when marking leaks for our repair teams, whilst keeping our teams as safe as possible. I never thought I would see the day where our technicians had a pocket correlator, but it is here. The power of Cloud Correlation will help us become more efficient on site and drive leakage down.”

FIDO Cloud Correlation is the latest function of FIDO AI, a deep-learning neural network which has become one of the most successful alumni of United Utilities’ much-heralded Innovation Lab.

Now with utility clients across four continents, FIDO Tech was recently named the UK’s top Tech Innovator by KPMG and will compete for the title of Global Tech Innovator at the Web Summit in Lisbon on November 2.

* FIDO Bugs come free with a FIDO AI subscription

Powerful leak detecting artificial intelligence (AI) has advanced to the stage where it now calculates a leak’s size as well – providing a powerful new tool to transform leakage performance and water loss from public networks, say its developers.

The breakthrough by FIDO Tech (FIDO), an Oxford-based firm, in collaboration with United Utilities, for the first time allows water companies to prioritise larger leaks for investigation and repair, and tackles the global issue of non-revenue water more effectively.

FIDO’s leak-detecting AI combines several unique processes to analyse the files generated by acoustic loggers and hydrophones. Unlike human processing, FIDO’s algorithms can filter out non-leak noises such as pumps, sudden high customer usage, nearby generators or traffic, which can trigger false alarms. It is already 92% accurate.

Now developers have used the growing amount of data in FIDO’s system to train its neural network algorithm to extract even more information from sound and kinetic sensor files.

The first of these – leak sizing – went live in December 2020 after trials in the North West of England with leakage teams working for United Utilities, and is now in day-to-day use. Each leakage file gets a unique FIDO ID to track through the whole workflow.

FIDO not only predicts whether an alarm is a leak or non-leak with accuracy, but it can also estimate whether the leak is large, medium or small. This allows leakage managers to send technicians straight to the largest leaks first.

More effective resource prioritisation

FIDO Chief Executive Officer, Victoria Edwards, said the development allowed water companies to prioritise and boost the effectiveness of resources to tackle water leaks more effectively than before.

“Our leak-sizing function officially went live on 4 December 2020 after three months of validation and testing and is now the business as usual approach for United Utilities. It’s being rolled out as we speak in Australia and is already attracting lots of interest in the US. FIDO is a Software as a Service (SaaS) offering and needs no integration, so can be operational and delivering results within 24 hours.

“Being able to grade leaks by size is a real breakthrough in leak detection, because it’s providing teams with that missing piece of the puzzle to get them right on the spot of their largest leaks first time with fewer wasted visits or expensive dry digs,” she said.

FIDO leak sizing is another aspect of the machine-learning capabilities of its algorithm. The company is one of the most successful alumni of United Utilities’ Innovation Lab.

Ongoing collaboration

The ongoing collaboration between FIDO and United Utilities continues to yield real-world results. Access to United Utilities’ DMA (district metered area) data enabled FIDO developers to train the algorithm to recognise and evaluate patterns in leak noise which indicate the size of the leak.

Over the course of three months, FIDO began to hone in on actual volumes of water being lost in individual leaks, by applying deep-learning principles to the raw data in sound files submitted by sensor alarms. Now, the size range within each of the small, medium and large denominations can be adjusted according to an individual network’s characteristics.

According to Edwards, leak sizing is the tip of the iceberg of possibilities that FIDO is bringing to leak detection as its elegant algorithm is trained to identify other patterns.