How Advanced Drone Technology is Solving Inspection Challenges in the Water and Wastewater Industries
Regular, quality inspection of a wide variety of assets within the water and wastewater industries is a core maintenance task. While the use of drones in certain situations is nothing new, the earliest drone technology often threw up more challenges than they solved.
Today, cutting-edge solutions, such as the Elios 3 BVLOS Drone, are leading the way to carry out fast, effective, cost-reducing inspections that reshape the complete NDT testing blueprint.
From Sewers to Cooling Towers, the Elios 3 Advantage Works in Virtually Every Environment
Previous drone limitations included short flight times, poor payload, the inability to fly out of the line of direct sight, poor manoeuvring abilities and a distinct lack of technology to allow flights to take place in enclosed spaces.
Flyability offers a revolutionary solution to all these challenges with the versatile Elios platform. Now upgraded to a third iteration, this unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is successfully being used as an inspection tool in a wide variety of scenarios.
One excellent example is highlighted by global water company, Veolia, and the outstanding results achieved using the Elios 3’s groundbreaking technology. Well-versed in the utilisation of drone-led inspection processes, the company updated its UAV portfolio with the purchase of this unique, integral-caged flying data collection vehicle. The aim was to use it to improve the safety and efficiency of their vast sewer network.
The company has long been a fan of the Elios technology, first using the original platform back in 2016. As an early adopter, the company is perfectly placed to define the advantages and cost reductions today’s advanced Elios drone brings.
The original aim was to take advantage of a drone technology that was:
- Easy to fly.
- Could solve the constraints of a complex environment, such as a sewer network.
- Removed the need to send humans into high-risk enclosed spaces.
Having used the original Elios, the upgraded Elios 2 and now the cutting-edge capabilities of Elios 3, the company has reported incredible results.
These can be summarised as:
- A faster, streamlined inspection process: Inspections can be carried out over a much shorter timescale. Elios 3’s incredible data visualisation and collection (thanks to the 4K camera and LiDAR technology that’s compatible with Veolia’s GIS systems and georeferencing) provides superior imaging and information. Using the drone also reduces or completely removes the need to clean or prepare the area prior to inspection. This means that the resources required to carry out an inspection are dramatically reduced and the reporting tools quickly return results in compliance with the EN 13508 norm.
- Increases inspection abilities: In addition to solving the complex interior geography challenges of sewer networks, Elios 3 can be used to inspect many other assets. This includes storage basins and aeration passes – areas that have historically been difficult or impossible to gain full access to.
- Dramatically reducing risk: The Elios 3 removes the need for confined space human entry or the requirement to work at height.
- More accurate, higher profile data capture: The quality of data returned by the advanced tools of the Elios 3 is second to none. Using semi-autonomous drone technology removes the risk of human error, providing reliable information that’s readily sorted into recognisable and shareable charts and models at the touch of a button.
- Allows for proactive inspection and a better understanding of mean-time-before-failure (MTBF): The cost and ease of Elios 3 deployment allows for more regular inspections. This reduces the likelihood of unexpected asset failure and easier analysis of exactly when maintenance needs to take place.
- Reduced maintenance costs and an increased bottom line: The Veolia sewer network example returned a 40% reduction in inspection costs and a 50% reduction in the length of time it took to complete the process.
Together, these benefits are playing a significant role in how the company is streamlining efficiency and reducing costs – a crucial factor in remaining ahead of competitors in an increasingly competitive playing field.
Veolia Water reports that the Elios 3 is in daily use and plays a key role in tackling many industry challenges.
Nexxis leads the way in providing custom solutions and innovative technology to solve even the most complex of customers’ NDT challenges. Contact us today to arrange a demonstration of the Elios 3 or other advanced drone and RVI technology.
