Yorkshire Water adds cutting-edge sewer technology to fleet

Yorkshire Water has added new lateral CCTV vans to its fleet of vehicles, which will help its teams investigate the sewer network more effectively.

Improved CCTV technology means teams operating the vans can survey 300 metres of the main sewer, as well as 45m of lateral sewer towards properties, enabling problems to be identified and resolved quicker.

Yorkshire Water’s teams have worked with IPEK to bring the innovative lateral launch cameras into the fleet. The lateral camera is attached to a crawler, which can remotely transport it up a sewer where it can be launched into the lateral sewer.

The new technology means problems accessing sewers from properties can be eliminated. This will allow teams to complete repairs on private assets, improve the mapping of the sewer network, enable improved responses to misconnections and provide better value to money for Yorkshire Water customers.

Thomas Ogden, innovation specialist at Yorkshire Water, said: “We’re constantly looking at ways of improving the service we offer to our customers. There is only a handful of these cameras in operation around the country and they will ensure we can quickly diagnose and resolve problems reported by customers, without the need to access properties.”

Douglas Kemp, UK general manager at IPEK, said: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with Yorkshire Water especially in the innovation side of our business. For many years there has been a need for a system to gain access for inspection where previously not been possible. Our lateral launch solution offers this and more. It gives Yorkshire Water the ability to look deeper into pollution, mapping and concealed services. We look forward to supporting Yorkshire Water in the future and bringing them further innovation in this area.”