DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF A COMPACT MULTI – OPERATED MANHOLE CLEANING MACHINE

Abstract

Water drainage systems undergoing rapid flooding pose a serious threat to public safety, traffic and present a variety of operational problems. The serious repercussions of the current design of manholes put an operator’s life at great risk i.e., during the overflow and displacement of manhole covers, during cleaning and maintenance of manholes. Manholes provide a variety of dangers for those who work within them. Impurities in drainage water viz., excreta, empty bottles, polythene bags, papers, etc. result in aggravation and blockage of the sewer system. Toxic gases resulting from the waste accumulated may build up in areas of the sewer, rising to levels that constitute severe risks to those breathing them. There have also been considerably fewer and slower advancements in the development of machines for the dedicated purpose of manhole cleaning. The machines that are currently in use serve the purpose but come with the restraints of high capital and expenditures. Another drawback being that these machines are bulky in size which becomes difficult in handling and transportation. Our project is aimed at eradicating manual human scavenging of the waste accumulated inside the manholes[1]. We are aiming at cleaning the manholes efficiently and economically using our machine. Through this project, we aim to eliminate the practice of humans entering the manhole physically to clean and collect the waste. We are concentrating on using a TWIST mechanism to open and close the buckets. The machines that are in use now require skilled laborers while our machine can be easily operated. We are intending to target rural areas where it becomes difficult in investing in the present automated machines which are expensive.