TOKYO - Three months after a January 2025 road collapse in Yashio City, Saitama Prefecture, that left a truck driver missing, the incident has drawn national attention to Japan's aging water infrastructure, prompting municipalities to adopt a new AI-based pipe inspection system.
Following the collapse, the central government urged local authorities managing sewer pipes of similar scale to the ones in Yashio to conduct emergency inspections.
Traditionally, leak detection has relied on field workers walking thousands of kilometers to listen for telltale sounds of escaping water—an approach both labor-intensive and time-consuming.
To prevent future accidents, the focus has shifted toward faster and more efficient technology. A Tokyo-based startup is at the forefront of this change, offering land evaluation services across sectors using satellite data.
In water pipe monitoring, the company combines surface temperature data from JAXA and other satellites, leakage history from water bureaus, and topographical and human activity data from municipalities. Its proprietary AI then classifies the leak risk of water pipes into five levels, displaying the results on a color-coded map.
This system enables local governments to quickly identify high-risk areas, prioritize inspections, and streamline maintenance efforts—reducing both time and cost.
Higuchi Nobuhito, head of the company’s "Space Water Bureau" project, said: "The deterioration of infrastructure such as pipes and roads is an unavoidable issue. We hope this system can contribute to addressing it."
Source: FNN
