The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) recently released a new list of designated infrastructure gamechangers. Among the list, released in March, gamechangers for water and stormwater infrastructure include a water maintenance drone and a flood prediction system.

The water maintenance drone, the “WasteShark,” is capable of autonomously collecting floating debris as well as testing pH, depth, salinity, nitrate, algae and other pollutants. It can collect as much as 150 kg at a time and can operate 10-16 hours a day before recharging. The Netherlands-based startup has already distributed WasteSharks internationally.

The Flood Incident Prediction and Preparedness solution was first used in North Carolina, and is now available for general acquisition.

To develop flood prediction technologies, SAS and Microsoft partnered with the Town of Cary, North Carolina. The companies created an internet-based alert system, made of wireless sensors and rain gauges, to detect and communicate rising water levels.

The system automatically generates work orders, notify stormwater personnel, alert citizens of flooding events, and provide data to regional and state entities.

The project was recognized with a 2020 Government Innovation Award in Public Sector Innovation, and was also a finalist in the Artificial Intelligence + Machine Learning category of the NC Tech Awards.

The innovation announcement comes right after the ASCE gave the United States a ‘C-‘ in national infrastructure. All categories of water infrastructure received ‘D’ grades – all except the ‘drinking water’ category, which received a ‘C’.

“Promoting innovative practices, principles and projects are one of the ways in which we can improve this grade,” said ASCE President Jean-Louis Briaud, “With resources stretched thin, finding solutions that can make the most of the tools afforded us can be a challenge, but is an essential component of improving the built environment.”

The prevalence of the proactive automated and cloud-based technology in 2021's innovations seems promising and unique: Last year's water infrastructure gamechangers included a CSO "capture and release" method - where overflows are stored during peak runoff to be gradually released to a treatment facility - and the use of a NASA-developed radar to penetrate soil and analyze areas near levees vulnerable to slump slide.