Data and Evidence Show the Way

摘要

In its 2021 Report Card for America's Infrastructure, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE; Reston, Virginia) graded U.S. wastewater treatment and collection systems at D-. To engineers and municipalities involved daily with this infrastructure, this is not breaking news. Many water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) and their associated collection systems are nearing or have exceeded their lifespans. Operation and maintenance costs continue to increase, and regulatory requirements continue to become more stringent. At the same time, municipalities have limited resources and must balance their efforts and expenditures to meet a multitude of needs for their residents and realize the greatest benefits from every dollar spent. To achieve the greatest returns on investment and maximize infrastructure lifespans, the art of asset management is becoming more widespread in the operation, maintenance, and planning of wastewater collection system improvements. Asset management provides a formal framework to decrease reactive responses to emergency conditions through proactive management of collection systems. In this article, we highlight the story of how the City of Topeka, Kansas, has embraced the principles of asset management. The city has harnessed immense amounts of data to serve as the foundation of a defensible, evidence-based decision-making process to guide capital improvement planning for its wastewater collection system.