Local governments can potentially halve their stormwater drainage condition assessment costs by utilising fixed view camera technology.  

John Thomson has 50 years' experience in the stormwater drainage business – first installing them, then pioneering the use of fixed view cameras to assist with managing the asset. 

He says while CCTV is often used for stormwater drainage condition assessment, fixed view cameras provide a far more cost-effective solution.

“You can cover twice the amount of asset in up to half the time as CCTV, so it’s very cost effective, and you can get a good indication of the pipes from that. It starts you on the process,” he says.

Thomson will be just one of the presenters at IPWEA’s Stormwater Drainage Condition Assessment and Asset Performance Workshops, being held around Australia from September 28.

Thomson says zoom cameras can help inspection crews make better decisions about where to allocate CCTV and cleaning resources, and how to prioritise rehabilitation work. 

“My experience had shown me that up to 80% of drains are in a reasonably good condition – around 15% just have required maintenance issues like cleaning the pipes,” he says.

“Then there are approximately 5% that actually needed repair/replacement. The idea of the fixed view camera is to give you a quick snapshot of the condition of the pipe, and give you a score based on one to five. Anything three and above, the asset manager needs to look at that pipe and recommend what the next step will be.”

Although, as a fixed camera, access can be a limiting factor, Thomson says the main challenge of using the technology is deviation in the pipes.

“Deviation of the pipe is an issue, because it’s just a still camera that has a zoom lens – the zoom lens will only go as far as the pipe’s visible,” he says.

“The solution is to go to the pipe upstream and look back to where you were before.”

The benefits, however, outweigh any limitations.

“It cuts down the cost, and it gives you an indication of what the next step in the process would be,” Thomson says.

The technology can also be integrated with a geographic information system (GIS) to provide a more thorough picture of the asset’s condition.

An Action Pipeline for stormwater drainage condition assessment will also be presented during the workshops.

The Stormwater Drainage Condition Assessment Workshops will be held: 

Perth – Wed, 28 Sept
Sydney – Mon, 17 Oct
Melbourne – Tues, 18 Oct
Launceston – Wed, 19 Oct
Adelaide – Fri, 21 Oct
Brisbane – Mon, 24 Oct

Contact IPWEA directly about our in-house training options.