Sewer, corrosion and odour

Sewer systems protect both public and environmental health, by collecting and transporting domestic and industrial wastewaters to treatment plants for pollutant removal. Sewer management is currently reactive but should be more proactive, which requires digitalisation for network-wide monitoring and real-time control. The current roadblock for the digitalisation of sewer management is the lack of advanced algorithms for the systematic analysis and integrated use of network-wide monitoring data.

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) generation in sewers and its’ emission during wastewater transport therein are the major causes of sewer odour and corrosion problems.

Wastewater-based epidemiology is an internationally recognised cost-effective tool to monitor population exposure to chemicals and infectious diseases including Covid-19. However, in-sewer degradation of critical biomarkers can limit their wastewater-based epidemiology suitability.