That sinking feeling

Sinkholes make great pictures. There’s something unsettling about the idea of the ground opening up and swallowing houses, cars, even people.

Many are natural phenomena: percolating water erodes soluble bedrock or volcanic deposits and over time a void is created which eventually gives way.

But in some cases the water which percolates originates from ageing water company infrastructure.

Here are some spectaculars:

A car in a sinkhole in St Louis, Missouri, USA.

A whole line of cars in a hole in Florence, Italy.

A very British red telephone box in a hole in Jasper’s Green, Braintree, UK.

A sinkhole in Guatemala City that looks like an alien mineshaft.

An old bus in a hole in Norwich, UK.

A new coach in a hole in London, UK.

A road in a sinkhole in Seattle, USA.

A sinkhole in the sea off the coast of Belize.

The consequences of leakage are not just the cost of the wasted water, but often the consequential damage that is caused.

Another reason to use Network Monitoring solutions like i2O’s iNet to keep an eye on the network and maintain it more effectively, or to deploy Advanced Pressure Management solutions like i2O’s oNet to minimise leakage and extend the life of existing assets.