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A primer on developing asset management programs to support economically and environmentally sustainable water systems. By Linda Blankenship A city that struggles to supply water and treat wastewater is a city at risk. As critical resources to support a healthy population, water and wastewater underpin so many of the things that make a city sustainable, from agriculture and industry to energy and economic development. For this reason, cities that tackle water issues will find themselves at the top of the list of most sustainable, successful communities. Priority Planning On many levels, water system asset management is a cornerstone of sustainability and resiliency, supporting the insights, planning, and day-to-day discipline needed to optimize these both operationally and financially over the long-term. However, for water utilities seeking to manage sustainable systems, the challenges are all too familiar and usually start with budget struggles. The tension between immediate needs and long-term imperatives can quickly derail asset management planning before it starts. Aging infrastructure competes with new construction for investment funds, making for some "apples and oranges" debates, like how to balance the need to renew old systems and also install new tunnels to manage combined sewer overflow (CSO). And what happens when the system becomes so patched and aged that you can no longer stay ahead of the failures? Reactive maintenance and repair is the most expensive and inefficient approach that a utility can undertake. Funding is only one issue. The other is often information. It isn't really planning if you have no way to know what the effects of your actions will be. Information technology can provide some answers, but data sets may be incomplete or out of date. Leading approaches and practices of asset management can help bring the whole picture into focus, with benefits across operations, ultimately enhancing customer acceptance and stakeholder support. In fact, at its fundamental core, asset management planning helps optimize the life-cycle cost of assets, while meeting levels of service that customers and other key stakeholders desire. But that doesn't make it any easier to get started. It can be as challenging to justify the cost in both time and funding to develop and implement an asset management plan as it is in any capital project. Sometimes it's easier to get buy-in by demonstrating success on a small scale as a proof of concept. Fortunately, there are some ways to start small while also building the case for a comprehensive program. Stepping Up (x7) 1. Produce quick and efficient focus with gap analysis. Every utility starts with some elements of an asset management program in place. Gap analysis, comparing current and leading best practices, helps define the best opportunities to improve levels of practice in select areas. It's about taking one step at a time and finding the most efficient path forward to improve. Almost any gap analysis will define "quick wins" (programs that can be accomplished within a year with resources generally available). Quick wins help to achieve a feeling of accomplishment and momentum toward the next and perhaps more challenging phases of the project. 2. Creatively use existing asset and performance data. Existing data within a utility is often underutilized. But this data will be gold when it comes time to gain public, governmental, and financial support. Tools available today can quickly and easily pinpoint the availability and completeness of basic asset attribute data. Even if key data is missing, it's still possible to creatively gather, supplement, and leverage existing data for planning. For example, analyzing pump flow and related SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) data can help identify inefficiencies and opportunities for energy savings, which in turn can translate into funding for other program initiatives. Water main break data is commonly available and can be used to predict future performance and reduce the risk of critical failures. 3. Review and set levels of service with future improvements in mind. Setting levels of service can make a big impact in operational demands. A maximum two-hour outage can have you scrambling, whereas a four-hour outage may be acceptable. Seemingly modest adjustments in these water and sewer service goals can greatly affect resources as well as operations and capital investment strategies. Alternatively, the long-range plan may start with manageable goals but with milestones in place to step up to more ambitious levels of service. 4. Analyze and plan to manage the risks. Risk is fundamentally about the consequence and likelihood of failure, typically calculated using a point scale. Consequence of failure is often based on triple- bottom-line principles for economic, social, and environmental impacts. Examples include direct cost to repair, proximity to sensitive receiving waters, critical customer outages, road closures, and similar considerations that can usually be readily mapped. 28 wateronline.com n Water Innovations 7 Steps To Water System Asset Management