Jinan's central urban drainage overhaul is taking flight, with the Juye River sub-district deploying a three-tier air-ground inspection network that combines automated drone dock patrols, flexible single-pilot drone sweeps, and manual walkthroughs in no-fly zones. The initiative has activated 17 AI recognition algorithms for live operations, while drones equipped with water-sampling gear now tackle hazardous river sections that were previously unreachable. This closed-loop system—spanning intelligent problem detection, work-order dispatch, and rectification verification—uses digital low-altitude patrols to safeguard regional water ecology and fortify urban flood defenses.

Covering a 438.7-square-kilometer service area across Licheng, Lixia, and High-Tech districts, the Daxin River-Juye River drainage zone manages 14 major waterways totaling 188.88 kilometers, including Quanfu River, Daxin River, and Juye River, alongside 1,538 river outfalls. Airspace restrictions near airports, railways, and expressways create multiple no-fly zones, while protective fences along many riverbanks and outfalls hidden beneath vegetation complicate manual inspections. Previously, water-quality sampling in steep or water-adjacent sections was perilous, slow, and posed a serious fall-risk for workers.

The project's construction and operation are led by Shandong Kunrun Tierong Urban Services Co., Ltd., with a consortium comprising Jinan Chengtou Drainage Group Co., Ltd., China Telecom Unmanned Technology (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd., and Jinan Puli Water Supply Engineering Design Institute Co., Ltd. Each entity contributes specialized expertise: Jinan Chengtou advises on drainage network maintenance, China Telecom supplies drone hardware and low-altitude operation platforms, and Jinan Puli provides surveying data and server infrastructure. Their combined resources build a low-altitude sensing grid that closes traditional monitoring gaps in drainage operations.

To achieve all-encompassing oversight, the district integrates three complementary patrol modes. Seven automated drone docks enable autonomous takeoff, landing, and recharging for routine route-based cruising. Three Yu-4T single-pilot drones conduct supplementary missions, verifying sudden incidents, gathering forensic evidence in key zones, and providing elevated-view inspections of fenced, vegetation-obscured, or inaccessible banks and hidden outfalls—eliminating blind spots beyond human sight. Drones also carry water-sampling devices to collect specimens from dangerous river cross-sections, resolving the dual challenges of access difficulty and operational safety. For no-fly corridors near airports, railways, and highways, trained personnel perform on-foot inspections to ensure full coverage.

Patrol frequency is rigorous: all 188.88 kilometers of waterways and 1,538 outfalls receive daily full-coverage checks. Weekly unannounced nighttime inspections target illegal sewage discharges, capturing photographic evidence. Construction sites adjacent to water bodies undergo special weekly reviews to catch unauthorized pollution or infrastructure encroachment. During rainfall, a tiered emergency protocol kicks in—pre-rain, docks complete full-area sweeps while single-pilot and manual teams fill dock blind spots; during rain, operations shift entirely to manual patrols focused on flooded roads and overflow points, with heightened checks in low-lying areas; post-rain, a combined dock-and-single-pilot drone sweep verifies all critical, suspected, and problem locations.

All 17 AI algorithms are now online, automatically identifying surface debris, abnormal outfall discharges, blocked pipes, missing or damaged manhole covers and gutter grates, road flooding, illegal waste dumping, and construction-site pollution. The "dock-plus-single-pilot-plus-manual" model has cracked persistent monitoring challenges posed by long river stretches, fenced banks, hidden outfalls, and unreachable points. Drone-based water sampling eliminates safety hazards in high-risk riverside work. This system seamlessly juggles routine patrols, flood-season emergency checks, site supervision, and nighttime violation evidence-gathering, dramatically boosting inspection, surveying, and sampling efficiency over traditional manual methods.

Going forward, the consortium's operations team will iteratively refine AI algorithms to reduce false positives, dynamically optimize flight routes, and streamline drone water-sampling procedures. They also plan to bolster emergency response plans for full-area no-fly conditions and heavy-rain flood seasons, continuously elevating drainage facility and river-ecology governance to provide rock-solid digital support for Jinan's sewer network upgrades and urban flood mitigation.