K9-Powered Leak Detection
Dowse combines trained detection dogs with acoustic verification to find the leaks that conventional methods miss.
See How It Works →What We Do
2.2 million miles of pipe. An average age of 78 years. Over one million active leaks at any given moment. Dowse exists to close that gap.
"Every gallon recovered is a gallon you don't have to buy."
Dowse Water, 2026
The Challenge
2.2 million miles of pipe. Average age: 78 years. A water main breaks every 2 minutes. The scale of the problem is staggering, and it keeps growing.
The Scale
There are more than 1 million active leaks in US water systems right now. Only 240,000 get found and fixed each year.
New leaks develop at roughly the same rate old ones are found. The standing inventory of active leaks never shrinks because utilities lack the detection capacity to get ahead of the curve.
Average leak run time before detection: 2 to 5 years. Cumulative value per undetected leak: $35,000 to $55,000 or more.
Sources: Bluefield Research, EPA, AWWA, CivilSense/USU Study
Miles of distribution pipe in the US
Estimated active leaks at any given time
Leaks found and repaired per year
Cumulative value lost per undetected leak
Why Existing Tools Fall Short
We built Dowse to break this equilibrium. See how we do it.
See the Dowse Solution →Our Method
K9 scent screening combined with acoustic verification. High coverage. High confidence. Results your crews can act on immediately.
How It Works
Trained detection dogs identify chlorinated water VOCs escaping through soil. Each team covers 5 to 15 miles per day across residential easements, yards, and utility corridors.
Every K9 alert is verified with a leak correlator and ground microphone. Only confirmed leaks are reported, eliminating false positives and giving your team the confidence to act.
GPS-tagged, verified leak locations delivered with estimated severity and repair priority. Your crews repair. We track recovery metrics to demonstrate measurable ROI.
The Science
Active water leak detection dogs in the US today -- a young, high-impact field
Accuracy rate reported by Central Arkansas Water (first 6 months)
Time to locate a leak within 2 to 10 ft (Del-Co Water, Ohio)
Daily coverage per K9 team vs. 1 to 3 mi for acoustic crew
Our Story
Dowse was founded in 2026 by Luke Smiley and Greg Kamstra -- two operators united by a shared passion for environmental impact and a belief that the right tool for the job can be found at the end of a leash.
The Founders
Greg brings a unique combination of financial sophistication and deep hands-on expertise in dog services and training. After beginning his career in management consulting, he spent the bulk of his career in private equity and public markets investing, then made the leap to build Riverdog, a multi-unit pet care business, from the ground up -- including raising institutional capital for it.
Greg's experience scaling a business grounded in animal behavior, dog training, and handler relationships gives Dowse a powerful operational foundation. He understands both what it takes to build a company and what it takes to develop high-performing detection dogs.
Luke is an investor-operator with 20+ years of experience across investment banking, private equity, hedge funds, and scaled operating roles. He has built and scaled two national operations to 1,000+ employees while maintaining top-decile customer satisfaction metrics -- a rare combination of financial acumen and boots-on-the-ground execution.
At Dowse, Luke brings his track record of building organizations from the ground up and his deep conviction that water infrastructure is one of the most important and underserved challenges facing American cities.
Luke and Greg share a deep conviction that clean, accessible water is one of the defining challenges of our time -- and that the tools to protect it already exist. By pairing the extraordinary sensory capabilities of detection dogs with rigorous acoustic verification, Dowse is building a faster, more accurate, and more scalable way to find and fix the leaks quietly draining America's water systems. Every gallon we recover is a small act of environmental stewardship at scale.
Get in Touch
Whether you're a utility, municipality, or just curious about what we're building, we'd love to hear from you.
Contact
We're early-stage and hands-on. Send us a note and a real person will get back to you.