The UK's vast, aging Victorian-era water pipe network (215,000 miles) is prone to leaks, causing high annual repair costs (around £5.5 billion) and wasting approximately 800 million gallons of water every year. A collaborative university research team is developing pipebots robots equipped with sensors and video cameras (as small as 1.5 inches) that can be released into pipes to detect and potentially repair leaks and faults without excavation. This saves billions in annual repair costs, reduce water wastage and avoids disruptions.
