Bond-style gadgets for your pipes only

Yorkshire Water has enlisted its very own Q gadget guru, Sam Pearson, in a bid to protect its vast 34,000km network of underground pipes, using a team of special operatives and telemetry gadgets to keep a close eye on the county’s waterworks.

Armed with specially adapted 4x4s rather than ejector seat-loaded Aston Martins, his team’s technology allows the company to vary the amount of water running through pipes and spot underground leaks within seconds.

So as Skyfall continues to rake in the box office cash, the real plumbing heroes are ensuring the region’s water is delivered in spite of what the elements throw at it.

Mr Pearson said: “We might not be fighting international terrorists, suited villains with a penchant for stroking cats or Korean manservants called Oddjob, but we know from experience that sharp changes in temperature can have a very damaging impact on pipes, often leading to an increase in bursts and disruption to water supplies.

“We have a dedicated team whose job it is to ensure that we’re winter-ready, with operatives both out on the ground and in our MI6-like control centre where we closely monitor all activity occurring along our underground network of pipes.”

Yorkshire Water’s £300m of underground grid pipes enable it to move water to where it is needed most, as the system can be monitored and remotely controlled around the clock.

The firm also uses a weather forecasting company to provide data for all clean and waste water treatment sites so it can react whatever the weather.

Mr Pearson said: “While we don’t have exploding pens or mini-rockets masked as cigarettes, our technology allows us to move water around the county, vary the amount of water running through pipes and spot underground leaks within seconds.

“One relatively recent development which even the real Q would be proud of is our ability to remotely turn on targeted heating to prevent key pipes in water treatment works from freezing.

Yorkshire Water has reduced leakage on its inherited network of pipes by 45 per cent since 1995, after it spent more than £39m on the network over the last two years.

He added: “While we can’t totally eliminate bursts on our pipes during freezing weather, customers can be assured that all our hard work and investment has put us in the best possible position to protect water supplies and minimise any disruption caused by winter bursts, ensuring customers continue to receive their water just the way they like it.”

The company is also working hard to protect its water pipes this winter, Yorkshire Water is urging its customers to make sure that they don’t fall foul of the weather by ensuring their private water pipes are protected from the cold this winter.

Every year following cold snaps the company receives hundreds of calls from concerned businesses and homeowners suffering flooding as a result of cracked pipes, which have ruptured as the frozen water inside them has begins to thaw.

Simple measures when it is particularly cold, such as keeping the heating on a low level during the night and while you are out are being urged by the firm to ensure your pipes don’t freeze.

Long term measures such as insulating pipework and storage tanks will also help to avoid frost damage and any costly repair bills that might result from that.