Northumbrian Water is turning to drones to carry out water quality samples along the region’s rivers and coastal waters.
The water company has announced a trial alongside cloud data experts Makutu in what is being billed as a “world first”.
If successful, Northumbrian claims that the trial could pave the way for real-time water quality data to be made available to the public.
The scheme will see unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) used to routinely sample and carry out real-time water quality assessments.
Currently, the company is only able to survey water quality by sending people to manually take water samples from sites.
Northumbrian said this can prove difficult when sites are long distances away, in very rural areas and in inclement weather conditions.
Consequently, Northumbrian expects to see a number of potential benefits from the drone study, such as improved access to hard-to-reach areas, reduced carbon footprint, more data over a larger area and much faster results.
Researchers also hope that better monitoring will mean that local water quality results can be made readily available to the public, in near real-time.
Angela MacOscar, head of innovation at Northumbrian Water, said: “Protecting the environment and improving river and coastal water quality is a top priority for us.
“UAV technology is very exciting and harnessing the power of UAVs to collect data efficiently and accurately certainly appears to be a promising one. Data on what is happening in our environment is crucial to making informed decisions.”
The study is still in its infancy, with several key challenges to overcome before it can get properly underway. These include figuring out how the drones will collect samples, how they will measure a range of water quality indicators and how this knowledge can be used to help the company identify and respond to any potential issues.
James Sumsion, chief executive of Makutu, said: “We are thrilled to have been selected by Northumbrian Water to explore how innovation, UAV’s and Ai data capabilities can help them execute on their ambition to have the cleanest Rivers and Beaches in the country.
“The provision of near real time data to the public will further serve to build public trust and confidence in the excellent bio-diversity progress being made.”
The first drone flight tests are expected to take place later this year and throughout next year, with a potential full roll-out in 2025.