Ear to the ground

An acoustic sensor system to monitor the UK’s ageing sewer network could help utility operators boost efficiency and cut costs by providing accurate, real-time information about the state of the nation’s vast infrastructure, its developers have claimed.

Two of the country’s biggest water companies are backing development of The SewerBattsystem by engineers at the University of Bradford.

SewerBatt uses sonic wave technology to provide a detailed picture of any blockages or change in flow-rate inside the UK’s 300,000 km of sewerage pipes, and could have wider applications in areas such as oil transportation.

According to Dr. Kirill Horoshenkov, lead researcher at Bradford’s school of engineering, design and technology, the system promises to save water companies millions in surveillance costs.

‘In total, water companies own around £1bn of underground assets but have very little knowledge of the state of them,’ claimed Horoshenkov. ‘Even the best water companies probably have detailed knowledge of only about half a per cent of their own network.’