One of the major challenges they face is reducing the amount of water loss through leakages - which is enough to fill 1,249 Olympic swimming pools every day.

So what can be done to make sure that more water reaches our taps? That′s the question that will be put to a team of leakage experts from UK water companies who will be joined by leading data scientists and consultants for a Leakage Data Hack and Share event at this year′s Northumbrian Water Innovation Festival.

It is hoped that gathering of some of the world′s sharpest minds in data analytics will bring fresh thinking and insights that will help water industry leaders to improve their understanding of network leakage and develop new ideas and solutions.

Technical Specialist at Northumbrian Water, Joseph Butterfield, said: "Northumbrian Water are already taking significant steps to reduce leakage from our water network and in turn, deliver the best value for our customers.

"It′s a huge challenge that needs a collaborative approach form the water industry. The data hack and share event is a perfect opportunity to get everyone around the table with the right experts and see what exciting ideas we can come up with."

The hack is sponsored by Wipro, Intel and Amazon Web Services, and will take place 10-12 July during the Innovation Festival 2018 at Newcastle Racecourse.

To come along and take part in the hack and share visit https://innovationfestival.org/leakage-hack and register your details.

To find out what the Leakage Data Hack and Share sprint team comes up with during the festival you can follow all of the action live on social media by following @northumbrianh2o on twitter and facebook or by visiting www.innovationfestival.org.

InnovationFestival2018

Photo - Joseph Butterfield giving a talk on tackling leakage at the 2018 Waterloss Conference in Cape Town, South Africa, earlier this year.

For further media information, call 0191 3015678.

Northumbrian Water Limited supplies 2.7 million customers in the North East with both water and sewerage services, trading as Northumbrian Water, and 1.8 million customers in the South East with water services, trading as Essex & Suffolk Water.

In 2017 Northumbrian Water was named Utility of the Year at the Utility Week Awards, for the second time in four years. The company has followed this up in 2018 by winning the UK Excellence Award at the British Quality Foundation (BQF) UK Excellence Awards, and Water Company of the Year at the Water Industry Achievement Awards. Northumbrian Water also received the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for sustainable development for a second time in 2014, which is accredited for five years. This recognises the company as a business which benefits the environment, society and the economy.

Abbey Road, Pity Me, Durham DH1 5FJ. Telephone 0345 6047468. Website: www.nwl.co.uk