The demands on our existing waste water networks are many and varied. 

Population growth, for example, is rapidly forcing the expansion of urban areas in order to meet the demand for new housing.  This directly impacts the quantity of water entering sewer networks which, in turn, reduces the capacity of a sewer to cope with flood events.

The effects of climate change (hotter summers, wetter winters and longer high-intensity rainfall events) will further significantly challenge the sewer networks.

The UK’s aging waste water sewer network consists of nearly 400,000 kilometres of pipe, most of which is Victorian-era and struggles to cope with 21^st century demands.  While improvements are being made, as evidenced by the £4bn Thames Tideway project and others, the current network is under pressure and feeling the strain.

Water companies face multiple problems associated with pipe blockages.  When undetected, blockages have the potential to cause untreated sewage to back up and potentially flood drains and streets.  As well as causing physical damage to the pipe network, blockages can be expensive and time-consuming to remove and can lead to financial penalties from regulators.

When pairing together the challenges of maintaining a Victorian-era sewer network with urbanisation and climate change, water companies are finding themselves under increasing pressure to find smart, cost-effective solutions.

Monitoring of waste water networks is an effective way of ensuring the efficient performance of a sewer system. Monitoring also acts as an early warning indication for issues such as blockages and flooding.

Whether it’s flow monitoring with Intelligens or ultrasonic level sensing with the new SonicSens 3, our advanced solutions deliver effective network monitoring, especially in remote or hard to access locations.

Our intelligent network monitoring devices play an important role in supporting water companies worldwide to mitigate the risk of blockages and flooding and the damage these can cause.

For more information about our network monitoring solutions please click here.