U.K.-based private utility Southern Water says electronic sewer monitors utilizing AI helped to discover a 15-lb dumbbell gym weight hidden in a fatberg.
More than 34,000 radar sensors are constantly monitoring sewer levels, utility officials say. Recently, on Chalcroft Road in Kent’s Folkestone, the team arrived before the sewer could flood and cleared out the highly unusual blockage.
“The sensors take a weight off our minds and measure the level of sewage flowing under manhole blockage hotspots,” announced Southern Water’s Proactive Operations Control Manager, Daniel McElhinney, in a statement. “The AI machines learn normal sewer behaviours, then can tell the difference between morning and evening rushes, rain in the system and a blockage forming. We’re spotting hundreds of potential blockages before it’s too late. Our teams use high pressure jets to clear sewers thanks to the pinpoint accuracy of the AI machines.”
In its media announcement about the dumbbell discovery, the utility offered the headline “All Pain, No Drain.”
Also in the U.K., South West Water is piloting the use of AI to manage fats, oils, and grease (often called FOG), along with items like wet wipes, cotton swabs, and sanitary products, which are frequently disposed of down sinks and toilets by the public. The utility can use 12,000 sensors on the network to monitor how water levels are rising and falling.
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