Case Study: Costa Mesa Sanitary District reduces manhole maintenance costs and improves public safety with Looker

Costa Mesa Sanitary District: Using machine learning (ML) to reduce manhole maintenance costs and boost safety

Costa Mesa Sanitary District, which serves more than 118,000 residents in California, needed a better way to manage costly and labor-intensive manhole inspections. It had been spending over $100,000 a year manually surveying about 5,000 manholes across 218 street miles, creating safety risks for workers and limiting how efficiently it could prioritize repairs.

Looker was part of the broader Google Cloud solution used with SpringML to automate the process with machine learning, using GoPro-captured street imagery to detect, analyze, and rate manhole conditions. The new system cut manhole maintenance costs by 60%, saving about $40,000 annually, and reduced the process to one driver, one vehicle, and two reviewers while improving safety, repair planning, and visibility into manhole condition over time.

Costa Mesa Sanitary District

Eric Clark

Vice President, Public Sector