The public services provider has partnered with ClicksandLinks, a supplier in the AR field, to develop the app, which will be piloted across its Severn Trent contract.
The app shows householders how flushing the wrong items can block their drains and sewers.
Sewer operatives can ‘overlay' a typical sewer network on a customer’s property or surrounding area on their Android mobile phone. The app then runs animations that mock-up how ‘unflushable blockages’ are formed – in real time.
Previously, operational teams have issued print-based guidance informing customers of what should, or should not, be put down their drains. However, Amey is now hoping that the app will be an effective way to increase customer understanding about the impact unflushables have on the water network, and help to prevent future blockages.
Ben Hawkins from Amey’s innovation team, says: “The UK water industry spends about £90m a year clearing sewer blockages. Many of these are caused by putting unflushables down the drain.
“This app is the first of its kind and demonstrates Amey’s commitment to using new technology, in increasingly tech-reliant times, to help our customers visualise and solve these issues.”