Illawarra councils now have the ability to predict when a waterway will flood due to heavy rain - and hopefully prevent it - thanks to more than 50 newly developed high-tech sensors.
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The project combines data from a range of sensors placed at crucial points across the Illawarra and Shoalhaven and will be used to train artificial intelligence to recognise blocked drains and sandbank height levels, measure the build-up of rubbish in filters, and continuously monitor water quality.
It is a partnership between Wollongong City, Shellharbour, Kiama and Shoalhaven councils, Lendlease and the University of Wollongong's SMART Infrastructure Facility.
This model is the first in Australia and likely the world.
SMART Infrastructure Facility senior professor Pascal Perez said as part of the project, a laser-based sensor has been installed at Stuart Park in North Wollongong, at the mouth of Fairy Lagoon, to monitor the estuary and sand dune.
Another sensor will soon be installed at Shoalhaven Heads.
"During a storm, like what we saw in August and February, we had very strong water entering the lagoon from Fairy Creek and Cabbage Tree Creek which, if inundation occurs, threatens infrastructure or life," Professor Perez said.
"The council wants to know when to open the sand dune, using heavy machinery, before too much water becomes stuck behind the sand dune.
"The technology will anticipate the water level, through the sensors, and our model will predict, in real time, when inundation and flooding will occur within two hours.
"This technology gives in real time a precise measurement of the sand dune, which is then transmitted to council headquarters. The council can then send staff to the location at the right time to open the dune to prevent flooding of Stuart Park, Fairy Meadow's business precinct and the Innovation Campus."
Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery said the 50 sensors across the Illawarra and Shoalhaven would help councils monitor water levels in real time, which would allow them to warn people so life and property could be protected.
"This technology will help us communicate more quickly with emergency services so we can deploy resources and personnel to locations where there might be threat to life and property," he said.
Additionally, a camera-based sensor has been installed at a culvert in North Wollongong with three more to be installed, including one in Kiama. The sensors automatically detect when drains are blocked.
At Calderwood Valley, sensors have been installed to monitor the build-up of rubbish and debris within stormwater traps and transmit live data to a digital platform.
Mr Perez said the technology would help councils to manage stormwater blockages and anticipate where blockages would be, so they could be cleaned out. Researchers hope the technology will prevent a repeat of the 1998 floods.
Sensors are also being installed in the Shoalhaven and Shellharbour areas to monitor water quality.
For example, sensors have been installed in Macquarie Rivulet which will assist Shellharbour Council in remotely monitoring the quality of water entering Lake Illawarra, allowing the council to better understand the health of the waterway.
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