Better Know Your Manholes: NTMWD Inspection Program Featured in Texas WET
North Texas Municipal Water District’s Condition Assessment Program evaluating their gravity mains has been so valuable that even before it has run its 10-year course, the District has been able to identify ways to improve their system and their data-driven decisions.
For the December issue of Texas WET magazine, Freese and Nichols Water/Wastewater Master Planners Mazen Kawasmi, Stephen Johnson and Kristin Feng teamed with Justin Diviney, NTMWD’s CMOM Program Manager (Capacity, Management, Operations & Maintenance), to tell the story and share guidance on successful condition assessment planning and execution.
Texas WET is published five times a year by the Water Environment Association of Texas. This “Tech Talk” provides guidance on a critical area for utilities.
The authors write, in part:
“When the North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) started a 10-year Condition Assessment Program (CAP) of their gravity mains, they didn’t yet know all they didn’t know. What they wanted to know was where their pipelines needed immediate repairs, where they could plan for longer-term rehabilitation, and what the consequences could be from likely pipeline failures.
“Seven years into the program, NTMWD already has been able to update their data, move ahead on critical repairs and find ways to save money through a better understanding of their system. Their experience shows how cleaning and inspection efforts can restore conveyance system capacity and potentially reduce capital improvement needs, while a regularly updated geographical information system (GIS) can assist with well-prioritized, data-driven decisions.”
The article gives a detailed look at the manhole and pipeline inspection program, including findings and conclusions.
The authors summarize the lessons this way:
“The first seven years of this 10-year effort have yielded many lessons that can help guide others through a successful condition assessment program. These are key:
- Communication is critical, along with buy-in and commitment at all levels and across multiple departments of an organization. Constant communication with subconsultants also helps limit misunderstandings and schedule delays.
- Having an outside vendor QA/QC the inspection data helps to validate its quality.
- Including IT in the program plan is crucial to help coordinate large data storage needs and multiple types of software and databases containing a different asset management puzzle.
“The value of knowing the condition of your collection system represents much more than a monetary investment. For NTMWD, the cleaning and inspection efforts restored conveyance system capacity, potentially deferring or eliminating CIP projects. For example, a gravity line that was planned for a capacity improvement was discovered to be more than half full of debris. Removing this debris eliminated the capacity issues and the proposed improvement.
“The District now has data on the length of gravity main inspections, the number of automated or full-descent manhole inspections, and a budgetary cost estimate by fiscal year. And the District’s GIS now is updated regularly, providing a more holistic picture of the collection system, and the ability to make proactive, well-prioritized, and data-driven decisions. Having this data available allows NTMWD to make data-driven, proactive decisions about maintenance of the conveyance systems.”
Read the full article:
(See page 27)