Scottish Water has revealed it is deploying state-of-the-art drones to monitor sewers across the country.

By harnessing drones fitted with laser technology, the utility firm hopes to assess conditions inside sewers more accurately and identify issues that traditional surveying methods can’t.

The pioneering drones are equipped with LiDAR technology, which is used to scan sewer walls and identify common issues such as cracks or holes, partial collapses and root ingress.

Long-term, Scottish Water says the use of these technologies will make sewers “more resilient”, improve services and reduce the risk of leaks or environmental pollution.

The move will also help cut carbon emissions by reducing the number of staff at certain jobs.

National roll-out

The Scottish Water drones were deployed for the first time on a large brick sewer in Glasgow’s Bath Street earlier this year.

Plans are underway to roll out the technology at other locations in Glasgow, as well as in Edinburgh, Aberdeen and some rural areas throughout the country.

Iain Jones, Risk and Life Cycle Planning Manager at Scottish Water said the deployment marks an exciting development for the utility firm and its use of technology in day-to-day operations.

“This is the first time we’ve used drones adapted for sewers and LiDAR together for sewer surveys and we are really excited about it,” he said.

We’re using drone and laser technology to inspect Scotland’s sewer network, often mapping inside tunnels unreachable by humans. Watch our amazing drone footage 👀 #scotclimateweek @ScotGovNetZero @ScottishEPA #LetsDoNetZero More info: https://t.co/ezdsLZvDgQ pic.twitter.com/kUvcbB9mqG

— Scottish Water (@scottish_water) September 28, 2022

Using drones requires just two workers compared to traditional methods, which typically requires teams of up to 15 workers at a time.

A worker pilots the drone as it flies along the pipe, using video footage for visual inspection and LiDAR for measurements. The outputs are then manually reviewed by operators to spot and code the defects.

Scottish Water said the deployment will cut the cost of repairs and maintenance, but also enhance safety by reducing the number of workers required to go below ground.

While sewer networks are being gradually modernised across Britain, many date back to the Victorian era and have previously been difficult to access.

Jones explained: “We want to improve the accuracy of our surveys and, for safety reasons, we want to reduce the number of workers needed to carry out survey work inside sewers.

“The drone does both – and they will also help us in our aim to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2040.”

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Shauna Herron, Director of Environmental Techniques, commented: “We’re delighted to be working with Scottish Water, CWA and Good Friday Robotics on the adaptation of these cutting-edge technologies to help maintain and improve the network of sewers under the streets of our cities and towns.

“The fact that it will also improve workers’ safety and reduce carbon emissions is really important.”

While the use of drones does cut the number of staff required during certain projects, Scottish Water insisted the roll-out will not pose a risk to jobs.

Workers who have been conducting surveys in a traditional ‘worker-entry’ way will be redeployed to other tasks, the company said.

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