Dŵr Cymru, or Welsh Water, provides fresh water to more than 3 million people.
In 2020, they reinvested more than £450m into the future of water infrastructure — first establishing an aerial services team, and adopting Trendspek for digital inspections to protect the lifespan of key water assets.
Welsh Water is committed to its vision of becoming a world-class, sustainable water service by 2050. However, its traditional methods for asset inspections relied on scaffolding, manual labour, and significant time investments, all of which presented challenges:
Adam Davis, Statutory Maintenance Manager and founder of the aerial services team, saw an opportunity to leverage drones to modernise inspection workflows, reduce risk, and maximise efficiency.
“As an organisation that doesn’t have shareholders, if drones can reduce asset management costs, then we have more money to put back into improving our business, our environment, and keeping customer bills down,” Davis explained.
Welsh Water introduced drones in its aerial services team and began leveraging Trendspek to revolutionise asset inspections. After comparing various global providers, Davis selected Trendspek for its intuitive platform, high-resolution outputs, and exceptional customer support.
“Arranging the demo was very easy, I didn’t have to chase anyone at all,” Davis said. “Trendspek’s water asset expert quickly understood what we wanted to achieve. The support and guidance from the team were almost as valuable as the software itself.”
“With drones and Trendspek, we captured the data in under two hours, with no scaffolding required, and had the model ready that same day. Most importantly, we reduced risk – and that’s an area we really focus heavily on at Welsh Water – making the business as safe as possible.”
3D models reduce inspection timelines from months to weeks.
Remote access eliminates logistical challenges, such hard-to-reach site access, team availability and weather conditions.
Certain inspections now a third of the usual cost, saving thousands per project.
Consistent, verifiable records eliminate subjectivity and the need for repeat site inspections.
Shareable 3D models allow for an improved system of engagement.
Contractors can be provided with important spatial context ahead of projects.
Welsh Water’s first project with Trendspek involved inspecting a 30-metre-high chimney stack at a wastewater works.
Using older drones and minimal experience in 3D asset capture, the aerial services team were able to produce detailed 3D models that allowed engineers to assess the condition of the stack’s cladding, nuts, bolts, and other components.
This pilot proved Trendspek’s value in reducing costs and improving safety, prompting Welsh Water to invest in updated drones and refine its capture techniques with support from the Trendspek team.
“With Trendspek, those images, that data and model, are always there to look at again and again, which also means we can compare captures taken over time to track defects and damage.”
Since the success of the initial project, Welsh Water has piloted 3D modelling for 20 operational assets, with plans to expand to larger-scale projects. The rapid adoption of the technology across the organisation has led to the aerial services team expanding ahead of schedule to meet growing demand.
Adding to the challenge of traditional inspections, photos aren’t always taken as part of the reporting process, with engineers taking notes as they inspect.
“A lot of knowledge is lost to inspector memory, and when that engineer leaves the business so does that deeper awareness of the asset,” says Davis.T
rendspek helped transform Welsh Waters’ approach to asset management, aligning with its mission to reinvest in infrastructure and environmental sustainability.
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