“Data is not information, information is not knowledge, knowledge is not understanding, understanding is not wisdom”
– Clifford Stoll –
One of the significant changes for utility providers in the 21st century is the massive increase in data that is now available and streaming into organisations. It wasn’t so long ago that engineers were hand drawing pipe long sections and calculating maximum flows without the aid of hydraulic models, or even a computer. Those days are gone, long gone; the new breed of engineer now has access to a wide array of software programs, intelligent devices, and predictive tools that are all generating gigabytes of data for consumption:
Hydraulic models
Digital twins
Artificial intelligence processors
3D LiDAR mapping
Telemetry and remote SCADA Systems
Digital flow meters
Leak detection loggers
Overflow and pressure transient sensors
Multi-camera inspection robots
The result is the availability of more data than organisations have ever had in their history, and it continues to accumulate at a faster and faster pace each year. What hasn’t changed so quickly is the traditional skills that engineers are taught during studies and the types of roles that organisations create to look after their assets.
Turning data into information, and then using that information to make smart decisions and gain improved understanding of assets requires a different skill set than traditional engineers may be used to. Not only is more data coming in, but it needs storage, user access, and interaction among different software programs. Organisations that can successfully accept the substantial amounts of data and efficiently cleanse, analyse, and integrate it throughout their processes have a distinct advantage in providing services that return value for money and meet the objectives for their community or customers.
Taking advantage of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and integration options that are often market supplied and understanding the methods of detecting trends, risks and insights is a smoother process when organisations have data analysts on board who can be the key player to ensure engineers are working with information and knowledge and not just data.
Has there been enough discussion in the industry about the creation of these targeted positions and then attracting and keeping data analysts? Opening a dialogue with sector leaders and obtaining human resources buy-in that positions like this are essential, may be a different challenge, but one that is going to be worth taking on.
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And why not. As human beings, we desire to race everything else in our lives; cars, motorbikes, lorries, boats and even tractors! So why not race pipe inspection cameras?
What’s the current speed limit?
Anyone working in this area will know that the specification for inspections of sewerage and drainage networks will limit the camera speed to 0.1 or 0.2 m/sec (0.33 or 0.66 ft/sec) depending on the pipe size. Some of you think even achieving something close to this speed can be challenging given the need to negotiate roots, intruding laterals, debris and Weird Things in Pipes ( #weirdthingsinpipes). Additionally, there’s lots of time spent travelling to an inspection site, finding the asset, setting up traffic management, entering the asset data on the title screen, etc. For that reason, pipe inspection productivity is nowhere near the 2,880 m (9449 ft) per day that could be achieved by a camera travelling down a pipe at 0.1 m/sec (0.33 ft/sec) pipe for 8 hours.
What does that data say about actual camera speeds?
We were keen to understand the average speed of a pipe inspection camera and the data captured in the VAPAR.Solutions platform provides the ability to do this. The platform holds a vast array of data that offers the opportunity to generate insights, including the ability to estimate the average time for a camera to travel through a pipe and complete an inspection. A random sample of surveys from the UK, Australian and New Zealand markets indicates the average speed is 0.13 metres per second (0.43 ft per second), with an 80-second mobilisation/demobilisation time for each survey. The analysis uses inspection footage durations and has removed the supersonic and snail-paced outliers.
Why increase camera speeds?
This analysis demonstrates that the markets generally comply with the specification, so why would you want to increase camera speeds? In addition, we have shown that the time inspecting the pipe accounts for only part of the working day, with time spent on other supporting activities. As with all outstanding racing achievements, not one change leads to success, but a combination of small-time savings creates a race-winning performance. This is generally known as Marginal Gains: small incremental improvements in any process, which, when added together, make a significant improvement (see https://jamesclear.com/marginal-gains). Remember, you only need to be 0.001 seconds ahead of second-place to be the winner, and the same goes for any commercial analysis of a tender.
How can we increase pipe inspection camera speeds?
It is not about running the camera through the pipe as fast as possible. The purpose of the inspection needs to be maintained; identify defects or characteristics that will prevent the pipe from providing the required service levels. The current specification speeds allow the camera operator sufficient time to identify defects. However, the advent of VAPAR’s AI-assisted defect coding means you don’t have to rely on the camera operator to identify the defects. The AI technology can support the analysis of inspection footage captured at speeds higher than the current standards while providing high-quality output. Additionally, the move to off-site coding means the camera operator can focus on the quality and speed of the pipe inspection footage and is not distracted by the need to code the surveys simultaneously. For example, you don’t see a Hollywood film studio trying to produce the final film while on set!
So, who is up for a bit of pipe inspection camera racing?
Read more about how VAPAR is increasing the efficiency and value of underground pipe inspections here.
Each year the Australian Bureau of Meteorology releases the National Performance Report for urban water utilities, the 2020-21 report is available for public download here: http://www.bom.gov.au/water/npr/
This annual report aims to provide benchmarking of pricing and service quality for urban water utilities. The report is helpful for utilities to monitor annual trends within their own organisations, as well as look at whether their key metrics sit within the typical range in a broader national context. Utilities are grouped within four size categories (small, medium, large, major). This reflects that revenue base and population density can be a factor in both the cost required to provide water and sewer to customers as well as the level of service that is appropriate or sustainable.
Running to 128 pages, this is a comprehensive report that lists metrics across 166 categories from 86 utilities. Dependent on your area of expertise or interest, there is interesting information for everyone.
Figure 1 – Australian utilities that submitted data for the 2020-21 report.
This article summary focuses on some of the key metrics that relate to gravity sewer mains and wastewater expenditure.
Sewer Main Breaks and Chokes
To enable comparative analysis, many of the metrics are reported as ‘per 100km of asset’, this is the case for ‘sewer mains breaks and chokes’.1 This last year has seen improvements for many locations with 57% of utilities reporting a decrease in breaks and chokes compared to the previous reporting year with Clarence Valley Council, Gippsland Water, and Gladstone Regional Council all seeing reductions of > 75%.
Utilities reporting the lowest instance of breaks and chokes in each utility group size is listed in the table below.
Table 1: Number of sewer mains breaks and chokes per 100 km (Indicator A14)
Utility Group
Utility
Value
Small (10,000 – 20,000 properties)
Water Corporation – Geraldton (WA)
3.4
Medium (20,000 – 50,000 properties)
Tweed Shire Council (NSW)
1
Large (50,000 – 100,000 properties)
Gippsland Water (VIC)
1.5
Major (100,000+ properties)
City of Gold Coast (QLD)
3.8
Major utilities saw the largest improvement for this metric. However, reductions were not the norm for small-sized utilities with the median increasing from 13.7/year to 15.6/year, and the average increasing from 25.3/year to 35.5/year.
Capital Expenditure per Property (Wastewater)
The report notes that the national median per property capital expenditure on wastewater services decreased by 11% from 2019-20 to 2020-21.
Utilities reporting the lowest wastewater expenditure per property in each utility group size is listed in the table below.
Table 2: Capital expenditure per property – wastewater (Indicator F29)
Utility Group
Utility
Value
Small (10,000 – 20,000 properties)
Gympie Regional Council (QLD)
$88.90
Medium (20,000 – 50,000 properties)
Dubbo Regional Council (NSW)
$3.65
Large (50,000 – 100,000 properties)
Power and Water Corporation – Darwin (NT)
$146.72
Major (100,000+ properties)
City West Water Corporation (VIC)
$143.57
Looking more closely at the data split by utility size, the average annual capital expenditure on wastewater is surprisingly similar across all utility sizes; in the region of $275 to $300 per property. The reported figures over the last decade do indicate that small and medium sized utilities may be investing less, on average, on wastewater infrastructure.
While there may be a variety of reasons for this, it will be of some concern if a trend of reduced investment is reflected in a similar reduction in wastewater service level KPIs (including sewer main breaks and chokes).
Figure 2 – Capital Wastewater Expenditure per Property
Despite the significant reported drop in per property wastewater expenditure over the last year (11%); the overall reported capital expenditure on wastewater has remained reasonably stable since 2017 at around $2.7 billion dollars per year – with a drop of 2.9% from 2019-20 to 2020-21 based on reported figures.
Figure 3 – Capital Wastewater Expenditure
Wastewater Operating Cost per Property
The report saw 66 of 86 utilities submit data on operating cost per property to supply wastewater services. The following utilities in each category reported operating their networks at the lowest cost:
Table 3: Wastewater operating cost per property (Indicator F14)
Utility Group
Utility
Value
Small (10,000 – 20,000 properties)
City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder (NT)
$168.96
Medium (20,000 – 50,000 properties)
Rockhampton Regional Council (QLD)
$294.59
Large (50,000 – 100,000 properties)
Toowoomba Regional Council (QLD)
$243.35
Major (100,000+ properties)
South Australian Water Corporation (SA)
$231.92
Residential Wastewater Bill
The cost to provide services is impacted by a wide range of factors, including but not limited to: age of assets, condition of assets, density of population, climate and topography. The table below lists the lowest residential wastewater bill in each category for the 20/21 period.
Table 4: Typical residential wastewater bill (Indicator P14)
Utility Group
Utility
Value
Small (10,000 – 20,000 properties)
Armidale Regional Council (NSW)
$465
Medium (20,000 – 50,000 properties)
Lower Murray Water (VIC)
$491.84
Large (50,000 – 100,000 properties)
North East Region Water Corporation (VIC)
$239.16
Major (100,000+ properties)
City West Water Corporation (VIC)
$347.92
The report indicates 57% of utilities had a reduction in the typical residential wastewater bill with Central Coast Council seeing the largest change (-24%). However nationally, the overall trend was only marginal (<1% decrease).
1 Wastewater mains breaks and chokes is intended to include:
Gravity sewer mains
Rising (pumped) mains
Low pressure mains
Vacuum system mains
It excludes:
Property connections
Treated effluent mains
Recycled water mains
It can be questioned whether failures on pumped rising mains and chokes within gravity sewer networks should fall under the same metric. While these asset types are intrinsically connected to form the majority of a sewer network, they operate under very different conditions and the mode and cause of failure are often quite distinct.
The information and data for this snapshot is sourced from Part A and Part B of the National performance report 2020–21: urban water utilities. It has been used under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australian License.
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Early underground pipe systems, such as those in the United Kingdom, were built before separation of wastewater and rainwater pipes were common practice. These types of systems are called combined sewer systems.
A combined sewer overflow (CSO) event is the term used to describe when the capacity of the pipe to carry wastewater and rainwater at the same time is too much for the system to deal with, and the system overflows.
The consequence of CSO events can have a very serious impact on the environment and public health. For this reason, most water utilities have a regulator that monitors the performance of the water utilities to ensure pipe networks operate in a safe way. In the United Kingdom, this performance is monitored by the Environment Agency and regulated by OFWAT, who have recently started to undertake further investigations on the release of unpermitted sewage discharges into rivers and watercourses by some UK water companies. In Australia and the USA, the regional Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) organisations regulate and fine water authorities that are not operating in accordance with certain agreed criteria.
What causes a combined sewer overflow?
A combined sewer overflow (CSO) will most likely happen when both the wastewater and surface water experiences high flow at the same time. For example, when there is a lot of rainfall, and a lot of people at home flushing toilets, showering and cooking, placing greater demand on the sewer pipe network.
*POTW is a publicly owned treatment works Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C. “Report to Congress: Impacts and Control of CSOs and SSOs.” Document No. EPA 833-R-04-001
There are lots of factors that can increase the likelihood and occurrence of a Combined Sewer Overflow, such as rainfall, population growth, and pipe condition. With increasing areas of land being paved, an increasingly urban population that each uses ~150L per person per day, and increased intensity of rainfall as the climate changes, the pipe networks built during the 19th century are unable to adapt.
What is the water industry doing about Combined Sewer Overflow?
Most combined sewer systems will be designed to overflow at a specific point in the network that will minimise damage and risk to the public and the environment. Because an overflow would usually occur when there is a high rainfall event, rainwater would dilute the raw sewerage, minimising (but not eliminating) the impact of the overflow. If the system was built without a designed overflow point, then whenever there are high flow events, sewerage may backflow to the nearest exit point, which may be directly into some unfortunate persons’ property.
To tackle this problem, some water utilities have been installing monitoring devices at commonly overflowing points in their pipe network. These devices send a signal to the water companies to let them know if the level of sewage in the pipe/structure is rising more than usual. If the level of sewerage reaches a certain value, an early warning alert is sent to the water company to let them know that an overflow may be imminent so that they can take action if required.
How can spills from combined sewer overflows be prevented?
Adding storage capacity to the network
In addition to some of the initiatives being undertaken by water companies described above, prevention of these types of overflows could also come adding storage capacity to the network. By increasing the capacity of the network to not only convey, but store (for a short period of time), it is possible to reduce the incidence of sewer overflows. This can come in the form of storage/detention tanks for both sewage and surface water.
Increase the treatment capacity of the network
Another option is to increase the treatment capacity of the network so that the sewage can be turned into good quality water faster, leaving more capacity in the network to convey sewage during times of high flow. A key element to the efficacy of treatment in the network to reduce CSO’s is to also make sure the upstream and downstream network from the overflow structure are in optimum condition. If these pipes fail or get blocked, then treatment capacity is greatly reduced.
A great example of increasing the storage and treatment capacity of a combined sewer network to prevent CSOs is the Thames Tideway tunnel. Reconnecting London with the River Thames. This project both increases the storage capacity of the network, and increasing the treatment capacity of the network by routing sewage to an upgraded treatment plant.
Separating the sewer and surface water pipe network
This is an option, though depending on the level of existing infrastructure development not always a practical one. For newer developments, this is a great option to increase the conveyance capacity of a network to a downstream treatment source. A key challenge with separated systems is that regular monitoring of any new building developments is needed to reduce/eliminate illegal surface water connections into the sewer network. These illegal connections are either done mistakenly or deliberately, brought about when a surface water pipe is not available.
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Things you need to know about sewer network maintenance
Are you having trouble getting approval for a routine inspection program for your sewer network? Here is some information to bolster your business case.
The Challenge
Councils and utilities are rarely in a position to inspect 100% of their sewer or stormwater networks. This means that careful selection is required when planning which pipes, manholes, and pits to inspect. This should involve risk-based decisions that often include a focus on high consequence of failure locations. However, risk is a combination of both consequence and likelihood of failure. For sewer networks, there is often a significantly increased likelihood of failure immediately downstream of sewer rising mains (pumped mains) due to sulphuric acid generation
What causes hydrogen sulphide corrosion in sewers?
Sulphate in sewage is converted to hydrogen sulphide (H2S) by bacteria present in the sediment/biofilm layer. The H2S can move from the liquid to gas phase which is often the cause of customer odour complaints. Sulphur oxidising bacteria (SOB) above the water level convert this gas to sulphuric acid which can be highly corrosive to the surface of concrete manholes and pipes.
Why are inspections necessary?
The cost and the associated impact of a partial or full failure of these assets can be significant. Understanding where these issues are likely to occur, the current condition of these assets, and the rate of condition change over time allows better management of risk and can save large reactive repair expenses.
What can I do about managing these assets?
Periodic inspection of the first few manholes downstream of rising main outlets and the receiving gravity pipework (especially if concrete/asbestos cement) is a prudent investment and recommended as a subset of your broader condition inspection programming. The image above is an example of proactive rehabilitation of two manholes just downstream of a rising main. This planned work is a fraction of the cost of dealing with a reactive repair after failure.
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The importance of the pipe network beneath out feet
Our cities and suburbs are supported by a vast underground network of water, wastewater and storm water infrastructure. This network of gravity pipes, pumps and filtration systems play a very important role in the quality of our life, eliminating disease, safeguarding the environment, and protecting communities.
However, parts of this aging infrastructure are nearing the end of its useful life and now (more than ever) requires closer attention. Without attention, this situation is not sustainable.
Most of our water and wastewater infrastructure were installed during the 19th century and municipalities are facing the challenge of broad-scale infrastructure replacements or repairs costing hundreds of millions of dollars.
Adding to all this is the changing climate factor, meaning systems that were designed 30 or so years ago may not be sufficient to support everchanging environment around it.
To extend the life of infrastructure, reliance on smart city technology capabilities is critical. By creating visibility into buried assets to understand the conditions of underground infrastructure, utilities can compare current performance with expectations, and predict when and where problems may arise. This also leads the way to prioritisation of maintenance work, decreasing downtime of the assets, resulting in reduced interruptions.
Today’s technology
With sensors and actuators becoming more cost effective, an array of technologies is becoming available for the pipe industry. For pressure pipes or pipes transporting materials under high pressure, static sensors are being used to help monitor the health of the asset. In sewer and stormwater applications, inspection by video still is widely adopted with assessment being carried out visually by an expert.
With operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) coming together, data that were once only available in isolated networks is now available via the world wide web. What this means is CCTV operators are no longer needing to download inspection videos to a hard-drive in order to assess the condition of the pipe in the office, instead they can upload the video file over the cloud.
AI at your service
With more data being available and accessible, a path has been paved for advanced technology such as artificial intelligence or AI. These smart algorithms feed on data, in-fact, the more data that is available, the quicker and more accurate an AI system can become.
Like other technologies, AI is tool to better understand a problem so to make data driven decisions. One of the areas where AI is helping the pipe industry is in the field of video processing. The traditional means of CCTV condition assessment presents several challenges including time taken to review the videos and identify defects, the operator subjectivity and field conditions making visual inspections difficult.
The AI models are pre-trained to detect certain anomalies, in this case pipe features and defects. The inspection video is then ingested and inferenced against the trained model. The result is the identification of the type and importance of anomalies.
VAPAR’s AI
Integrating the above-mentioned technologies, the VAPAR.Solutions platform leverages cloud computing and its AI engine to automatically assess inspection videos that users upload. The platform is accessed via any web browser where videos can be uploaded, analysed, manually audited by an expert (if required), with a report generated and stored, eliminating the need for hard drives to back up the video data and corresponding reports.
With this approach, both asset owners and CCTV contractors are reducing the time taken for assessments, standardising the process to remove any subjectivity and utilising AI to deep dive into the data to get better outcomes.
In 2020, VAPAR worked with asset owners in Victoria, Australia, where the results showed that the solution outperformed the same inspection carried out manually. The AI algorithm missed fewer defects and was more accurate in grading the pipes. To date, VAPAR has processed over 3 million images, which means the AI has only become quicker and more accurate.
Industry impact
With the need for the pipe network needing special attention, technology is adding another lens to take a closer look. It’s empowering engineers, operators, and decision-makers to make data driven decisions more cost effectively and proficiently.
Read more about our case studies here: CASE STUDIES
