A drone trial to improve water quality has been launched.

Northumbrian Water, Makutu, RS Hydro, and Skyports Drone Services have collaborated on Project Kingfisher, a world-first drone monitoring trial for the water industry.

The trial aims to explore how automatic and routine drone operations can support the collection of data and water quality assessments in otherwise inaccessible areas.

John Edwards, technical policy manager at Northumbrian Water, said: "Earlier in the year we carried out some initial testing, but the work we have conducted over the past month has been incredibly valuable for us and has helped us to understand the true benefits and opportunities this could unlock for the entire water industry in the future."

Since initial flights at the beginning of 2024, Project Kingfisher partners have implemented several key learnings and changes to facilitate more robust operations.

Flights will be conducted by drone operator partner Skyports Drone Services, which will deploy an all-electric multirotor aircraft currently capable of travelling distances of up to 20km on a single charge.

The UAV has been equipped with a variety of sensors, which are lowered into the sample points by a winch, where several water quality parameters are sampled in situ.