The maintenance of sanitation systems, whether public or private, is crucial for ensuring the proper functioning of infrastructure and safeguarding public health and the environment. However, this sector faces numerous challenges, including geographical constraints, high costs, and the complexity of field service management.
In recent years, the advent of remote visual support has offered an innovative solution, optimizing the management of both preventive and corrective maintenance. By facilitating real-time diagnostics and reducing travel, this technology enhances the efficiency of teams while extending the lifespan of equipment.
Context and challenges of sanitation system maintenance
Description of sanitation systems and their crucial role
Sanitation systems are responsible for the collection, transport, and treatment of domestic and industrial wastewater, playing a fundamental role in protecting public health and the environment.
In France, approximately 84% of the population is served by collective sanitation networks, according to the Water Information Service (SISPEA) report. This service helps prevent soil and water resource contamination while reducing the risks of diseases caused by poor wastewater management.
Maintenance challenges: service continuity, prevention of breakdowns, associated costs
Regular maintenance of sanitation infrastructure is essential to ensure service continuity.
In 2021, spending on collective sanitation reached 14.1 billion euros in France, representing about 90% of the costs related to wastewater management (Ministry of Ecological Transition). These investments are necessary to prevent breakdowns that could lead to overflow or untreated discharges into the environment, causing economic and health damage. Additionally, proactive maintenance helps extend the lifespan of equipment and avoid costly repairs.
Geographical and logistical constraints faced by technicians
Technicians responsible for the maintenance of sanitation networks face significant logistical challenges.
Infrastructure often spans vast areas, including remote and hard-to-access rural zones. Underground systems such as sewers and pumping stations require specific work orders that may be hindered by weather conditions or limited access. Coordinating field teams, ensuring the availability of spare parts, and managing emergencies require meticulous planning to prevent prolonged service interruptions.
Advantages of remote visual support for preventive maintenance
Reduction in travel and optimization of technician time
Remote visual support allows technicians specialized in sanitation network maintenance to reduce travel time. This optimizes their working hours and reduces the costs associated with physical work orders, such as inspecting sewer pipes or managing lifting pumps.
With this technology, technicians can cover a larger geographic area, intervening at multiple sites within the same day without traveling. This time-saving also contributes to more sustainable resource management and a reduction in the carbon footprint of operations.
Facilitation of real-time diagnostics with expert support
During work orders on sanitation networks, such as maintaining treatment plants or verifying sewer system compliance, remote visual support enables real-time diagnostics via video feeds.
Technicians can show experts the exact condition of equipment (pumps, valves, filters, etc.) and receive immediate feedback on necessary actions. This remote support helps quickly resolve issues such as blockages, leaks, or anomalies in the stormwater collection system, avoiding prolonged downtime and ensuring service continuity.
Improved field service management through better problem preview
With remote visual support, technicians can preview problems within sanitation systems before physically visiting the site, especially for diagnostics in underground pipes. This allows for better preparation by identifying equipment to replace (e.g., faulty valves or lifting pumps) or areas needing cleaning (e.g., pipe flushing).
Thus, a more accurate prior evaluation improves work planning, avoids unnecessary work orders, and ensures effective resource management (materials, spare parts, personnel). This optimized planning reduces logistical costs while ensuring faster and more targeted work orders.
Contribution of remote visual support to corrective maintenance
Speed of work orders in case of breakdowns or emergencies
Remote visual support enables rapid work order in case of breakdowns or emergencies in sanitation systems, reducing response times.
When a malfunction occurs in a sewer network or pumping station, technicians can immediately use remote visual support to assess the situation from a distance. This allows for identifying critical issues such as a broken pump or a blockage in a pipe, and guiding corrective actions without waiting for a technician to physically arrive on-site.
This time-saving is crucial for quickly restoring service and minimizing impact on users.
Direct support for complex repairs
Remote visual support offers direct support for complex repairs, allowing technicians to communicate in real-time with remote experts.
For example, when working on sophisticated equipment like water treatment systems or regulating valves in sanitation networks, an expert can guide the technician on-site through each step of the repair.
This support helps overcome technical challenges without requiring the expert to travel, ensuring faster resolution of complex breakdowns while reducing travel-related costs.
Reduction of system downtime and improved responsiveness
With remote visual support, system downtime in sanitation networks is significantly reduced because work orders can begin immediately after a problem is detected.
By optimizing diagnostic and repair processes, technicians can quickly restore faulty equipment, such as lifting pumps or filters in treatment plants. This increased responsiveness not only improves the reliability of sanitation systems but also minimizes health and environmental risks associated with prolonged breakdowns.
Impact on the efficiency and sustainability of sanitation systems
Remote visual support brings significant benefits to the maintenance of sanitation systems, not only by optimizing daily operations but also by contributing to the long-term sustainability of infrastructure. The main impacts of this technology on the efficiency and longevity of sanitation systems include:
- More efficient resource management: Remote visual support allows for better planning of work orders, optimizing the use of technicians and equipment, and reducing unnecessary travel.
- Extended equipment lifespan: Quick diagnostics and regular preventive maintenance help prevent premature wear of equipment like pumps and valves, reducing replacement costs.
- Reduction of carbon footprint: The reduction of physical travel through remote visual support contributes to lower CO2 emissions, making operations more eco-friendly and economically sustainable.
Future prospects and potential innovations
Evolution of remote visual support technologies
Remote visual support technologies continue to evolve rapidly, with notable improvements in connectivity, image quality, and latency.
Devices used for remote visual support are becoming lighter, more powerful, and more affordable, providing a smoother experience for technicians in the field. Moreover, future developments should include better integration with 5G networks and high-speed connectivity, allowing for even faster and more reliable data exchanges, offering more effective remote work orders.
Integration with Artificial Intelligence and Augmented Reality
The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Augmented Reality (AR) represents a major breakthrough for remote visual support in sanitation system maintenance.
AI could be used to analyze video feeds in real time, automatically detect anomalies, and suggest repair solutions. Meanwhile, Augmented Reality would enable contextual information to be overlaid directly on the technician’s field of view, facilitating complex repairs by guiding the operator step by step with visual instructions and additional data, such as diagrams or AI-based recommendations.
Expansion potential into other field service management sectors
Innovations in remote visual support are not limited to sanitation system maintenance. This technology has great potential for expansion into other sectors of field service management, such as the maintenance of energy infrastructure, telecommunications networks, or even complex industrial facilities.
Expanding these technologies would allow for a wider range of maintenance situations to be covered, thus increasing efficiency across diverse sectors while addressing the specific challenges of each domain, such as emergency management or operational cost optimization.
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