Smart Inspection Tool Trial Speeds Up Sewer Network Repairs

Yorkshire Water is trialling smarter sewer inspection technology to increase collaboration across its teams and ensure sewer problems are fixed quickly and efficiently.

The company has implemented WinCan Web, a cloud-based platform, that allows its technicians to share video, images and information with colleagues and senior engineers based elsewhere.

CCTV footage and images taken underground can be uploaded and accessed remotely by teams on site, at home or in the office, allowing input from more people to ensure an issue is solved while teams are visiting a customer's home.

Nathan Clayton, a technical specialist at Yorkshire Water, said: “Customers contacting us about sewer blockages want their problem fixed quickly and rely on us to get to the root of the problem.

“This technology allows our teams to share images and information with in-house specialists to use their expertise to identify the problem and find a solution, whether that be a blockage, a collapsed sewer or an issue in a difficult to access section of our network.

“By sharing information quickly across our specialist teams were able to work together to get the best result for our customers first time around, improving efficiency and reducing the impact on customers.”

The technology will also be used by Yorkshire Water’s network protection teams to show customers how blockages have been caused and help them understand ways to avoid similar incidents in the future.

Paul Woodhouse, WinCan Europe managing director, said: “We are delighted to assist our partner Yorkshire Water in its drive for first time resolution. Clarity of data delivered business-wide instantly from site will allow decisions to be made faster than ever before.

“The WinCan WEB portal allows all this from a simple interface that fits from senior water company engineer to domestic householder. As the saying goes ‘a picture (or data & video) speak a thousand words’.”

About Yorkshire Water 
manages the collection, treatment and distribution of water in the region, supplying around 1.24 billion litres of drinking water to over 5 million people every day. We have 2,500 colleagues and rely on a huge network of more than 700 treatment works, 130 reservoirs and 62,000 miles of mains to transport water around the whole county using our unique grid system.

To keep such a complex system working effectively we've got to constantly invest in it, that's why between 2015 and 2020 we'll be putting £3.8B back into the local economy.

But we're more than just a water company, we're also the second largest landowner in Yorkshire with 80,000 acres of land, and we welcome thousands of visitors to some of the most scenic spots that you'll find anywhere in Yorkshire every year. Our company vision is "taking care of the water environment for good"