Pointer has completed a remote monitoring solution for Scottish Water that enables operators to check reservoir water levels from a laptop, tablet or phone, reducing the need for regular in-person visits to a remote site in the Scottish Borders, including out-of-hours callouts.
Reservoirs are often remote, hard to reach, yet still require close monitoring. Previously, operators travelled to the site several times a week to read the gauge and judge whether valves needed adjusting, costing time and money and putting staff at risk during poor weather or unsociable hours.
Scottish Water asked Pointer to make the gauge viewable remotely, but the brief carried three constraints: the gauge sits behind a fence in an area accessible to the public, so any camera had to satisfy data protection requirements; there was no power supply on site; and it was determined that a solution which required no drilling would be better for the integrity of the bridge structure.
Pointer’s response combined privacy-conscious design with bespoke engineering. A Privacy Impact Assessment ruled out an operator-controlled PTZ camera on a nearby pole, since its wider field of view risked causing undue concern among nearby residents. Instead, a fixed-position camera was mounted close to the gauge itself, beneath the bridge, limiting its view to only the equipment it needed to monitor.
With no mains power available, Pointer worked with the camera manufacturer to model power consumption and runtime across the year, including darker winter months, before specifying dual solar panels, extended battery capacity, and a 30-degree south-facing angle for optimal charging. To stretch battery life further and reduce data capture in support of GDPR compliance, the camera does not run continuously: operators activate it remotely only to check the gauge, then disable it again via the cloud interface.
To avoid drilling into the bridge, Pointer’s engineers worked with trusted partners to design a custom uni-strut bracket that clamps into place and can be removed without affecting the structure. The camera also sits on a pivoting swan-neck mount, so engineers can retract it for maintenance without working over the water.
