Recover

Recover is ASTERRA's subscription service for finding leaks in underground drinking-water and wastewater pipes, including non-surfacing leaks that leave no evidence above ground. Instead of crews surveying a whole network blindly with acoustic equipment, Recover points them to likely leak locations so they dig to repair rather than to search.

ASTERRA analyses L-band polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (PolSAR) imagery, which responds to moisture in the soil. It names JAXA's ALOS-2 (PALSAR-2) as its primary satellite source, alongside Argentina's SAOCOM-1A/1B. A patented algorithm, fine-tuned with AI and machine learning to recognise the signature of treated water, is run against the utility's own pipe layer and returns points of interest for field investigation.

Results are delivered on ASTERRA's EO Discover platform, as GIS layers, and in the U-Collect and U-View field apps, with Esri ArcGIS Field Maps support. EO Discover 3.0 (June 2026) adds filtering by district metered area, pipe material and diameter, cluster maps and investigation planning, and a Recover API launched with it feeds results into GIS, asset-management and operational systems. Two packages are published: Prevent, and Advise, which adds analysis over multiple satellite passes, technician-prioritised leak lists, the MasterPlan pipe-deficiency map and a personal success manager.

Recover won the inaugural AWWA Innovation Award in 2021. ASTERRA reports an average of 3.5 leaks found per crew day against 1.3 with traditional acoustic methods, and cites the City of Garland, Texas, at 186 leaks found and 232.1 million gallons of water saved a year.