How You Can Use Drones in the Decentralized Wastewater Industry
As drones have become popular both as a hobby and a practical tool in all sorts of workplaces, they have had fairly clear uses in the municipal water industry, particularly in the wastewater industry. It’s easy to imagine how flying a drone through a sewer system can yield useful information and visuals to wastewater operators. But what about in the decentralized wastewater industry? What uses might they have at the site of an individualized septic system?
While the use of drones on the decentralized side of the wastewater industry is not as widespread, there is plenty you can do with them! Check out the highlighted uses in this post, and consider whether you can adopt these practices or think of a new use for drones in your work!
Mapping and Planning at Project Sites
In 2024, Onsite Installer highlighted an installer in North Carolina that uses a camera-equipped drone to map out new project sites. Zach Woody, the installer, uses the photos and video he collects to provide more accurate quotes to his clients, explain why the system should be located in a particular spot, and to measure site elevations.
Read more about Woody’s drone use in the article: “This North Carolina Installer Packs a Drone in His Truck’s Toolkit.”
Even earlier, in 2022, Onsite Installer also published an article submitted by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers explaining how drones benefit earthmoving operations. In this case, the writer highlights the value of the data that a drone can collect, including: how much earth has been moved, comparisons between the current site and the planned site, how much earth still needs to be moved, and where to put that dirt.
Read more about drones used in the earthmoving process in this article: “How Drones Are Benefiting Earthmoving Operations.”
Safety Monitoring
While the idea of using drones to monitor work sites for safety purposes may not be exclusive to the decentralized field, they can certainly still offer a unique tool to enhance the situational awareness of conditions for workers on a job. According to Pumper Magazine, the use of drones to eliminate heavy machinery blind spots, for example, has increased even faster than expected and have become heavily relied upon.
Read more about different tools that can be used for safety purposes in this article: “5 Tools for Job Site Safety.” (Note: We do not endorse any sponsored or recommended products mentioned by Pumper. Such products are endorsed by Pumper alone).
Photography and Marketing
Drone photography and video content is often quite popular on social media. This makes it a great tool for marketing on the web. The view from above offered by a drone can provide a perspective of the work done by decentralized wastewater professionals that most people will not otherwise get.
Read more about how one young pumper got started with a drone, how he uses it, and what he advises to others in this Pumper article: “Drone Photography Will Take Your Business to New Heights.”
Read about how to use social media to attract new workers, including using drones to leverage video and highlight innovation, in this Onsite Installer article: “5 Ways to Use Social Media to Attract the Next Generation of Workers.”
Locating Tanks and Systems
Sometimes it’s unknown where exactly on a property a septic system is located, or how many septic systems are located in a given area. Drone technology can take a lot of guesswork out of this complicated process. The aerial view from drone footage can reveal signs like ground depressions, grass growth, and moisture patterns that may reveal a system’s location. Another advantage to searching with a drone is that it becomes simpler to look without causing damage on the ground. Advanced drones can also utilize thermal imaging technology, which can detect the differences in temperature between a tank and the surrounding area.
Read more about how one septic business uses drones to find septic systems: “Eyes in the Sky: How Drones Simplify Septic Tank Locating.”
As an example, drones have been used in Hawai’i to perform aerial surveys to identify both septic tanks and cesspools, the abundance of which the state is seeking to erase through septic conversion or sewer connection. On several occasions in 2024, an engineering firm flew drones 200 feet above ground level on behalf of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL).
Read more about the DHHL’s plans for identifying septic tanks and cesspools via drone use in this public notice: “DHHL East Hawaii Cesspool and Septic Tank Assessments Survey Notification and Questionnaire.”
Inspections and Predicting Malfunctions
Finally, a system has also been proposed to use drones for targeted inspections that can predict septic system malfunctions. In the 2023 report “Predicting residential septic system malfunctions for targeted drone inspections,” a team of researchers describe how they used both machine learning techniques and “unmanned aerial system mapping” to identify systems with the highest priority for inspections and detecting malfunctions in a test case located in Wake County, North Carolina.
The team found 102 systems with a very high probability of failure (99.9%) and posited that the adoption of this practice can minimize the environmental impacts of failed systems while also saving system owners time and money. While this may not yet be a widespread practice, the possibility could certainly be worth pursuing.
Read the full research paper at ScienceDirect: “Predicting residential septic system malfunctions for targeted drone inspections.”
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Have you used a drone in decentralized/onsite/septic work in a capacity similar to any of these uses? Have you utilized one for any other purpose that we should know about? Tell us about it at info@decentralizedwastewater.org or through our social media channels!