Leaks and droughts will be a thing of the past as Exeter Uni leads a three-year project to monitor water usage across Europe.

Top scientists from University of Exeter, Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil and National Technical University of Athens will collaborate to create intelligent water monitoring systems in a bid to bring down the cost of water in households and businesses.

The  €5 million European Commission project will see iWIDGET technology being used to reduce costs water companies spend on finding the sources of leaks, which will in turn help customers save money on their bills. In aiming to install meters in all homes, the water industry hopes to help progress toward Europe 2020 targets on Climate and Energy.

Professor Dragan Savić, founder and co-director of the Centre for Water Systems at Exeter University and leader of the project, said: “As weather patterns become more extreme, we need to do all we can to make the best use of our water resources.”