The project was created with the aim of tackling one of the most sensitive environmental problems for most territories: wastewater discharges into watercourses that are often difficult to reach safely.
Drones inspect the banks of rivers, streams, and ditches, identifying discharges that are photographed, filmed and georeferenced. The georeferencing of the drains is valuable because it allows a direct correlation to be established between the results of the survey, the company's GIS and the Hydraulic Modelling system of the Design and Land Planning Department.
The integrated approach with which the project was developed led to extend the experimentation of drones to different business applications, in particular oriented to the modelling of the land surface, to obtain orthophotos (geometrically correct aerial photography, similar to a map), very accurate digital models of the land and three-dimensional models of the areas, functional for the implementation of hydraulic modelling activities. Digital Elevation Models (DEM), superimposed on rainfall simulation software, allow an extremely realistic prediction of the drainage and stormwater run-off phenomenon in the surveyed area, and provide a great and accurate support for the implementation of the hydraulic modelling process.
Similarly, the three-dimensional survey of the riverbeds of major rivers and streams is an unbelievably valuable tool in terms of hydrogeological risk management both for BrianzAcque and for the other bodies involved like the Region, the Civil Protection and the Municipalities.
Thanks to the low costs compared to traditional methods, the speed of execution of the surveys, the accuracy of the technical performance and the flexibility of the technology, Drones have become a consolidated tool in BrianzAcque, projecting the management of the Integrated Water Service towards a 4.0 dimension.
The first experimental lot, the operational part of which was completed in 2018, involved Torrente Seveso and its tributary Certesa, for a total extension of 15 km, along 7 municipalities under the jurisdiction of BrianzAcque: Lentate sul Seveso, Meda, Barlassina, Seveso, Cesano Maderno, Bovisio Masciago and Varedo. A total of 494 discharges were surveyed. A preliminary classification was made, according to location and type, into four categories: civil, industrial, drainage or spillways of BrianzAcque. During 2019, the second experimental batch along the Cava watercourse was completed.
In June 2020, the system was adopted by the Lombardy Region and extended to the entire main course of the Seveso River, and was presented to the River Contracts Coordination Committee as part of a project led by FLA, Fondazione Lombardia per l'Ambiente, for the census of discharges on the Seveso River, involving various players: Lombardy Region, AIPO and the Integrated Water Service Managers of the provinces involved.
