Weekly Brief

3 Ways Drones Facilitate Wastewater Treatment

By Utilities Tech Outlook | Friday, June 05, 2020

Drones prove to address a wide range of challenges faced by water treatment plants.

FREMONT, CA: The existing treatment facilities face challenges that impact the quality of water. Cost of treatment, energy consumption, and infrastructure limitations are just a few issues treatment facilities have to address to ensure that clean water is accessible to their respective municipalities. Many of these challenges can be addressed with the aid of drones, which offer a new opportunity for wastewater plants to protect and streamline the delivery of clean water. Drones will enable the plant managers to gather previously unknown data via aerial videos and photos. Further, drones also enable an inexpensive and efficient inspection of sites. Here are some of the other primary advantages of drones when it comes to wastewater treatment.

Enhanced Testing Processes

Traditionally, it required weeks to gather information for water testing at treatment facilities. However, with drones, comprehensive site data can be collected within hours. Such real-time insights can not only enhance the efficacy of the treatment plants but also play an instrumental role in avoiding failures or even disasters.

3D Mapping and Photogrammetry

Plant managers can gain highly detailed 3D maps with the aid of aerial imaging. Further, photogrammetry technology can be used for better site surveying. These capabilities will enable plant managers to leverage data-driven insights. Such insights will result in better management of the treatment facility and can also be used for training technicians.

Increased Worker Safety

Despite the safety measures taken by the employees at the treatment plants, accidents do happen. For instance, the inspection-based task is dangerous as well as time-consuming for humans. Leveraging drones for the same task requires just minutes without the need for exposing a human to dangerous environments.

Water treatment is increasingly using drones to enhance its operational efficacy and ensure safety compliance during inspection procedures.

Check out: Top Drone Technology Companies