Heavy rain, traffic and aircraft noise, and even a leak positioned over a kilometre away, have not prevented the company from pin-pointing pipe bursts since it introduced electronic listening equipment from Palmer Environmental to its NE region. Scottish Water uses the MicroCorr digital leak-noise correlator to identify leak positions, with three fully-digital sensor/transmitter units providing accurate indications on a range of pipe materials and types. Locations are then confirmed with an Rmic ground microphone. According to network performance operator John Paul, this combination is favoured because operators can be confident of getting results every time. The risk of a ‘dry hole’ being excavated - at considerable cost to the company and inconvenience to the public - is greatly reduced. He recalled a particularly-challenging leak which manifested as very faint noise on a couple of valves. They kept getting out-of-brackets (leak indications beyond the pipe run covered by the sensors) and had to move the transmitters four times down a side road, and then twice onto a main road. They finally found the leak on a 6-in cast iron main exactly where it was indicated. The total distance travelled was over 1000. On a separate occasion, the digital correlator indicated a leak at a sharp bend on a busy main road in Dunfermline. Despite torrential rain and the noise of buses and cars braking for the bend, the Rmic confirmed the position precisely. Also, when put to the test at Dundee Airport, the equipment was able to pin-point leaks on a challenging 24-in main in spite of high ambient noise from aircraft and road traffic.