Western Australia’s Water Corporation is harnessing the power of virtual reality to ‘walk through’ new assets before they are built, in an effort to eliminate potential safety concerns and faults.  

The Water Corporation now converts design drawings into three-dimensional virtual reality; operators at the corporation’s Northam office recently experienced a 3D walkthrough of the design for wastewater recycling plants at Kellerberrin and Wyalkatchem.

The operators were able to provide feedback to improve the design from an occupational health and safety perspective.

Water Minister Dave Kelly says while the technology is not new, the idea for its use is particularly innovative.

"This is a big step forward in the way the Water Corporation can improve engineering to eliminate potential safety issues during the design process, which saves time and money,” he says.

"As also the Innovation and ICT Minister, it is great to see technology used to improve efficiency and safety for workers."

The corporation is also looking at the potential for virtual reality to be used for other purposes, such as training and testing maintenance programs.