Nova Bettes with Kep and Halls Head PS’s Year 4 class.
Camera IconNova Bettes with Kep and Halls Head PS’s Year 4 class. Credit: Supplied/Jon Hewson www.communitypix.com.au d480375

Halls Head: Kep the wonder dog helping Water Corp discover leaks

Vanessa SchmittMandurah Coastal Times

KEP the Wonder Dog visited Halls Head Primary School on Thursday to help spread the water wise message.

The Water Corporation employed leak detection dog Kep this month to detect leaks in below ground water mains.

Water Minister Dave Kelly said Kep was the Water Corporation’s first four-legged employee and the first dog to be employed by an Australian water utility.

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Kep has been trained to recognise the scent of scheme water, and ignore all other scents such as rain water, pipes and fittings.

Her reward for finding the target scent is to chase a tennis ball.

Kep is a good alternative to traditional leak detection technologies, which are often not cost effective.

“The Water Corporation manages more than 34,000km of water mains across 2.6 million square kilometres in WA – making it the largest water utility in the world in terms of the geographical area serviced,” Mr Kelly said.

“This is why they are always looking for new and innovative ways to detect leaks and save water.

“It’s great to see the Water Corporation thinking outside the box and investing in research and development.”

Kep is a female springer spaniel and her name was chosen after 7000 people voted on Facebook to name her; Kep is the Noongar word for water.

Her role will also be to spread important water saving messages to schoolchildren through the Water Corporation’s Waterwise Schools Program.

For more information, visit http://www.watercorporation.com.au/about-us/in-the-community/meet-kep.

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