Articles
Ben Hamilton, Postgraduate Researcher
Ben Hamilton - Water They Up To: CWS in the Spotlight
We find out more about Postgraduate Researcher Ben Hamilton (STREAM IDC) in this week's 'Water they up to: CWS in the Spotlight' feature.
What is your research about?
My research is all about making the most of real time data that we are collecting in sewers to detect blockages. These blockages can cause flooding and pollution events, present a risk to public health and cost the UK water sector around £88 million each year just to remove. There are huge potential gains if the water sector can move from reactive responses to more proactive prevention.
What is the most exciting part about your research?
Most underground assets like pipe networks are not monitored and so before we can improve anything it's important to have the capacity to take measurements. Bringing telemetry to sewers and getting information from assets and the environment back into control rooms has so many potential applications I wouldn't know where to begin explaining them. Suffice to say, telemetry is important and the exciting part of my research is knowing that by helping develop a single application using these technologies, I'm helping to facilitate all the others.
When thinking about water, what place comes to mind first and why?
I don't strongly associate water with any one location as it's a part of life everywhere and usually moving around. If pressed for an answer, I might suggest that the connection between our lives and water is strongest on the high seas. Even inland, the sea connects us all through trade, is a large part of what makes the weather and life would be unrecognisable without it.
Which movie or book character would you most associate with water?
I had to Google "water in films" to remind myself of some, but I can recommend the "Life of Pi" and "The Kon-Tiki Expedition" novels, in which water plays an important role.
View Ben's profile.
Date: 21 March 2022