Kep, the first dog to be employed by an Australian water utility, has been welcomed by the Water Corporation to assist with leak detection.
Kep is a female springer spaniel and her name was chosen by the Western Australian community. More than 7,000 people voted on Facebook to name the dog, with ‘Kep’ being the Noongar word for ‘water’.
Ten-month-old Kep arrived from Sydney this week, after undergoing intensive training with one of Australia’s leading dog trainers, Steve Austin. She 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.
The springer spaniel’s employment follows a successful trial of leak detection dogs in regional areas by the Water Corporation in 2017. The trial was conducted to find an alternative to traditional leak detection technologies in regional areas, which are often not cost effective.
Kep will also be the furry face of the Water Corporation, helping to spread important water saving messages to schoolchildren through the Water Corporation’s Waterwise Schools Program.