(Alliance News) - Ondo InsurTech PLC on Wednesday said it has agreed with Southern Water to introduce LeakBot and "drive water efficiency" within their area.

The London-based claims prevention technology firm for home insurers said Southern Water represents the second water company to introduce LeakBot.

Southern Water provides water to over 2.5 million homes, Ondo InsurTech added.

LeakBot is a self-install claims prevention technology which connects to the wireless network of a home, alerting customers if it detects a leak.

Southern Water will carry out an initial pilot in the coming months and introduce LeakBot to over 1,000 customers within their area, Ondo InsurTech said, with the aim of achieving similar water reduction results as the Portsmouth Water trial carried out earlier in the year.

Ondo InsurTech said LeakBot achieved a 60% reduction in water leaks within the Portsmouth Water area. This is estimated to equate to 24 litres per day, or 67% of the 36 litres per day target from UK water regulator Ofwat.

Based on the Portsmouth Water findings, if LeakBot were rolled out to Southern Water customers, Ondo InsurTech said 83 megalitres of water a day could be saved, which it claimed is "the equivalent of 32 Olympic swimming pools".

Southern Water Managing Director of Water Tim McMahon said: "There has never been a more pressing time to save every drop of water. The South East is officially water stressed. Climate change, causing hotter summers and less rainfall, and population growth means we have more people and less water to go around. So, we must act to reduce water wastage.

"We're working with our customers reduce water use and are exploring new technology to help us find and fix more leaks quickly in our network. We've been impressed by the results of the activity we've seen so far from LeakBot and we're looking forward to seeing the impact this technology could have on reducing leaks and improving engagement in the Southern Water area."

Ondo InsurTech Chief Executive Officer Craig Foster added: "We're increasingly excited about the opportunity to work with water companies to reduce water wasted through leaks. When combining the business cases for both water companies and insurers, we have a proposition which could scale quickly and really add benefit to both industries and their customers.

"To get us closer to this large-scale opportunity, we're looking forward to working with Southern Water on our second pilot within the water industry."

On Tuesday, Ondo InsurTech agreed to partner with Pure Insurance on the distribution of LeakBot. It said Pure will pilot a programme distributing Ondo's LeakBot system to some of its members in selected US states. Pure Insurance is a US-based insurer focused on "high net worth families", offering customisable coverage for high-valuables, such as homes, automobiles, jewellery and art.

Shares in Ondo InsurTech were down 0.1% to 35.95 pence each in London on Wednesday at midday.

By Greg Rosenvinge, Alliance News reporter

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