In a Queensland first, two dogs have been recruited to work for Urban Utilities. Their job, to sniff out costly underground water leaks.

Georgie Nichols reports.

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Meet Halo and Danny, two Springer Spaniels who today graduated from eight months of intense training.

They’ve been tasked with sniffing out hidden leaks, underground along the 9,000 kilometres of pipes across Brisbane.

Michelle Cull, Queensland Urban Utilities Spokesperson: “The great thing about the dogs is they can cover large areas, Halo for example can do up to 20 kilometres a day.”

The spaniels’ super sensitive noses will help crews repair broken pipes in dense bushland, that are normally hard to get to.

Dennis Gannaway, Dog Handler: “It’s a very complex and very difficult thing to train them on water leaks because we have to get them to differentiate between all other water that’s lying around, groundwater, rainwater, etc.”

The dogs will be used in conjunction with other technology, such as listening devices and sensors.

Halo and Danny will be put to the test in a number of trials across South East Queensland.

But, their handlers are confident they’ve got what it takes.

Michelle Cull, Queensland Urban Utilities Spokesperson: “We think it’s a great, new, innovative way to help reduce leaks across our network, and we’re really excited about the dogs joining the team.”

Georgie Nichols, QUT News.