John Marsden, Founder at Origin Tech: Using AI and No-Dig Technology to Transform the Water Industry

Tell us about Origin Tech

Origin Tech is a Gateshead and Newcastle-based water technology and innovation company, which I founded with my friend, Phil Surtees, in 2019. 

Having first worked together in the oil and gas industry, we decided to apply our industry knowledge to the water sector, aiming to tackle critical water industry challenges head on. Our flagship solution, Origin Find and Fix® uses satellite leak detection and non-invasive sealing methods to locate and seal water leakages without the need for slow, disruptive, and costly excavation.

How did you come up with the idea for Origin Tech?

Currently one fifth of all water in the UK is lost through leakages every year. This long-standing problem is made worse by solutions that remain expensive, disruptive and inconvenient. With the UK water sector aiming to halve leakage volumes by 2050, there is a clear need for innovation to find more leaks and reduce costs to effectively tackle the issue.

Inspired by technology used during drilling in the oil and gas industry, we set about applying the same principles to water leakages. After several months of research and development in a Covid-19 bubble, we created Origin No Dig®, a food-grade solution which is injected at the meter point and able to seal leakages without excavation or knowing the exact location. After the development of the product, we worked with Northumbrian Water to trial the technology in the field. It was at this point that we identified another challenge within the industry: locating leaks. 

This led to the development of Origin Orbit® technology, which uses AI-driven satellite data to direct technicians to leakages. Since deploying this year we’ve significantly increased the leakage identification capacity of water companies, with 92% of the leaks detected not previously known by water companies. 

Tell us about your core product or service

Origin’s Find and Fix® solution integrates two of our technologies, Origin Orbit® and Origin No Dig®, and AI-driven satellite data and a non-invasive solution to identify and seal leakages within a matter of hours.

To detect leaks, Origin Orbit® utilises Origin’s proprietary AI software modelling that uses satellite data to identify points of interest for water leaks within a 50 metre search radius, providing a far more efficient way to locate water leaks compared to traditional methods. Once identified, Origin No Dig® is deployed to seal the leakages. The technology uses a non-toxic solution consisting of water, gel, and minerals which is injected into the pipe network at the meter point and travels along until it reaches a leak, before forming an immediate seal around it to stop the loss of water. Once the leak has been sealed, the product is flushed out of the network, leaving the water quality unaffected. 

Origin Find and Fix® is 10x faster than traditional solutions and has had an overall success rate of 86% in detection and repair. We work with 11 water operators across the country and have already been able to carry out over 10,000 successful repairs, preventing 3 billion litres of water from being leaked, and have saved over £3 million in repair costs, in addition to saving over 5,000 tonnes in carbon emissions since we started.

What most excites you about the water industry?

The problems facing the water industry are not going to get any easier in the future. The need for innovative solutions that can transform how we manage and distribute water will become more and more important over time, both here in the UK, and internationally where countries are facing even greater challenges relating to scarcity.

Firms like ours have the opportunity to provide effective solutions that can be scaled and adopted to address these problems globally. Seeing how innovation can continue to lead to significant steps forward remains the most exciting aspect of our work and its role in the water industry as a whole.

What has been the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome along the way?

The water industry is cautious, and rightly so. Working with the public supply of water means any new product must meet rigorous checks and standards.

At the same time, this careful approach can make the sector slower to adopt innovation. For us, it’s about striking a balance between responsible management of our water supply and being open to new technologies that can positively transform how problems in the industry are addressed. 

What is your number one piece of advice to aspiring entrepreneurs?

Partner up with your end user as soon as possible. In any industry, it is essential to fully understand the problem your business is trying to solve. You might produce something perfect in the lab, but its value lies in its practical use in the real world. 

By building a relationship with the audience you are marketing to, you can quickly grasp the real world challenges they face and position yourself as the solution. It’s that value-add that will drive growth and long-term success. 

What can we hope to see from Origin Tech in the future?

Our work has already transformed how most UK water companies tackle leakage. Our hope is to have an even wider impact by trialing the technology internationally in geographies with greater water scarcity.  

We are also keen to continue developing new technology to tackle other key issues facing the sector. Our latest technology, Origin Savi®, was developed in partnership with South West Water following the cryptosporidium outbreak to identify at-risk air valves and help all water companies protect public health, and we will continue to look for ways to expand our solutions to new problems.