SewerSense: automatic measuring within the sewer system
Scientists of Leiden University and Technical University Delft are going to predict how and where defects in sewer systems arise. They are working with light sensitive camera’s, based on new automated multi-sensor inspection with stereo vision and laser range scanning. Their models are going to process the data immediately.
About 100.000 km of sewer pipe is present in the Dutch soil. This gigantic network is essential for our national health. Defects to the sewer system must therefore be found and restored quickly, but monitoring the system is an intensive and expensive task.
At this moment, sewer pipes are inspected one every ten years, on average. With techniques such as video, the pipes are checked by hand in several phases. Often, the technical state and possible defects are not well visible. Let alone that the size of the defect becomes clear and which actions are necessary.
Computer science and sanitary engineering
In the SewerSense project, sanitary engineers of the TU Delft and computer scientists from Leiden University, want to combine the data of different sensors. They want to automize and improve the inspection of the Dutch sewer system. This will increase the probability to find specific defects, and the precision of the measurements. Defects are found quicker, without burdening the human inspectors.
Read more about the SewerSense project.