As a global leader in the water and waste management sectors, we have been operating for over 160 years all over the world. We provide essential services to protect the resource and improve quality of life wherever we operate.
Your challenges
Infiltration and inflow is any water that spills into wastewater networks or wastewater treatment plants and causes malfunctions. Stormwater is the most common example. It increases the volume of effluent in the system, which should normally only carry wastewater, until it arrives at the treatment plant, where there is a high risk of overflow into the natural environment. Non-domestic polluted water can also be detected, such as industrial wastewater or brackish water.
Identifying the areas subject to infiltration, inflow and pollution within underground networks is often complex and costly, and yet this work is crucial to ensure an efficient asset management, optimise water utilities operation and target investment.
Our solution
The SewerBall® is an innovative tool that allows you to inspect your wastewater networks quickly and safely. The solution relies on a small ball up to 10 cm in diameter, introduced into the wastewater network, where it floats and drifts in order to identify and locate inflow and infiltration, pollutants and temporary or continuous spillage.
The ball collects data from four physicochemical parameters (pH, temperature, conductivity and redox potential), and is linked to a smart algorithm that interprets the data. The information is reported via a remotely accessible platform to give water utilities the means to confidently and rapidly take corrective action. The Sewerball® can also be combined with the SewerBoat® for a more thorough inspection of the network.
An agile solution for simple deployment
- Investigate kilometres in the time that other technologies can only manage 10's of meters.
- Free-floating device that is quick, cost-effective and safe to implement with no need to enter the network.
- Intervention on the network can be carried out in service, with no need for prior cleaning.
A flexible solution to respond to all types of needs
- Usable on all wastewater systems, either urban or rural, in large or small communities, from small pipe diameters (from 300mm or 200mm in some conditions), as long as the network has adequate draught
- Detects all kind of disturbances on the network (inflow and infiltration, pollution, spillage).
- Allows access to hard-to-reach areas.
- Can also be used for natural habitat quality monitoring.
Advanced analysis thanks to a dedicated display interface
- Data interpretation based on an exclusive algorithm, patented by SUEZ.
- Dynamic map and graphs to display the results.
- Automatic report generation
SewerBall: an innovative service that detects sewer network anomalies
Credit: SUEZ group
The benefits for you
Complete effluent control
Control over discharge
Improved asset management
- Check that there are no infiltrations of effluent of abnormal quality.
- Detect clean or industrial water, saline intrusions etc.
Control over discharge
- Dynamic records of water course quality parameters.
- Check that wastewater systems are not having a negative environmental impact.
Improved asset management
- Better knowledge about inaccessible and non-visitable collectors.
- Preliminary diagnostics of areas where clean infiltration water spills into the network.
- Mapping all king of disturbances to enrich knowledge of network assets.