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.

For more information, visit this link PURE.

Readers of this Blog, if you track the number of SSOs per miles of pipe, please send me your data with a summary of the action that you have taken to reduce overflows. I’ll post the information that I collect in a future Blog. This information may help us measure which management enhancements are the most effective.

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With the demand for our dollars increasing every day to fund other necessities, we must look to innovative approaches for managing these vital assets. We cannot continue to delay maintenance and capital improvements to our public health infrastructure without increasing the risk of catastrophic failures that may impact our health, well being and economy.

“Good” is never enough when we rate our own performance at work or home or when we describe how we feel. We never want to settle for just “good”; do we? It’s ASCE’s opinion that our nation’s infrastructure is rated below “good” at this time. What are the consequences that we face if we don’t improve the condition of our infrastructure? We may find an increase in the frequency of bridge collapses and casualties like the event that recently occurred along I-35W in Minneapolis. Or we may find sanitary overflows that make hundreds or thousands of people ill following a rain storm and major overflow event. Leaking water infrastructure is costing us an estimated $11 billion per year not to mention that our water supplies are diminishing and insufficient in parts of our country.

We must take advantage of technology, software and a collaborative and cooperative approach to managing our roadways, sewers and water assets. Mobile mapping vehicles and below ground inventory and inspection technologies along with asset management software allow above and below ground asset managers to quickly and cost effectively obtain information to assess the remaining useful life of our infrastructure and plan maintenance and capital improvements where the risk of failure is the greatest. By utilizing new innovations in above and below ground inspection technologies and risk-based asset management processes, communities will be able to pool resources and manage their assets on a street-by-street or neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis resulting in a more effective and efficient program for addressing the needs of multiple assets at the same time.

For more information on this approach to managing above and below ground infrastructure provide me your contact information and I’ll send you a position paper on this topic. I welcome your comments and other innovative ideas to share with others on this blog.

Quotation for Meditation: An innovation is one of those things that society looks at and says, if we make this part of the way we live and work, it will change the way we live and work.
Dean Kamen

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Marblehead’s 5 Step Program

If you don’t like the answer to any of these questions, let me introduce you to a systematic five step approach that will help you improve the condition and performance of your buried assets. First begin with mapping your assets. With the emergence of affordable GPS equipment, GPS coordinates can be obtained quickly. These coordinates provide the location information required to build accurate maps (Step 1). The next step is to perform an inventory to determine the physical condition of your assets through data research and inspection (Step 2). During the inspection of assets, immediate maintenance and structural needs will be identified as well as the less immediate maintenance and structural needs (Step 3). This is an important step in the program. By addressing the immediate needs, you will be able to reduce your risks and buy time to address your less than immediate needs. For your less than immediate needs, a risk based assessment provides a basis for planning future maintenance and capital improvements (Step 4). Now you have the luxury to have your budgets and resources set your schedule for future maintenance and capital activities (Step 5).

What are the benefits of this approach? Visit this link to determine the advantages of implementing a triage approach to asset management.

Program Advantages