Amherst High-tech Peek at Water Supply
A remote operated vehicle (ROV) took a dip inside the town’s water tanks for a required inspection.
The tanks —each 15 metres tall with a capacity to hold 5.8 million litres— must be inspected every three to five years.
While town staff can easily conduct the exterior inspections, the innards are quite a different story.
In the past, the town would either drain the tanks or hire a specially trained diver for the close-up look. However, both methods are expensive and require the tanks to be disinfected after the process.
The inspections ensure water quality, corrosion control, and structural integrity.
This marked the first inspection of these tanks, which were built in 2017 and commissioned in 2018.
The robot can complete the inspection in about two hours, far more efficiently than the older methods.
The town conducts other steps to ensure water quality including: swabbing the water mains, flushing the water lines, and weekly water sampling.
The photo shows Josh Rodrigues of Greatario Engineered Storage Systems preparing the robot for its inspection dive. Photo by Tom McCoag.
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