Meteor Communications has been awarded a four-year contract by the Environment Agency to significantly expand their estate of low-power remote image collection cameras. The cameras will provide critically important information on the status of water management assets involved in reducing flood and coastal risk.
Meteor will provide the Agency with hourly images of remote assets such as grilles, screens, storm overflows, channels, culverts, pumps, gates and automated structures. The images will be captured by Meteor’s remote cameras (MRC) and delivered to Agency staff via the company’s web-based MeteorCloud service.
Meteor has previously installed around 1,500 remote cameras for the Environment Agency, providing Agency staff with an early warning of potentially harmful or dangerous conditions. For example, the immediate visual confirmation of rising water levels in storm drains or blocked trash screens allows a rapid and timely response. Regular real-time images from site reduces the number of site visits, saving time and money.
It has been estimated that by avoiding unnecessary journeys, each MRC camera saves around 0.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year, and each camera’s financial payback is just 9 to 10 months.
Meteor’s Managing Director Matt Dibbs says: “Our main focus in the development of these cameras was the ability to operate unattended in remote locations where normal power and communications may not be available. The MRC cameras therefore operate on ultra-low power, requiring just a small battery and a solar panel for year-round operation, anywhere in the UK. This dramatically reduces installation time and cost.
“Transmitting single high-resolution images, the cameras are able to operate via any mobile network connection. This means that high-quality, real-time images can be provided even in areas with poor mobile coverage, and with an extremely robust design, they are suitable for long term, unattended operation with minimal maintenance.”
Meteor Communications currently has around 2,500 MRC cameras operational in the UK.
MRC camera systems are in use across the Water Utilities sector, Local Authorities and Network Rail for remote operational and asset management purposes.