Sewer blockages: Predicting the unpredictable
Published 23 November 2021
Event date/time: Tuesday, 30 November 2021, 16:00 – 17:00 GMT
The water industry is facing a huge challenge to reduce the number of flooding and pollution incidents that occur. Recent news articles and television shows have highlighted this issue and brought it to the attention of customers who may have previously been unaware that there was a problem.
There is a limitation on resources, both financial and labour, which means the reactive approach to solving these issues is becoming harder to take. To address this challenge, Anglian Water Services is utilising the near-real-time modelling system ICMLive to forecast flooding and pollution incidents. It has been found that most incidents can be attributed to blockages. Binnies was commissioned to develop and verify a methodology that could model silt and sediment generation dynamically such that Anglian Water Services could use the modelled outputs to:
- apply threshold levels that when exceeded would trigger intervention so that they can react quickly and reduce potential incidents related to blockages
- confirm and refine the current planned preventive maintenance and fat, oil and grease locations.
This webinar will provide
- an overview of the innovative methodology
- the findings and potential benefits
- how this methodology could be rolled out across a wider area
- possible future enhancements to the methodology.

Left to right: Debbie Bell and Kam Puvanakumar
Presenter: Debbie Bell, Modelling Manager, Anglian Water Services
Debbie started at Anglian Water in 2002 in water recycling operations. After holding various positions in operations, she moved into asset management in 2005 and specialised in recycled water modelling. Debbie changed her focus to near real-time modelling in 2017.
Presenter: Kam Puvanakumar, Senior Modeller, Binnies UK
Kam is a chartered water and environmental manager with nine years of experience in the water industry. He has specialised in both clean and recycled water modelling. Kam has also taken on roles including building information modelling implementation, project engineering and assurance analytics for a range of clients in the UK and abroad.
Authors:
Debbie Bell, Ed Gower and Kam Puvanakumar
Missed the webinar? Watch again below.