Higashine City's Water and Sewerage Division in Yamagata Prefecture Introduces 'Space Waterworks Bureau', a Water DX Solution Using Satellite Data and AI to Support Sustainable Water Utilities
Tenchijin Inc., a JAXA-certified space venture, has contracted with Higashine City in Yamagata Prefecture to implement its satellite data and AI-driven water DX solution, 'Space Waterworks Bureau'. This will aid in analyzing leakage risks and planning pipe renewals.
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- 📰 Published: April 13, 2026 at 21:00
- 🔍 Collected: April 13, 2026 at 16:35
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We are pleased to announce that Tenchijin Inc. (Chuo-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Yasuhito Sakuraba), a JAXA-certified space venture that provides the water DX solution 'Space Waterworks Bureau' leveraging satellite data to support the realization of sustainable water utilities, has signed a contract with the Water and Sewerage Division of Higashine City.
Social Issues Facing Japan's Water Infrastructure
Large-scale water leakage accidents have been occurring one after another across the country against the backdrop of the 'aging of water pipes'. However, approximately 189,000 km of pipelines, representing about 25.3% of Japan's total water pipe length, have exceeded their legal service life. With current methods, inspecting, maintaining, and repairing these aged pipes requires massive costs, and it is considered difficult to conduct these operations over wide areas in a short period (Source: Japan Water Works Association 'Water Statistics' FY2023). Furthermore, as revenue from water tariffs and the number of staff are expected to decrease in the future due to a declining birthrate, aging population, and shrinking population, the problem is only growing more severe. Tenchijin aims to contribute to solving these issues by utilizing satellite data.
Introduction of Higashine City's Water Utility Initiatives
Higashine City has set the slogan 'Higashine's Water: Connecting Safe and Delicious Water to the Future' and is advancing the operation and facility maintenance of its water utility under four basic goals: Safety, Resilience, Sustainability, and Environment.
Located in the Murayama Basin in the central part of Yamagata Prefecture, Higashine City spreads across an alluvial fan created by rivers originating from the Ou Mountains, an area blessed with high-quality groundwater. The city's water utility utilizes this groundwater as its source to provide a stable water supply.
By conducting periodic inspections based on the water quality inspection plan and publishing the results, the city enhances safety and transparency. It also promotes the seismic reinforcement of pipelines connected to critical facilities and the systematic renewal of aging facilities. The city is building a system capable of maintaining functions even during disasters.
Moreover, under systematic business operations looking toward the future, the city is also working to improve citizen services.
To contribute to the management of Higashine City's water utilities, the 'Space Waterworks Bureau' will support the realization of 'Higashine's Water: Connecting to the Future' through streamlining leakage detection and transforming operations with DX.
Comment from the Water and Sewerage Division of Higashine City
In our city, to respond to the increasing risk of water leakages due to the aging of water pipes and to improve the revenue water ratio, we have traditionally divided the water supply areas into blocks and conducted inspections such as road surface acoustic surveys. However, there has been a need for increased efficiency in terms of time and cost.
By utilizing the 'Space Waterworks Bureau', it becomes possible to analyze leakage risks using satellite data and AI. This is expected to improve the accuracy of ground surveys and increase efficiency by narrowing down inspection targets. In particular, a major advantage is that it can be used to clearly select locations that require seismic reinforcement and to review renewal plans.
We will continue to work on providing safe and sustainable water services.
About 'Space Waterworks Bureau'
'Space Waterworks Bureau' is a water DX solution that supports the realization of sustainable water businesses using satellite data. Since the start of the service in April 2023, the cumulative number of contracted municipalities* has exceeded 50.
*As of September 2025. Includes contract renewals.
1. Acoustic Survey Support Based on Leakage Risk Diagnosis
By diagnosing pipeline risks down to the meter level using satellite data, it is possible to grasp the current and near-future leakage risks at high resolution. Depending on the application, it also supports leakage risk diagnosis on a mesh unit basis. By narrowing down areas with a high probability of leakage, locations that should be prioritized for investigation can be easily found, enabling efficient maintenance and management.
2. Support for Formulating Water Pipe Renewal Plans Tailored to Regional Characteristics
By combining and evaluating 'Soundness' (leakage risk diagnosis results) based on pipeline diagnosis results and 'Importance', which comprehensively considers impacts on all facilities and daily life, from general housing to critical water supply facilities (hospitals, schools, evacuation centers, etc.), multiple 'Renewal Priority Scenarios' are created. Flexible settings tailored to regional issues and objectives are possible, such as a scenario prioritizing leakage risk during normal times or a scenario prioritizing social impacts during disasters. Through scenarios that consider environmental fluctuations, prioritizing the renewal of each pipeline rationally and transparently helps in formulating highly useful plans.
The essential value of the 'Space Waterworks Bureau' lies in fusing the long-accumulated data of local governments with the latest space technology. We believe that this fusion creates a new perspective of 'leakage risk information', which will evolve traditional approaches such as acoustic surveys and renewal planning.
This initiative, connecting the wisdom of the past with the technology of the future, represents the realization of a new water business model that produces greater effects with limited resources.
Social Issues Facing Japan's Water Infrastructure
Large-scale water leakage accidents have been occurring one after another across the country against the backdrop of the 'aging of water pipes'. However, approximately 189,000 km of pipelines, representing about 25.3% of Japan's total water pipe length, have exceeded their legal service life. With current methods, inspecting, maintaining, and repairing these aged pipes requires massive costs, and it is considered difficult to conduct these operations over wide areas in a short period (Source: Japan Water Works Association 'Water Statistics' FY2023). Furthermore, as revenue from water tariffs and the number of staff are expected to decrease in the future due to a declining birthrate, aging population, and shrinking population, the problem is only growing more severe. Tenchijin aims to contribute to solving these issues by utilizing satellite data.
Introduction of Higashine City's Water Utility Initiatives
Higashine City has set the slogan 'Higashine's Water: Connecting Safe and Delicious Water to the Future' and is advancing the operation and facility maintenance of its water utility under four basic goals: Safety, Resilience, Sustainability, and Environment.
Located in the Murayama Basin in the central part of Yamagata Prefecture, Higashine City spreads across an alluvial fan created by rivers originating from the Ou Mountains, an area blessed with high-quality groundwater. The city's water utility utilizes this groundwater as its source to provide a stable water supply.
By conducting periodic inspections based on the water quality inspection plan and publishing the results, the city enhances safety and transparency. It also promotes the seismic reinforcement of pipelines connected to critical facilities and the systematic renewal of aging facilities. The city is building a system capable of maintaining functions even during disasters.
Moreover, under systematic business operations looking toward the future, the city is also working to improve citizen services.
To contribute to the management of Higashine City's water utilities, the 'Space Waterworks Bureau' will support the realization of 'Higashine's Water: Connecting to the Future' through streamlining leakage detection and transforming operations with DX.
Comment from the Water and Sewerage Division of Higashine City
In our city, to respond to the increasing risk of water leakages due to the aging of water pipes and to improve the revenue water ratio, we have traditionally divided the water supply areas into blocks and conducted inspections such as road surface acoustic surveys. However, there has been a need for increased efficiency in terms of time and cost.
By utilizing the 'Space Waterworks Bureau', it becomes possible to analyze leakage risks using satellite data and AI. This is expected to improve the accuracy of ground surveys and increase efficiency by narrowing down inspection targets. In particular, a major advantage is that it can be used to clearly select locations that require seismic reinforcement and to review renewal plans.
We will continue to work on providing safe and sustainable water services.
About 'Space Waterworks Bureau'
'Space Waterworks Bureau' is a water DX solution that supports the realization of sustainable water businesses using satellite data. Since the start of the service in April 2023, the cumulative number of contracted municipalities* has exceeded 50.
*As of September 2025. Includes contract renewals.
1. Acoustic Survey Support Based on Leakage Risk Diagnosis
By diagnosing pipeline risks down to the meter level using satellite data, it is possible to grasp the current and near-future leakage risks at high resolution. Depending on the application, it also supports leakage risk diagnosis on a mesh unit basis. By narrowing down areas with a high probability of leakage, locations that should be prioritized for investigation can be easily found, enabling efficient maintenance and management.
2. Support for Formulating Water Pipe Renewal Plans Tailored to Regional Characteristics
By combining and evaluating 'Soundness' (leakage risk diagnosis results) based on pipeline diagnosis results and 'Importance', which comprehensively considers impacts on all facilities and daily life, from general housing to critical water supply facilities (hospitals, schools, evacuation centers, etc.), multiple 'Renewal Priority Scenarios' are created. Flexible settings tailored to regional issues and objectives are possible, such as a scenario prioritizing leakage risk during normal times or a scenario prioritizing social impacts during disasters. Through scenarios that consider environmental fluctuations, prioritizing the renewal of each pipeline rationally and transparently helps in formulating highly useful plans.
The essential value of the 'Space Waterworks Bureau' lies in fusing the long-accumulated data of local governments with the latest space technology. We believe that this fusion creates a new perspective of 'leakage risk information', which will evolve traditional approaches such as acoustic surveys and renewal planning.
This initiative, connecting the wisdom of the past with the technology of the future, represents the realization of a new water business model that produces greater effects with limited resources.