AI saves West Sussex village from floods

Residents of East Lavington, near Petworth, were at risk of flooding thanks to a build up of fat, oil, grease and other ‘unflushables’ in a sewer – but, thanks to a system of digital sensors, SOuthern Water teams were able to identify and locate the blockage before it could cause any damage.

The water company says blocked sewers are the single biggest cause of pollution incidents – from manholes spilling into streams to gardens filling with sewage, but say the worst kind is internal flooding sewers back up and pour into sinks, showers and loos.

But the 32,000 monitors installed in the area, means Southern Water teams can keep constant tabs on flows and spot anything out of the ordinary which might point to a blockage or leak.

Daniel McElhinney, Proactive Operations Control Manager at Southern Water, said:

“The sensors measure the level of sewage flowing under manholes in blockage hotspots, but the real innovation is how machine learning or artificial intelligence learns the normal behaviour sewers and can tell the difference between morning and evening rushes, rain in the system and a blockage forming.

“Instead of turning up after the event to clean up and commiserate with devastated customers we’re spotting hundreds of potential blockages before it’s too late so our teams can scramble round with high pressure water jets to clear the sewer.”

Most customers do not realise the average suburban sewer is only the diameter of an orange or a tennis ball. It doesn’t take much cooking fat to combine with other ‘unflushables’ such as sanitary products, wet wipes or even ear cleaning sticks, to form a fatberg.

After detecting sewer blockages, our teams call round the neighbourhood to tell them about close calls and educate them on how to keep sewers flowing freely.