The problem with poop drones
We talked to two of our experts, a licensed drone pilot and a sewer maintenance supervisor, about flights, flow, and the future of related tech.
Our social media followers often catch trends before we do, which means when Wired featured a story on dung drones recently, our subsequent mentions had us taking a closer look.
Wired’s Sam Kieldsen penned an article on “poop drones” and how recent technological advancements were enabling drones to maximize safety and efficiency for sewer inspections. Our own staff of sewer professionals includes multiple sewer maintenance managers and five licensed drone pilots, so when followers asked us for our thoughts on the article, I preferred to go to the experts.
And they responded, sharing the opinion that poop drones have potential problems — but, with that, promise, based on our own drone successes to date.
Josh Jeffi is a supervisor of our Sewer System Maintenance & Operation team where safety and efficiency are paramount. So when there are opportunities to better protect people and property, we don’t hesitate. For years, we have relied on sewer inspections using video rovers, safely giving crews at the surface access to high-quality imagery of hard-to-reach sewers. But even these rigs are tethered to a truck with cable connections that don’t risk dead batteries or lost signals while remaining retrievable during inspections.’
“We have such an investment with our standard equipment,” like our video truck, wheeled rovers, and operator certifications, he explained, “that our discussions about sewer drones has been more of ‘That would be cool’ conversation, at least so far.”
Those conversations have been with Ron Maichle, our drone-licensed Process Analyst who oversees a team of four other licensed drone operators. They have primary duties in our water quality division, but are able to navigate drones for various in-house requests because drones do have a present and a future in utilities. We’ve activated drones for stream and site inspections and 3-D asset mapping and have the capability to support HAZMAT response if needed, but these engagements have been limited to the air at the surface, rather than underground.
“Drones don’t like water,” Ron said plainly. “In our work, we’re using the technology in a way that benefits the Sewer District without risking the investment.” Our video rigs, in contrast, are designed to work in all conditions and overcome debris and signal barriers that can cause drones to struggle.
“I would not doubt, though, over the next decade this type technology will become more cost efficient and common in sewer inspections,” Josh said.
And Ron agreed. “The technology is advancing quickly and we stay up to date on the latest resources and capabilities. Our drones already offer a lot of benefit on the surface, and if that can extend to underground in the future, we’d explore it.”
