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Electro Scan (UK) Ltd. announced today that the company has been awarded an additional 50km (31mi) sewer condition assessment project for Southern Water, working under Framework Contractor, Cappagh Browne.
Last year Electro Scan (UK) Ltd. carried out their first large project for British-based Southern Water covering 51km (31mi) of sewer condition assessment.
In total, Electro Scan’s partnership with Southern Water & Cappagh Browne has accumulated 130km (81mi) of sewer assessments over the last 2.5 years.
International sewer agencies traditionally used high-resolution closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras to evaluate sewer and storm drainage pipes.
But, CCTV’s inability to accurately assess leak locations at pipe joints, water tightness of service tap connections, and cracks in the pipe wall, often incorrectly diagnoses infiltration points, i.e. where wet weather can enter and overwhelm sewer pipes, contributing to ongoing and unresolved sewer overflows, back-ups, and residential flooding.
In contrast, Electro Scan’s patented technology assesses 360-degree of a pipe’s wall, automatically determining leakage rates in litres per second or gallons per minute, for defective joints, cracks, and water tightness of connected service taps.
Location and quantification of all entry and exit leak locations represents a key differentiator between Electro Scan and CCTV, including the ability to tell the difference between superficial cracks and cracks that penetrate a pipe wall.
Electro Scan is also able to assess newly lined Cured In Place Pipes (CIPP) for water tightness; results unavailable using Acoustic Sensors, CCTV, Data Loggers, Electro-Magnetic, or Satellite leak detection tools.
Brad Weston, Managing Director UK of Electro Scan (UK) Ltd. said “The partnership we have built with Southern Water & Cappagh Browne over the last few years has grown stronger and stronger.”
“In 2022, Electro Scan was awarded the Location, Detection and Inspection Award by UKSTT working with these two great companies and it’s no surprise to see more work coming down the pipeline,” stated Weston.
Cappagh Browne’s Paul Purton stated, “It’s been great working with Electro Scan (UK) over the last 12 months delivering the last project of 51km sewer condition assessment.”
“It’s been refreshing to champion this kind of technology in our fight against groundwater infiltration, and the results have been having a positive impact across the nine (9) catchments we covered. Hopefully, Electro Scan gets put on more people’s radars and make them aware of what benefits the technology can bring to them,” stated Purton.
British-based Southern Water provides essential water services to 2.6 million customers and wastewater services to more than 4.6 million customers across Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Last year, revenues totaled £823 million (US$992 million).
The UK Electro Scan Team has been using a combination of tools to complete the projects, including the ES-400 Push Rod which can go up to 115m (377ft) and the ES-600 Van-based system which can travel up to 300m (984ft).
Join UK MD Brad Weston and Electro Scan Inc. CEO Chuck Hansen next week in London where they will be showcasing their technology at the World Water-Tech Innovation Forum, at the Hilton London Bankside, 21-22 February 2023.
In addition to discussing the benefits of its electrical resistance-based technology, Electro Scan will also introduce the company’s newest product, SWORDFISH, that accurately locates buried lead pipe and helps eliminate contamination to drinking water supplies.
“CCTV had a good run during the last 50 years, especially with the help of AI programs that deliver consistent pipe readings,” stated Electro Scan’s Chuck Hansen. “Seeing pipe debris, fatburgs, and alignment issues will continue to help schedule periodic cleaning and maintenance.”
“But, CCTV should no longer be used to rank or prioritise repairs and rehabilitation due to the incomplete nature of its analysis — whether based on AI or manual defect coding — that are confined to only seeing the inside of a pipe,” stated Hansen.
“In fact, what AI really showed was how marginal CCTV data had become, showing the limitation of condition rating systems that only addressed the inside of a pipe,” stated Hansen.
Representing the first crossover technology able to assess gravity sewers, rising mains, and pressurized water mains, the same market disruption Electro Scan is causing in the sewer condition assessment market, is already underway in the water pipeline condition assessment market where the company’s technology routinely locates and quantifies leaks not found by acoustic sensors and data loggers.