Planning instead of checking: how Bonn cut data turnaround from months to weeks
The City of Bonn used to wait up to three months for its inspection data to come back checked. That held up rehabilitation planning and tied up engineers in quality control. Since 2022, the wait is one to two weeks.
October 2026
AT A GLANCE
Figures supplied by the City of Bonn. The "before" values refer to their previous external review process.
The Starting Point
The City of Bonn operates and maintains its own sewer network, but sent the assessment of its inspection data to an external engineering firm. The process was slow: up to three months passed before the checked data came back, sometimes longer.
That did more than delay rehabilitation planning. Because results varied between assessors, the subsequent quality control tied up capacity in Bonn's own team –capacity that was missing from the actual planning work.
Before and after
Before
Today
Assessment
Outsourced to an engineering firm
Turnaround
Up to three months, sometimes longer
Consistency
Varied by assessor
Rework
Extensive quality control in-house
Cost
External review
How the work runs now
1
Inspection as before.
Nothing changes about the field work.
2
Coding and classification through Pallon.
Data comes back coded and classified within one to two weeks, consistent across every batch.
3
Review in-house.
Filtering lets the team select the relevant sections directly. Individual cases can be edited on the platform before export.
4
Export into their own systems.
The reviewed data goes forward as a planning basis.
What Changed
Costs are at the same level as the previous external review. The gain sits elsewhere: rehabilitation planning starts weeks earlier, and the team spends its time planning rather than checking.
With around two in every hundred pipe sections still needing manual rework, the review effort has become predictable. Bonn has worked with Pallon since 2022, awarded through a public tender.
[Quote to be sourced: what Bonn would tell a comparable network operator facing the same decision.][Name], [Role], City of Bonn
[Name], [Role], City of Bonn
The City of Bonn operates and maintains the sewer network of Germany's former capital in North Rhine-Westphalia. It has worked with Pallon since 2022, awarded through public tender, assessing around 65 km of pipe and 2,200 manholes each year.
Customer type
Network operator
Region
North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Assets
Pipes and manholes
Annual volume
65 km of pipe, 2,200 manholes
Standard
EN 13508-2
Customer since
2022
Procurement
Public tender, multi-year
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