Pipebots for rising mains project

Project highlights

We're working on preventing bursts and protecting the environment. 

Challenge: Inspecting rising mains without disruption

When a toilet is flushed or the tap is run, the wastewater runs off through sewers downhill. If it gets too deep, it needs to be pumped back up against gravity into another section of sewer or to a treatment works. These pumped sections are called rising mains. They run continuously, making it nearly impossible to perform inspections. This presents a challenge in assessing condition and preventing costly and disruptive bursts. 

Solution: Pipebots for Proactive Maintenance

We're investigating how pipebots can revolutionise rising main maintenance. This will be done in phases.

Phase One: Research and feasibility (Complete)

During Phase One we explored how pipebots could travel through pipes. This research was to identify sections that need replacing to target repairs. It will also help reduce the environmental risk from bursts. Some robots exist for this kind of work in the petrochemicals industry. However, these are built to work with different materials and thicknesses of pipe. We reviewed if these can be adapted for the water sector. 

We worked in partnership with the University of Sheffield and Synthotech. As part of the project, we: 

Phase Two: Development and testing (ongoing)

Funding for Phase Two was announced by Ofwat in May 2024.  The next step for our investigation is to build upon the lessons learned during Phase One. We'll revisit and refine the design of our pipebot and its sensors. We'll test pipebots with increasingly harsh environments and more complex configurations of pipe. This includes different materials and navigating tighter corners.

Timeline and collaboration

Phase One ran from July 2022 to November 2023 and was funded by £230,930 from Ofwat. We successfully completed research and feasibility study.

During Phase Two, we'll continue to work in partnership with:

• Synthotech Ltd
• University of Sheffield 
• Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water
• Wessex Water

We're expecting Phase Two to be completed in July 2026.