Inspiration The idea for Leak Alert was born out of necessity. Living in South Africa, I witnessed firsthand how aging water infrastructure and growing populations are putting immense pressure on water resources. Water is life, yet significant volumes are lost daily through undetected leaks — affecting communities, households, and the environment. I wanted to create a solution that empowers citizens and municipalities alike to act quickly and efficiently in preventing water wastage.
About the Project Leak Alert is a web-based platform that combines artificial intelligence, computer vision, and crowdsourced citizen reporting to detect and verify water leaks in real time. It uses AI models to analyze images and videos of water infrastructure, automatically flagging potential leaks, which are then verified by the community through mobile reporting tools. The system prioritizes repairs through a GIS-based dashboard, helping local governments save water, reduce costs, and extend infrastructure lifespan.
What I Learned Building Leak Alert taught me the power of combining technology with community engagement. Developing accurate AI detection models was challenging, requiring iteration and access to diverse image data. Integrating citizen reports with automated detection strengthened the reliability of the system and created a shared responsibility for water conservation.
Challenges Faced One of the biggest challenges was accessing quality datasets for training the AI, as water leaks can look very different depending on location and conditions. Another hurdle was designing an interface intuitive enough for both municipal workers and everyday users. Balancing technology sophistication with accessibility was key to ensure adoption.
Log in or sign up for Devpost to join the conversation.