Like the City of Fort Lauderdale (Fort Lauderdale’s water and sewer pipes still bursting despite $570 million system upgrade) many water and sewer utilities across the nation are experiencing expensive pipeline failures that impact public safety and customer confidence. These failures are largely the result of aging infrastructure; however, targeting inspection and capital improvement dollars solely based on the age and material of the buried assets will not improve the performance of the networks. In fact, the condition of the assets will continue to deteriorate and eventually the cost of addressing failures will be unaffordable.
The 21st century has seen great advancements in inspection and repair/rehabilitation technologies. Computer hardware and software has also improved the ability to perform condition assessments, analyze deterioration over time and storage large volumes of data and videos. The time has now come to manage these assets differently.
To optimally manage water and sewer assets, Asset Managers must have a better understanding of the condition and risk of failure of each asset. The goal of an Asset Manager is to maintain a targeted level of service while respecting the utility’s financial capacity. Achieving this goal is nearly impossible if the utility’s inventory and condition data is incomplete. To maximize the benefits of capital improvements, it is imperative to have a thorough understanding of how individual assets will deteriorate over time. Spending money too soon repairing an asset deprives an asset in greater need the funds necessary to prevent a failure. To the contrary, delaying capital improvements too long increases the probability of failure and the consequences associated with failing infrastructure.
So like any endeavor, it is necessary to establish the performance parameters (level of service, staffing and budget constraints, etc.) at the start of any performance-based asset management program. Next, the Asset Manager must invest in building a comprehensive and complete asset inventory. This inventory will answer the questions:
• What do I own?
• Where are they?
• What condition are they in?
• What are the consequences of failure?
• What is their remaining life?
• What is their value?
A review of the inventory will reveal gaps in information that should become the target of a field program. During the field program, the data contained in the inventory should be confirmed and condition data should be collected. Every piece of condition data provides information that can be used in the future to determine how specific assets deteriorate over time. Now, considering the consequence of failure and the condition of each asset, the risk of failure can be determined and a prioritization of maintenance and capital projects can be made. As I stated earlier, the Asset Manager is responsible for maintaining a level of service that is affordable to his customers. He must now develop an implementation plan that achieves this goal. By incorporating financial analysis and risk management into the decision process, the Asset Manager is able to develop an linkage between targeted level of service, risk and financial capability.
Feel free to send me your thoughts? As an industry it is time to think outside of the box. We don’t have the time or funds to manage our assets the way we have in the past.
