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California wastewater utility deploys VertiGIS technology to streamline network infrastructure maintenance and asset management
“VertiGIS spatial analytics tools have really helped us improve operations and maintenance, empowering staff to work effectively and efficiently. With GeoPortal up and running, we have a full understanding of our assets, including their location, condition, and performance. GeoPortal leverages VertiGIS tools to optimize resources, integrate business systems, and unite our organization to stay ahead of the flow of wastewater.” – Khae Bohan, Asset Management Program Administrator, Central San.
Central Contra Costa Sanitary District (Central San) is a special district in California, serving nearly half a million residents and more than 15,000 businesses on over 3,000 parcels within a 146-square-mile service area. Established in 1946, Central San provides vital wastewater collection and treatment services to a diverse range of communities via 1,500 miles of sanitary sewer piping, playing a crucial role in public health and environmental protection. Central San has dedicated itself to maintaining this crucial infrastructure through rigorous inspection and maintenance protocols.
The Challenge:
Like many sanitary sewer utilities, Central San has long appreciated the benefits provided by digital “location” information and analytics. Because the special district’s primary mission is to provide safe and efficient wastewater management services, Central San was exploring geospatial intelligence options to improve service delivery as early as the mid-1990s. They first implemented a web-based Geographic Information System (GIS) — named “Geographic Data Integration” or GDI —migrating staff from paper maps to digital maps. Central San continued to evolve their use of GIS technology, upgrading systems, plus adding capabilities and data sets as the technology evolved.
By 2005, Central San had fully mapped their as-built infrastructure, including pipes, meters, valves, maintenance access holes, and other critical assets. Central San had migrated their GIS data to Intergraph GeoMedia and MapGuide software, but when support was discontinued, data duplication and software maintenance issues progressively developed. Committed to modernizing their GIS, Central San investigated which geospatial solutions could best help staff manage their infrastructure and wastewater resources. Central San wanted technology that could serve as the critical link for ongoing data maintenance requirements, as well as support diverse data sharing functions, analysis/reporting activities, and third-party integration applications. In 2014, Central San deployed Esri’s ArcGIS® software enterprise-wide to collect and manage their critical infrastructure data. The following year, Central San chose VertiGIS software to help them easily create customized applications that leverage ArcGIS and third-party system data to solve their unique business challenges.
The Solution:
The new web mapping portal, powered by VertiGIS technology and internally named GeoPortal, went live in May 2016. The GeoPortal application has two main sites:
- Central Portal serves the needs of multiple departments and focuses on the district’s horizontal assets, such as the collection system and recycled water distribution, in addition to administrative, land, and environmental information.
- Treatment Plant Portal spotlights the district’s vertical assets, such as the treatment plant, pump stations, and general facilities.
Both sites integrate fully with Central San’s business applications. The web applications are used every day, and staff have fully embraced the applications and rely on them to sustain daily operations and maintenance of virtually all the utility’s functions.
GeoPortal delivers staff an easy graphical interface that dynamically links to other data sources, such as Cityworks work orders, Central San’s Document Management System, CCTV, and other business systems. Staff in multiple departments leverage the map to navigate to precise features or use search tools to bring up additional, targeted information as needed.
Map view interface in Treatment Plant Portal enables staff to drill into detailed asset information for each facility.
The Result:
Collection System Operations (CSO) fully optimized
For many years, collection system maintenance scheduling was done manually, and CSO staff couldn’t efficiently assess how to consider adjacent pipes when scheduling cleaning. Best practice is to set adjacent pipes on coordinated schedules to reduce cleaning crews’ windshield time, but this was not possible until VertiGIS technology enabled Central San to provide a visual representation of cleaning based on location, existing frequencies, and the type of cleaning.
Cleaning schedules are now optimized using a scheduler to align activities to specific locations to increase the footage of pipe cleaned, enabling crews to efficiently address nearby pipes with fewer visits. This has the added benefit of reducing personnel overtime by enabling more cleaning in normal working hours and assists CSO in meeting its strategic plan goal of completing greater than 95% of scheduled cleanings on time.
Comprehensive data integration and reporting for better decision making
Central San district engineers, operators, and maintenance staff now have ready access to important documents, maintenance histories, and infrastructure project information. GeoPortal has proven to be an invaluable resource for many workgroups because it streamlines information access by compiling data from different databases and software systems. Central San values the advanced search functions that give easy access to the information associated with any given asset. These resources include, but are not limited to, as-built drawings, O&M manuals, permits, and CCTV inspection reports.
Unified asset management capabilities improve maintenance and operations
GeoPortal’s functionality has evolved in conjunction with Central San’s asset management programs. Today, staff can access a variety of tools through GeoPortal which are especially useful for maintenance and operations personnel. An improved asset lookup system linked to the utility’s current Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS), Cityworks, and other applications enables staff to view an asset’s work order history and associated project documents, as well as a list of out-of-service equipment.
In-depth spare parts management to boost uptime and asset availability
An internally developed spare parts management tool is integrated with GeoPortal and enables maintenance staff to access an asset’s spare parts record prior to beginning maintenance work. This empowers the Warehouse Supervisor to manage the spare parts assets inventory more effectively and staff to schedule operations and maintenance more efficiently.
Detailed asset information improves deployment and lifecycle planning
Selecting an asset on the VertiGIS map brings up a panel with additional details that includes numerous attributes such as asset number, lifecycle status, location, manufacturer, model number, whether the asset is associated with a regulatory permit, and much more. Additionally, there are links to the asset’s maintenance history and asset management documents/photos, to name just a few.
With help from VertiGIS technology, Central San has been able to leverage location data to increase network resilience, realize substantial business efficiency gains, and deliver a superior customer experience. To keep their operations moving forward, the district is planning to upgrade to the newest version of VertiGIS Studio, so they can continue to make smart business decisions based on complete information from across their entire operation.
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