WATER/SEWER: Getting Things in Order

A GIS and a data collection system based on cellular telephones help organize operations for water and sewer utilities serving Michigan townships

The Charter Township of Genoa, in south central Michigan, oversees water and sewer operations for a complex network of small utilities. By the mid-2000s, the utilities were in some disarray.

The area, between Detroit and Lansing, has become one of the fastest-growing regions of Michigan. Utility operations were outsourced, and the only oversight was a monthly meeting of the township board with the contractor.

The utilities comprising the entity known as the Genoa Project include one water authority for the townships of Marion, Howell, Osceola and Genoa, and three sewer systems: the Genoa-Osceola system, and two that are part of Genoa Township.

In 2006, the township hired Greg Tatara as utility director to modernize Genoa Project operations. The township also replaced its outsourcing contractor with Severn Trent Services, a global provider of water and wastewater treatment services based in Fort Washington, Pa.

Tatara and Severn Trent, under project manager Bob Peter, worked together to devise a system for collecting data on the project’s lift stations. They also created a geographic information system that tracks every piece of the water and sewer infrastructure. As a result, the township has better control over day-to-day operations and powerful tools to plan for growth.

Better documentation

Tatara’s job was to oversee the big picture, get the system in shape, and monitor day-to-day operations. He found that much of the equipment was not in proper working order. “Only one of three pumps might be operating in a triplex lift station,” he recalls. “Backup generators had not been maintained and some would not start. Replacement parts stocks were almost nonexistent. On the water side, there were lapses in the cross-connection program.”

The most pervasive issue, however, was inadequate documentation of equipment location and condition and of lift-station inspections and maintenance. The 57 sewer lift stations were supposed to be checked daily, twice weekly or monthly, depending on location and priority.

“Operators wrote inspection notes in field logbooks on site, but the information was never collated, entered in a computer database, or put into any type of report,” says Peter. “There was no way to monitor pumping rates, electrical usage, site conditions or the need for repairs, and no way to verify that equipment checks actually had been made. The poor condition of much of the equipment indicated that maintenance simply had not been done.”

Getting proactive

Tatara first focused on getting everything working and installing a preventive maintenance program. He then began working on design standards for the system and improving the cross-connection program. He also created an inventory of repair parts for all of the project’s water mains, distribution networks and collection pipes and made space for it by cleaning up and reorganizing storage facilities and clearing out types and sizes of piping that were no longer in use.

But the two biggest challenges facing the Genoa Project dealt with information and documentation. Peter implemented an automated data collection system for the lift stations. For that purpose, Severn Trent chose technology offered by BirdNest Services Inc. of Houston, Texas.

“Instead of writing in logbooks, our operators now use cellular phones to enter lift-station data,” Peter says. “The cell phones prompt each licensed operator through a menu customized for each lift station, ensuring that all data is collected.”

Once the operator reviews the entries and presses the “send” button, the phone transmits data to a central computing facility, where it is logged and time-stamped. If the operator is out of cell tower range, the phone stores the data until it comes within range, then transmits. Data are available to any staff member with a computer and password, sometimes as soon as 15 minutes after collection.

The system includes a report generator that shows tabular and graphed data for whatever categories the user wants to see. Data can also be exported to Excel spreadsheets to produce standard Severn Trent operational and compliance reports. The fee-for-service system includes a one-time setup fee, an annual company access fee, and a monthly subscriber fee based on the number of users who put data into the system.

Comprehensive tracking

Although the township runs two SCADA systems at nine lift stations, Peter uses the cell phone system at those sites because they still need to be physically checked. “A lot can go wrong that does not show up on a SCADA screen,” he says. “The cell phone system lets operators track issues such as vandalism, rodent damage, insect infestations or even the fact that the grass needs mowing.”

To prepare for the system, Peter collected data such as the operators’ routes, the pumps and their nameplate information, the type of float system, and whether a backup generator was on site. It then took about two weeks for BirdNest to build the cell phone menus. To train operators, BirdNest ran remote seminars using a Severn Trent computer projection system.

The system proved effective for monitoring lift stations, and Peter expanded it to track backup generators to make sure they were exercised on schedule. He is now expanding the system further to include water treatment booster stations (to monitor chlorine injection), and the project’s three wastewater and two water treatment plants.

Peter also uses the system to monitor the Severn Trent truck fleet. On a weekly basis, operators enter their mileage, tire condition and fluid levels as a safety check.

“The key benefit to the system is the ability to document that jobs are being done and information is being gathered,” Peter says. “Managers know critical information, such as when stations were checked, what the pump hours and electrical usages were, and whether the site needs maintenance. Everything is available on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, and it’s available almost in real time.”

Multiple benefits

Report data are visible to all who need to know. In one case, when electrical usage at a lift station began trending upward, Tatara was able to get the information and create graphs to show the sewer authority that it would be more cost-effective to replace the pump than to pay for the electricity.

Finally, Peter and Tatara see potential to use the data collected to model infrastructure for future capital im-provements. Tatara and his staff have completed a hydraulic model charting the next 20 years of growth in the water distribution system and projecting the infrastructure improvements that growth will require.

Tatara plans to model the sewer system next: Some of the system is almost 20 years old, and a capacity and condition analysis is on the drawing board. When the sewer model is built, the BirdNest data will provide accurate information on flows and rainfall.

The township already has a line item for infrastructure capital expenses in the budget, so when new facilities are required, it won’t be necessary to go back to the ratepayers for construction funds.

GIS tracking

Tatara’s GIS project has already captured a vast amount of information, which ultimately will be available on a township Web site. He uses the ArcMap, part of the ESRI ArcGIS, with a Trimble ­Geo XH GPS unit for recording data in the field.

“Data collection can be extremely detailed,” Tatara says. “For example, for a single fire hydrant, the system can track the type of hydrant, its manufacturer, the year installed, the nearest address, the type of fitting and its condition, the condition of the isolation valve and its location, and the size of the connection to the main.”

Altogether, the system includes tens of thousands of data points for virtually every part of the infrastructure. GPS capability helps locate facilities quickly even when the ground is snow-covered. Last winter, local fire departments started using the GPS in addition to their own maps to locate hydrants.

Severn Trent maintenance crews use the system on every job. The GIS data, including construction drawings and diagrams, is downloaded to Miss Dig, a laptop system carried by each crew supervisor. Using ArcView, the supervisor can check locations in the truck without having to rely on maps. Clicking on an address brings up the pipe nearby, and clicking on the pipe brings up the plan sheets for that pipe. Full construction plans are also available online.

The ArcView database resides on the hard drive of the laptop, and it is updated quarterly. As wireless service becomes available in the area, the project plans to convert to real-time access.

At present, only the water and sewer infrastructure is loaded into the GIS. Ultimately the township may have a comprehensive system that includes all utilities: water, sewer, gas, electric, telephone and cable.

Leading edge

“Bob and I feel privileged to work in a township like Genoa, where the leadership sees the advantages that can be gained by new information applications,” Tatara says.

“The BirdNest system gives us documentation that promotes good management of the system for a price that might be considered a drop in the bucket of utility operations,” he says. “And the ArcMap/ArcView GIS system speeds repairs and helps make sure that the right parts are always available and that the correct repairs are carried out.

“We are fortunate to be doing applications that many other utilities are still dreaming about.”



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