'I can even see when people flush the toilet'

摘要

Using a long fibre-optic cable to measure water temperature, TU Delft researchers are surveying a sewer system. They can see exactly which households have their waste water pipes connected the wrong way round. With its wide streets and luxury villas, Blixembosch seems to come straight out of a property developers' prospectus. Below street level however, this neighbourhood in Eindhoven is not all it's cracked up to be. Like any modern housing development, Blixembosch has separate sewer systems for rain water and for household waste water. The rain water can go straight into a canal, saving the water treatment plant a lot of work. Or at least that was the plan. In reality the ends of the two separate sewer systems had to be joined to prevent surface water being polluted, because incompetent contractors and DIY enthusiasts had connected many of the drains to the wrong sewer system.