Objective Sewage systems are crucial to reduce the risks of water borne diseases and avoid flooding of cities. Cleaning processes are thus highly important to avoid health risks and environmental, economic and societal impacts which can be caused by damaged or blocked sewerage. European sewage networks are operated by over 20,000 municipalities and public entities which spend over €6.5 billion annually to clean and maintain over 2.25 million km of pipes that are constantly deteriorating. Over 10,000 SMEs are employed by network operators to keep the sewerage clean and operable. Recent budget cuts and the implementation of the water framework directive (2000/60 EC) that requires new measures for more efficient use of water resources have put pressure on municipalities and therefore on the service providing SMEs in the cleaning business in order to save water resources and find cheaper ways of maintaining efficient sewage networks. Current systems for sewer cleaning are highly inefficient. During the cleaning process, high amounts of water are used to clean the pipes regardless of the real cleaning demands. Hence, there is a high need to develop a system integrating a reliable inspection tool which efficiently varies the cleaning process according to the real demand. The PIPEGUARD system will consist of an ultrasonic inspection system, which will detect the degree of pollution and damages. The data captured will be used to adjust the cleaning through algorithms. After cleaning, the system will keep a record that will provide a reliable cleaning audit trail. Further, PIPEGUARD will monitor with inertial sensors the system position in real-time in order to obtain reliable position mapping for the creation of network maps. The solution will not only cut costs for cities due to the use of an integrated system which will eliminate various inspection and cleaning steps, it will also save ca. 35% of cleaning costs due to reduced fresh water usage thanks to the on-demand cleaning. Fields of science natural sciencesearth and related environmental scienceshydrologyengineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensorsnatural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesenvironmental sciencespollution Programme(s) FP7-SME - Specific Programme "Capacities": Research for the benefit of SMEs Topic(s) SME-2011-1 - Research for SMEs Call for proposal FP7-SME-2011 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme BSG-SME - Research for SMEs Coordinator FRAUNHOFER GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DER ANGEWANDTEN FORSCHUNG EV Address Hansastrasse 27c 80686 Munchen Germany See on map Region Bayern Oberbayern München, Kreisfreie Stadt Activity type Research Organisations Administrative Contact Walter Krause (Mr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window EU contribution No data Participants (6) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all ALSITEL SL Spain EU contribution € 193 205,00 Address Calle padre felix flores 3 bajo 19002 Guadalajasra See on map Activity type Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Administrative Contact Juan Antonio Atienza Herrera (Mr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Other funding No data JT-ELEKTRONIK GMBH Germany EU contribution € 365 810,00 Address Robert bosch strasse 26 88131 Lindau See on map Activity type Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Administrative Contact Sonja Jöckel (Mr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Other funding No data WIEDEMANN & REICHHARDT MASCHINEN- UND FAHRZEUGBAU GMBH Germany EU contribution € 210 276,10 Address Freiweg 4 86450 Altenmunster See on map Activity type Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Administrative Contact Marco Dammer (Mr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Other funding No data SINAPTEC France EU contribution € 328 612,90 Address Avenue pierre et marie curie 7 synergie park 59260 Lezennes See on map Region Hauts-de-France Nord-Pas de Calais Nord Activity type Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Administrative Contact Pascal Tierce (Mr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Other funding No data TECNOLOGIAS AVANZADAS INSPIRALIA SL Spain EU contribution € 14 190,00 Address Calle manuel tovar 49 28034 Madrid See on map Region Comunidad de Madrid Comunidad de Madrid Madrid Activity type Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Administrative Contact Alfredo Sanchez (Mr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Other funding No data CETAQUA, CENTRO TECNOLOGICO DEL AGUA, FUNDACION PRIVADA Spain EU contribution € 13 200,00 Address Carretera d'esplugues 75 local 1-2 08940 Cornella de llobregat barcelona See on map Region Este Cataluña Barcelona Activity type Research Organisations Administrative Contact Catalina Balseiro (Ms.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Other funding No data