Cocker spaniel brothers Bluey and Bandit are giving Wessex Water a helping paw in the quest to tackle sewer connections.
The dogs belong to the company’s award-winning canine unit, using their renowned sense of smell to prevent wastewater entering watercourses and the wider environment.
Nikki Glover, Wessex Water’s Senior Environmental Detection dog handler, said: “Bluey and Bandit have been training for the past six months, using odours on the lids of manhole covers.
“When the dogs locate the odour, we use a clicking device and a tennis ball to record and reward.
“They have also been working at different depths with different concentrations and types of wastewater.
“They are already proving very effective working alongside our Stream Clean team to find misconnections quicker, saving time and money alongside the obvious environmental benefits.”
Dogs have up to 300 million scent receptors compared to a human’s six million, meaning their brains can gather and analyse vast quantities of information at a time.
Bluey and Bandit have been training with Cape SPC, who specialise in canine leak detection in the UK, and are following in the footsteps of Wessex Water’s great crested newt-spotting dogs Freya, Newky and Obi.
