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Thousands of liters of water leak from building plumbing systems every day, sometimes due to just a single leaky toilet. The startup nextdrop was founded at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the University of West Bohemia (FEE UWB) and operates as a continuous digital guard for the water supply network. Their technology monitors water pressure and flow in pipes in real time and uses advanced algorithms to search for anomalies in the data. If it detects a hidden leak or a break, it immediately notifies the building manager, who learns of the problem before the water causes serious damage and multiplies water and sewage costs. However, the technology is not developed solely for leak detection but also serves for the comprehensive management of water supply systems.

The path to their own startup began with research at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering (FEE) conducted by three students: Martin Juřík (now a software and algorithm developer), Martin Vítek (technical director and hardware developer), and Jiří Kuthan (implementation specialist). „At the time, we were working on opening and closing a valve using radio communication, and Martin thought it would be a shame not to do it with a microprocessor,“ recalls Jiří Kuthan. „It seemed like an interesting topic to us, so we set out to develop it further,“ adds Martin Vítek, noting that they saw enormous, previously untapped potential in the digitization of water management.

They tested the very first prototype of their control unit for automatic watering in the greenhouse in Jiří Kuthan’s garden. The result was wild, because there was an error in the code and the irrigation system ran all weekend. „We accidentally overwatered the tomatoes, and they grew way too big that year. But it also flooded the entire basement of the house, so Dad was happy about the tomatoes and Mom was sad about the basement,“ laughs Jiří Kuthan. They had to pay for the consequences with shovels in hand, digging a rainwater collection pit.

According to Jiří Kuthan, they didn’t exactly choose the easiest path for their business. „We chose a pretty tough road. Running a tech startup with your own product—one that you have to install yourself, manage yourself, and handle all the service yourself—is a huge difference from pure software development. You have to commit to this fully and really put your all into it. Because once you make a mistake with a customer, it will haunt you for a long time,“ he said.

According to the young scientists, the first results didn’t take long to appear. At the football stadium in Štruncovy sady, used by FC Viktoria Plzeň, the technology uncovered a massive hidden water leak, with 80 liters of drinking water flowing directly into the drainpipe every minute. Without intervention, the loss would amount to approximately 14,000 CZK per day and nearly 500,000 CZK over the course of a month. But leaks aren’t the only thing visible in the data. „The data from Viktoria clearly shows people’s behavior. The graphs beautifully illustrate halftime breaks, when everyone goes to the restrooms and consumption skyrockets. When the soccer players go into extra time, the system immediately registers additional unexpected spikes,“ adds Martin Vítek.

The technology also helps at the Plzeň Zoo and Botanical Garden, among other places. „The Plzeň Zoo is one of the most complex installations of our technology. We control water pumping from the Mže River, water distribution throughout the grounds, and simultaneously the filling of rainwater retention tanks. Using automation, we maintain a minimum water level in the retention tank so that employees always have enough water for irrigation, but the tank always has as much space as possible to capture rainfall. This has allowed us to reduce water consumption from the municipal water supply by 27% and capture approximately 88% of rainfall,“ added František Mach, another co-founder of the startup and Vice Dean for Science at FEE.

The technology is currently used in dozens of municipal buildings and complexes, including the Techmania Science Center, the 7th Elementary School and Kindergarten, and the Plzeň Waterworks itself. In mid-June, nextdrop will also coordinate the water supply at the Rock for People festival, which attracts tens of thousands of people annually who consume millions of liters of water.