Build System Redundancy
Background
A council we work with has installed Heed units in known problem areas across their region, including a manhole beside a freshwater stream.
Located on the same sewer line, 20 metres downstream from this manhole is a pump station. The council has also installed an ultrasonic detection unit (not Heed) to alert them to blockages at this pump station.
Problem
When this pump station blocked, the installed ultrasonic unit failed to detect and alert the council to the blockage - reason unknown.
Outcome
Our upstream Heed unit saw the pipe as it backfilled and sent an automated alert to the council’s maintenance team. This allowed the team to quickly identify and clear the pump station blockage, saving the council a costly and messy discharge to water.
Lesson 1
Redundancy in your protecting your in ground equipment is never a bad thing. Heed monitors your vaults for infiltration across a wide variety of equipment e.g. air valves, pump chambers, carbon beds.
Lesson 2
Heed uses a binary system (there either is or isn’t liquid) to avoid these sorts of failures. When developing Heed, our council partners specifically requested no ultrasonic tech because they know it’s costly and prone to rapid degradation in our operating environment.