Leaky pipes not only lose water but can make you run up huge bills too, but now engineers at Thames Water have invented a new gadget that could detect those leaks and slash bills. 

The device, called 'Leakfrog' detects the amount of water escaping from your pipes - which accounts for around a quarter of all water lost in leaks. 

When attached to a water meter overnight on a property, the Leakfrog shows if any water is being lost. This lets customers know if they need to get the leaks fixed and will reduce subsequent water bills. 

Nic Clay-Michael one of Leakfrog's inventors, said: "The frogs have been specially designed so that they can be easily fitted, in large numbers, to our meters, and they tell us if a leak is present, something our previous methods haven't been able to do on such a large scale."

"The current leakage detection device we use is bulky, much more difficult to attach to a water meter and complicated to use. Practically, it can only be fitted to around 15 per cent of water meters on our mains replacement sites, whereas Leakfrog can be used on all meters at less than a tenth of the cost," he added. "Customer side leakage is a major issue for the UK water industry and the installation of Leakfrog detection units will help to spot and reduce leakage significantly."

"With Leakfrog we can get a better idea of how much water is leaking from the customer's side," said John Halsall, Thames Water's Director of Water Services. "Leaks are not only an unnecessary waste of water, but left undetected can add hundreds of pounds to bills and cause damage to the property. Often customers are unaware if they have leaking pipes. Leakfrog will help identify them, but we would also advise any customers who have seen bills rise by unusually high amounts to contact our customer centre or a qualified plumber. We don't want anyone to be paying over the odds."

Thames Water registered Leakfrog with the Patent Office in August 2006. The device was then developed for production in partnership with Qonnectis, the AIM-listed energy and water conservation technology services provider.