en.Wedoany.com Reported - Southern Water's smart sewer system in the UK has achieved over 4,000 interventions in the past year, enabling teams to clear blockages in advance and prevent pollution incidents from occurring.

Blocked sewers are the primary cause of pollution incidents, potentially leading to manhole overflows into streams, gardens flooded with sewage, and sewer back-ups causing internal flooding. Approximately 34,000 sewer level monitors allow Southern Water to continuously check water flow, identifying any anomalies that might indicate a developing blockage or leak. The most common causes of blockages are wet wipes flushed down toilets, and cooking grease, oil, and fat poured down sinks instead of being disposed of properly.

Since last April, Southern Water has dealt with 47 incidents of tree roots piercing or blocking pipes, but this number is relatively small compared to the 1,729 blockages caused by wet wipes and other "unflushable" items. In a recent case in Whitstable, the smart sewer system detected a blockage formed by tree root intrusion into a pipe, which, if left untreated, would have caused a manhole to overflow with sewage.

Daniel McIlhenny, Southern Water's Proactive Operations Control Manager, said: "Our smart sensors measure the level of sewage flow below manholes in blockage hotspot areas. However, the real innovation lies in how machine learning or artificial intelligence learns the normal behaviour of a sewer and can distinguish between morning and evening peaks, rainfall in the system, and a blockage that is forming." He further explained: "Instead of arriving on site after an incident to clean up and sympathise with affected customers, we are now identifying hundreds of potential blockages before they become irreversible situations, so our teams can quickly deploy with high-pressure water jets to clear the sewer."

After detecting a smart sewer blockage, Southern Water's teams also visit the community to inform residents of the near miss and educate them on how to keep the sewers flowing freely.

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