Wokingham Borough Council to Implement Smart Drain Sensors
24-01-2021 | By Robin Mitchell
Recently, Wokingham Borough Council announced that it would be using smart sensors in drains to help fight against flooding. How can flooding be prevented, why are smart sensors a potential solution, and what does this mean for smart cities in general?
Why is flooding easy and hard to stop?
Natural disasters are some of the many forces that humankind cannot stop. Whether it is a hurricane with 150mph winds or a volcanic eruption, people either avoid the disaster entirely or build defences to mitigate against the damage.
The UK is very fortunate in that it does not experience hurricanes, its tornados are laughable, and lightning is often welcomed just to bring a little excitement into everyday life. However, many parts of the UK can experience flooding, and this flooding can come at very short notice.
Flooding in the UK is an unusual natural disaster; it is both easy and hard to mitigate. If an area is known to flood at some point, barriers can easily be erected to prevent damage. However, such barriers can be expensive, and when considering that areas that will flood can be hard to predict many feel that the cost of barriers is not justified.
But flooding is not just about too much rain and lack of barriers; poor drainage can lead to severe flooding simply because the water has nowhere to go. Ensuring that gutters and storm drains are free from debris is a good method for minimising flood risk, but checking if drains are clear can be challenging.
Wokingham Borough Council Announces New Smart Devices
Recently, Wokingham Borough Council announced that it would be testing smart ultrasonic sensors on drains in Earley to see their effectiveness. The sensors will be used to detect blocked drains, silt levels, and waver levels, all of which can be used to determine the state of the drain. Early warnings can be made about potential flooding areas that can provide the council time to prepare for oncoming rain and storms properly.
However, such sensors go further than flooding; it can also provide better environmental management. Flooded drains don’t simply cause flooding; they can block roads and cause congestion. Since most cars in the UK operate on fossil fuels, congested traffic leads to an increase in emissions and pollutants to the surrounding areas. Thus, if drains are kept clear, then congestion is lowered as a result of better condition roads.
According to the Council, the sensors will be deployed until the end of 2021 to see their effectiveness and determine if such sensors should continue to be deployed.
The Beginnings of Smart Cities
When people think of smart cities, they think of intelligent cars with traffic lights that help ease traffic while also providing internet services to lampposts and walkers. However, before any of these systems can be deployed, the underlying technology needs to be developed and tested.
In the case of Wokingham Borough Council, smart drains make the perfect candidate. These devices may prevent significant damage caused by floods, improve environmental conditions, and prove that IoT technologies can help make smart cities a reality. Once established, there will be an incentive to invest in IoT technologies for improving city services, and from there, the avalanche of technology will quickly transform everyday city life.
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