Water utility’s new worker has nose for leaks

The water utility’s newest hire may not have submitted a resume, but anyone who meets her will note her skills include a strong nose, a clear bark and a wagging tail.

Vessel, a rescue black lab mix, will soon be sniffing out leaks in the system for Central Arkansas Water, the utility that serves about 450,000 customers in the region.

Though water utilities in Great Britain and Australia use leak detection dogs, Central Arkansas Water is the first in the United States to deploy one.

The rescue pup, who is about a year and nine months old, initially received obedience training through the Arkansas Paws in Prison program, where selected inmates train rescue dogs for various roles, such as service dogs. But Vessel’s trainers soon realized that she had potential and was capable of a more active job.

“We realized she had way too much drive to be a service dog for someone. She needed a job,” trainer Carrie Kessler said.

Around that time, Central Arkansas Water CEO Tad Bohannon got the idea of adding a dog to the utility’s ranks while at a conference in the United Kingdom. Across the pond, they’re called “sniffing dogs.” In the United States, canines are already used to detect leaks in oil pipelines.

Bohannon said at a news conference Tuesday that some employees laughed at the idea, but one staffer’s wife connected the utility with a rescue dog agency and ultimately brought Vessel to her future employer.