The Challenge

Wastewater utilities play a critical role in managing a city-wide network that transports wastewater and rainwater to treatment facilities through sewer manholes distributed across the urban landscape. Sewer level changes in this network serve as indicators of potential backflow into consumer properties and the risk of combined sewer overflow, which poses environmental, public health, and infrastructure challenges. Overflow incidents are typically triggered by heavy rainfall, aging infrastructure, or blockages like debris or tree roots obstructing wastewater pipes. To mitigate these issues and avoid regulatory penalties, there's a growing emphasis on deploying monitoring solutions for early warning. A key method involves using float switches that trigger alerts when sewer levels rise, with modern IoT solutions providing remote notifications. However, installing telemetry equipment in sewer manholes presents challenges due to harsh environmental conditions, chemical exposure, and the need for self-sufficient power and communication capabilities for effective wastewater network management and overflow prevention.