Fly, swim or crawl your way to safer work conditions

For workers in the water sector, inherent workplace conditions expose them to daily potential for serious injury. Working in the confined spaces under city streets often comes with awkward postures, incessant vibrations, extreme temperatures, and hazardous gases that can injure. For workers dealing with chemicals or risking exposure to known viruses, bacteria, protozoa, and parasites, the risks become even more complicated. Physical inspection of tanks, pipes, and reservoirs — regardless of provided safety precautions — often require workers to step into environments that carry these risks as well as potential for catastrophic physical traumas.As a result, safety is a necessity. While strict adherence to departmental safety protocols and the proper deployment of personal protective equipment can reduce injuries, the only way to truly eliminate these types of injuries is to keep workers from entering those dangerous environments in the first place.However, such a simple proposition, proves more difficult in real-world application. How does a utility actually inspect and repair small-diameter pipes, investigate sediment buildup in holding tanks, or evaluate a collapsed pipe or sewer tunnel without deploying personnel into that very dangerous situation?Historically, these projects often called for entire system segments to be taken off-line, tanks to be drained, or heavy equipment to dig up entire city blocks. Now, the burgeoning drone industry is bringing numerous purpose-built solutions to the aid of water and wastewater agencies looking for safer, more efficient, and more affordable options.