Water Utilities start using drones in sewers

Special equipped drones are more and more used to inspect sewers. The advantages are obvious. With the images and data the drone collects, leakages can be detected easily. Monitoring sewers with drones is safer, cheaper and it prevents closing roads.

Anglian Water in the United Kingdom is going to use a drone, operated by Draincare and trialled in Cambridge, to inspect a larger sewers. The drone features laser, sonar and high definition CCTV to scan the pipes, recording silt build up and the condition of the pipes. The gathered data produce a 3D model of the sewer system. Anglian Water is planning to survey the larger sewers in Ipswich using this new technology.

Different models
Also in Barcelona utility company Aguas de Barcelona used a drone to inspect damages in the sewer system after a storm. Although the idea is the same the used drone model was in both cases completely different.