ARUP were selected as TechFest winners for the ‘Best Use of Technology: Whole Life Performance’ Award for the project, ‘Unlocking the power of AI to achieve early blockage detection in sewer networks’ at the TechFest Awards 2023, powered by Construction News and New Civil Engineer.

ARUP designed an AI-powered predictive modelling algorithm in partnership with Anaeko for Northern Ireland Water, with the aim of achieving early blockage detection within their network.

Blockages in sewer networks and surcharge-related flooding pose a major challenge to wastewater companies and cost millions per year in repair work.

ARUP developed an AI-powered predictive modelling algorithm for early blockage detection in NI Water’s network. The algorithm aims to enable NI Water’s technical operations teams to arrive on site before blockage events can cause any significant impact to the network.

As part of the overall project outcomes Anaeko partnered with ARUP, as a specialist data engineering company, to provide expertise on PowerBI Dashboard reporting. After user research and stakeholder interviews, through our UX process, we produced dashboard designs and documentation that can be used as groundwork for future development of a PowerBI centralised platform.

The benefits of a centralised system, where NI Water could access their blockage data, alerts, and predictions, include reduced environmental impacts from unintended pollution or spills, improved regulatory compliance and increased customer satisfaction.

Find out more about the TechFest Awards: TechFest 2023 Winners