AI-Driven Prediction of Root Infiltration for Smarter Sewer Network Maintenance

By Ravindra Samarasinghe

The LGNSW Water Conference is an annual event that brings together engineers, scientists, consultants, and technology partners from across New South Wales to explore key issues shaping the future of water management. Each year, the conference focuses on challenges faced by local councils and water utilities, including climate change, community resilience, and long-term sustainability strategies.

This year’s event (2025), held in Albury, NSW, was hosted by Albury City Council under the leadership of Mayor Cr Kevin Mack. A field visit showcased some of the best practices in wastewater reuse, aligned with regional water sustainability strategies — an inspiring demonstration of how innovation and collaboration can contribute to more sustainable community outcomes.

The Root Infiltration Challenge

One of the recurring issues raised by many councils is root infiltration in sewer networks. Left unmanaged, root intrusions can cause:

Blockages that disrupt services

Costly emergency repairs

Environmental hazards and community risks

Infrastructure deterioration

Through discussions with engineers and consultants, three key challenges consistently emerged:

1

Budget Constraints

Council-faced optimise expenditure and prioritise only the most critical works

2

Fragmented or incomplete data

Many councils lack structured and centralised asset information result in still worse as institutional knowledge among senior staff

3

Siloed data systems

Disconnecting urban utilities and sewage data concentration difficult within comprehensive maintenance and cost-effective asset management

How AI Can Make a Difference

At iTelaSoft, we believe AI-driven technologies can empower councils and water utilities to manage these challenges more efficiently and proactively:

Detect and predict infiltration risks early

Using images, flow, GIS, sensors and other data.

Enable location-targeted maintenance

Reducing unnecessary expenditures and limiting major failures.

Integrate fragmented datasets

From multiple systems into unified insights for better coordination.

Extend asset lifespan

Through data-driven maintenance and planning.

A Practical Use Case: Enhancing I&I Models with AI

A promising opportunity lies in improving existing Inflow & Infiltration (I&I) models, which are critical for assessing sewer network performance.

By integrating with SCADA systems, iTelaSoft’s AI models can analyse real-time operational data such as flow, pressure, and pump activity. These insights can be further enriched by connecting additional datasets already available within councils and utilities, including:

For an instant, let’s take a test case of “Emergency Call Testing - with (U)SIM” with XGP  

Create a new execution with a configurable RCC to be tested. 

Image: Creation of a Test Definition with Execution Variables

Test Script with Test Steps


• Read the signal strength and IMSI of the (U)SIM 

• Read the existing configuration of RCCs in the RF module and add if RCC is not already configured.   

• Then make the call and hang up after few seconds.  

• Note:

In this example, the actual dialing step of the emergency call was intentionally skipped, as executing live calls to a PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point) in a production environment is not advisable without prior coordination 

Image: Test Script with Test Steps

✓

Tree locations and species data

To understand root behaviour and infiltration likelihood.

✓

Inspection histories

To capture maintenance trends.

✓

Soil composition and moisture data

To model rainfall dynamics.

✓

Environmental and rainfall data

Accessible with offline versioning.

AI can then process and correlate these diverse datasets to produce enhanced I&I scores, delivering more accurate and actionable intelligence. The outcome is a smarter maintenance strategy—allowing councils to predict, prioritise, and prevent rather than simply react.

This targeted approach significantly reduces the risk of network failures, improves safety, and helps optimise maintenance budgets — protecting one of the community's most critical assets.

A Collaborative Future

Water and sewer networks are vital to public health, environmental protection, and community wellbeing. iTelaSoft is passionate in working with councils, utilities, and engineering partners to apply AI and data innovation in a secure, collaborative way—helping to solve real problems, reduce long-term costs, and build infrastructure resilience.

Let us know how to help

We love to hear what challenges you go through in your business and discuss how we can assist you.