How AI revealed Kent sewer was blocked by a dumbbell and a fatberg
Engineers used artificial intelligence to detect blockages in a sewer in the city.
South Water used radar sensors to explore a gym weight that prevents the sewage pipe in Fatberg and Folkestone.
After marking the unusual waste water levels of electronic sewage monitors, the blocking appeared on the Chalcroft Road. Southern Water’s team came to the area before the sewage was flooded and discovered that Fatberg’s gym weight was wrapped around.
AI radars are trained to learn normal sewage behaviors and determine when blockages appear.
Blocked sewers are the leading cause of pollution events from river spill to rivers and sewage backed to the gardens. The most severe cases see wastewater pouring back into sinks, shower and toilets inside the houses.
To prevent this, Southern Water said he had inserted more than 34,000 radar sensors on his network to detect changes in sewage levels before becoming critical.
Daniel Mcelhinney, a proactive operation control manager in Southern Water, said, “The sensors get a weight from our minds and measure the sewage level flowing under the church clogging hot spots.
“We see hundreds of potential blockages before it is too late. Our teams use high -pressure jets to clean the sewers thanks to the exact accuracy of AI machines.”
Fatbergs mixes with elements that should never be washed when cooking oil, oils and grease. Southern Water warned that many customers do not realize that suburban sewers are just as wide orange or tennis ball, so even small amounts of wrong material can rapidly create a big problem.
The company said that it is struggling with thousands of blockages every year, which cost millions of pounds and creates unnecessary pollution risks.
