Asset management focused on small to mid-sized utility systems

摘要

The nation’s rapidly deteriorating underground infrastructure requires that water and wastewater utility managers adopt a proactive decision-making process to manage their assets in the most efficient way. This task is especially challenging for smaller utilities due to their limited resources. They face the same challenges as large utilities: they have to address the rapid assets deterioration, comply with government regulations related to public health and environmental protection, and meet industry standards, but they lack adequate funding and personnel. More so, the vast majority of the nation’s utility systems are small and addressing their asset management needs is therefore a priority. This paper presents a new asset management solution developed specifically for small to mid-sized utilities that enables their managers to complete the steps in the asset management related decision-making fairly easily. Existing useful asset data and system information are first gathered, digitized and centralized into a relatable GIS data format, and incorporated into industry standard formats. After this is completed, analysis is performed to identify areas in need of improvements and required steps to address the identified gaps. The proposed asset management solution enables these utilities to identify and address current gaps and shortages within their system while optimizing their resource allocation and budget planning. A case study of implementing the proposed asset management solution in Sewanee Utility District, Tennessee, is presented.