A team of specially trained dogs in the United Kingdom is helping the environment while helping utility companies save water. \u201cIt\u2019s brilliant,\u201d says Luke Jones, handler and codirector of CAPE SPC. Luke, along with Ross Stephenson, set up the company in 2016, after serving in the British Army as dog handlers in Afghanistan and Iraq.<\/p>\n
Their business is one of few in the world training and using dogs to sniff out a massive problem: leaking underground water pipes. \u201cWe think of ourselves as pioneers in the area. We\u2019ve developed a service, and the dogs are doing the job,\u201d Luke says.<\/p>\n
Pipeline Problems<\/h3>\n
Across the world, there are millions of miles of below-ground pipes owned by utility companies that carry drinking water from treatment plants to homes and businesses. Sometimes pipes leak or break due to age, corrosion or the ground freezing. But since pipes are buried, it isn\u2019t easy to trace exactly where the water is escaping.<\/p>\n
Tough Job<\/h3>\n
Suppliers treat the water with chlorine to kill germs. The dogs are trained to \u201calert\u201d when they smell the chemical, but it evaporates quickly, so the canines must be thorough and precise. \u201cIt\u2019s probably one of the hardest jobs to train a dog for,\u201d Luke says. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to be working, training and monitoring them continuously, because the scent is constantly changing, but they do it very well.\u201d<\/p>\n The company\u2019s water-detection pack is made up of six dogs; two are rescues. \u201cAll our dogs have Spaniel in them. Whether they\u2019re (mixed with) Labrador, Springer or Cocker Spaniel, we have no preference so long as a dog can meet our expectations. We find ourselves (favoring) Spaniels due to their drive and durability for the jobs we carry out,\u201d Luke says.<\/p>\n The canines are making a difference conserving water, a precious resource. \u201cI think a lot of the world doesn\u2019t realize the scarcity of water in some places is frightening,\u201d Luke says. \u201cWe need it to sustain life, and it\u2019s not always going to be there. In some places, they\u2019re praying for rain and rationing water during droughts.\u201d<\/p>\n In the military, both Luke and Ross trusted their lives to the dogs, and now they\u2019re trusting them with their futures. The dogs have not let them down. \u201cWe\u2019ve done what we set out to do. We achieved it. The dogs are now operational daily, and we constantly find leaks,\u201d Luke says. \u201cTo be able to do something with an animal that helps the environment is the best job we could have.\u201d<\/p>\n For more info, visit: cape-spc.com<\/a> or FB@CapeSPCUK<\/a> Thanks to United Utilities for supporting this project.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Sniffing Below the Surface<\/a> by Mary Schwager<\/a> appeared first on Dogster<\/a>. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren’t considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Dogster.com.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n The post Sniffing Below the Surface<\/a> by Mary Schwager<\/a> appeared first on Dogster<\/a>. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren’t considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Dogster.com.<\/p>\n A team of specially trained dogs in the United Kingdom is helping the environment while helping utility companies save water. \u201cIt\u2019s brilliant,\u201d says Luke Jones, handler and codirector of CAPE SPC. Luke, along with Ross Stephenson, set up the company in 2016, after serving in the British Army as dog handlers in Afghanistan and Iraq.<\/p>\n Their business is one of few in the world training and using dogs to sniff out a massive problem: leaking underground water pipes. \u201cWe think of ourselves as pioneers in the area. We\u2019ve developed a service, and the dogs are doing the job,\u201d Luke says.<\/p>\n Across the world, there are millions of miles of below-ground pipes owned by utility companies that carry drinking water from treatment plants to homes and businesses. Sometimes pipes leak or break due to age, corrosion or the ground freezing. But since pipes are buried, it isn\u2019t easy to trace exactly where the water is escaping.<\/p>\n Suppliers treat the water with chlorine to kill germs. The dogs are trained to \u201calert\u201d when they smell the chemical, but it evaporates quickly, so the canines must be thorough and precise. \u201cIt\u2019s probably one of the hardest jobs to train a dog for,\u201d Luke says. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to be working, training and monitoring them continuously, because the scent is constantly changing, but they do it very well.\u201d<\/p>\n The company\u2019s water-detection pack is made up of six dogs; two are rescues. \u201cAll our dogs have Spaniel in them. Whether they\u2019re (mixed with) Labrador, Springer or Cocker Spaniel, we have no preference so long as a dog can meet our expectations. We find ourselves (favoring) Spaniels due to their drive and durability for the jobs we carry out,\u201d Luke says.<\/p>\n The canines are making a difference conserving water, a precious resource. \u201cI think a lot of the world doesn\u2019t realize the scarcity of water in some places is frightening,\u201d Luke says. \u201cWe need it to sustain life, and it\u2019s not always going to be there. In some places, they\u2019re praying for rain and rationing water during droughts.\u201d<\/p>\n In the military, both Luke and Ross trusted their lives to the dogs, and now they\u2019re trusting them with their futures. The dogs have not let them down. \u201cWe\u2019ve done what we set out to do. We achieved it. The dogs are now operational daily, and we constantly find leaks,\u201d Luke says. \u201cTo be able to do something with an animal that helps the environment is the best job we could have.\u201d<\/p>\n For more info, visit: cape-spc.com<\/a> or FB@CapeSPCUK<\/a> Thanks to United Utilities for supporting this project.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Sniffing Below the Surface<\/a> by Mary Schwager<\/a> appeared first on Dogster<\/a>. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren’t considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Dogster.com.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/s36700.pcdn.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Sniffing-below-the-surface-450x600.png\")
Water Conservation Canines<\/h3>\n
Dogs to the Rescue<\/h3>\n
\nPipeline Problems<\/h3>\n
Tough Job<\/h3>\n
Water Conservation Canines<\/h3>\n
Dogs to the Rescue<\/h3>\n
\n