With much of Australia’s infrastructure built before the 1970s, many water, wastewater and stormwater assets are reaching the end of their expected 50-year lifecycle – a phenomenon known as the ‘infrastructure cliff’.

It is now more important than ever for utilities to assess the condition of their assets, and to develop a maintenance program to ensure service continuity for the community.

Earlier this year, Infrastructure Australia released its Australian Infrastructure Audit 2019. The report identified that addressing Australia’s ageing infrastructure is an urgent issue, and cited pressures such as our growing population; a rise in the number of single-person occupied homes, and the increasing frequency of extreme weather events caused by our changing climate.

Investing for tomorrow

Infrastructure Australia’s report warns that not renewing assets when their condition is compromised can lead to significant financial and service costs in the longer-term. However, it identified that asset owners are lacking information about the age, condition and capacity of urban water assets to make informed decisions. And what is known is not publicly reported in a consistent manner.

According to John Adamo, Far North Queensland Operations and Business Development Manager for Interflow – the best way for asset owners to better understand the structural condition and serviceability of its sewer pipes was to carry out an assessment.

“Interflow works with its clients to carry out a condition assessment, which is a program to clean and conduct CCTV inspections, of the sewer lines using remotely operated cameras,” Mr Adamo said.

 “This will give asset owners the information they need to address issues before they become significant faults, while receiving maximum value from existing infrastructure, and delivering reliable services to their customers into the future.”

To find out more about Interflow’s solutions for water infrastructure networks, contact us and we’ll assist you with your project needs.