Sydney-based VAPAR is helping utilities across Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the US to monitor and manage critical pipeline infrastructure.
VAPAR'S story began in 2009 when CEO and co-founder Amanda Siqueira was an engineering intern. She was spending 8 hours a day watching footage of the inside of sewer pipes. Not surprisingly, she started exploring ways for technology to make inspections more efficient.
In 2018, Siqueira and co-founder Michelle Aguilar launched VAPAR.
'We were among the first to commercialise the use case for deep learning frameworks,' says Siqueira. 'Until then the technology was largely limited to university PhDs. VAPAR's tool now helps maintain over 2 million metres of wastewater infrastructure annually for clients around the world.'
Growing demand to address a vast underground problem
Utilities are tasked with maintaining a growing and complex network of urban stormwater and sewer networks.
Sydney alone has over 30,000 kilometres of underground sewers. Adding to the challenge are ageing infrastructure, growing urban populations, increasingly unpredictable weather and overstretched budgets. Strict regulatory requirements in many countries mean utilities face heavy fines if pipelines fail.
Inspections are time-consuming. 'For every metre of underground sewer and stormwater pipe being checked, people are sitting manually coding inspection footage,' says Siqueira. 'Many of our customers also lack trained staff who can do this assessment.'
