Ondo InsurTech PLC on Tuesday said results from the Portsmouth Water LeakBot pilot showed a 60% reduction in the number of leaks, calling for £100 million to install the technology across the UK.
Ondo InsurTech is a London-based company focused on claims prevention technology for home insurers which partnered with Portsmouth Water for the trial.
Within the trial, 24% of houses that installed a LeakBot had a pre-existing leak, Ondo InsurTech said, with data from the pilot showing a 60% reduction in the number of leaks after six months.
Ondo InsurTech said this equates to achieving the majority of the long-term UK water regulator Ofwat target of water companies reducing household consumption by 36 litres per day.
LeakBot data suggests leakage on a national basis is even higher, Ondo InsurTech said, with 30% of houses having a pre-existing leak - equivalent to the average house wasting around 40 litres per day.
Following the successful trial, Ondo InsurTech said Portsmouth Water is considering a wider rollout to reduce in-home consumption.
Ofwat has created an innovation fund of up to £100m to encourage solutions that can drive water efficiency in England and Wales from 2024 onwards, Ondo InsurTech said.
It added the results indicated £100 million could be enough to install LeakBot in over 3.0 million UK homes and achieve an ongoing water saving of up to 100 megalitres per day.
‘[This is] enough water to fill 38 Olympic size swimming pools every day and help the UK to meet its stretching water efficiency goals in the coming years,’ the company said.
Portsmouth Water Chief Executive Officer Bob Taylor added: ‘The trial was a great success with high levels of customer engagement from day one. We were pleasantly surprised to see that LeakBot could reduce leaks by 60% in just six months and there’s an opportunity to further reduce consumption through LeakBot’s high usage alerts.’
Shares in Ondo InsurTech were up 4.6% to 23.33 pence each in London on Tuesday afternoon.
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