Venezuela's largest utilities embrace Haestad Methods' water resources software

WATERBURY, CT, March 31, 2004 -- Two of Venezuela's largest utilities have selected Haestad Methods' WaterCAD, WaterGEMS, and SewerCAD water resources modeling software to help meet and comply with regulatory requirements.

Under the Water and Sewerage Decentralization Project established by the Venezuelan government in 1989, municipalities are urgently working to improve the efficiency and quality of potable water and sanitation collection systems. Hidrolara, Barquisimeto; and Hidrocapital, Caracas have joined Haestad's list of local authorities who are currently using its software to meet these goals, including Hidrofalcon C.A., Estado Falcon; and Hidrocentro C.A., Guacara Estado de Carabobo.

WaterCAD will replace the existing modeling system at Hidrolara and WaterGEMS at Hidrocapital, providing each utility with a complete GIS-based solution for modeling and managing their drinking water infrastructure.

"Haestad Methods' SewerCAD modeling software allowed us to quickly learn where analysis and redesign was needed in our wastewater network," said Rafael Alvarez Fonseca, General Manager of Hidrolara. "As a result, we migrated to WaterCAD to improve the operation of our water distribution system. We also enrolled in Haestad's ClientCare maintenance and support program to continue receiving the latest software updates and upgrades, technical expertise, and maintenance to maintain the highest levels of efficiency for both our systems."

Hidrocapital will use WaterGEMS to improve the performance of its pumping systems and interconnect its networks. This prominent utility provides water and wastewater services to over 5 million people in the capital city of Caracas, which spans over 200,000 sq km (77,200 sq miles).

Hidrocapital draws water from the Sistema de Produccion Tuy dam, which is one of the most complex hydraulic constructions in the world. Its infrastructure includes 11 treatment plants and 147 pumping stations. One of the main challenges of this network is to maintain adequate water pressure over large variations in altitude and to increase the efficiency of pumping operations to reduce the energy-intensive operational costs.

With WaterGEMS, Hidrocapital's engineers will construct a hydraulic model of its water distribution network including all the connections to its pumping stations. To understand the current operating characteristics, an extended-period simulation will be developed to examine how the system behaves over time. Using a complete, calibrated model of the system, Hidrocapital will be able to determine ways to improve operations, increase efficiency, create strategies to ration water, improve pumping schedules and strategies, and reduce leakage.

"As utilities are faced with meeting new and stringent demands, they will continue to turn to Haestad Methods for the most efficient and cost-effective solutions to replace their outdated applications," said Leandro Rodriguez, Regional Manager for Latin America, Haestad Methods. "We believe that Haestad Methods' localized training, bilingual Spanish and English technical support, and superior ClientCare support will also continue to play a critical role in achieving their objectives."

For more information on Haestad Methods' Venezuelan initiatives, call Haestad Methods at 1-800-727-6555 (USA or Canada) or +1-203-755-1666 (worldwide), e-mail sales@haestad.com, or visit http://www.haestad.com.

About Haestad Methods:

Haestad Methods has been in the business of enabling engineers with technology for 25 years and is internationally recognized as the world's leading water resources software company. The company provides more than 130,000 civil engineers in over 170 countries with hydrologic and hydraulic modeling software, services, continuing education workshops, and publications.

For more information, visit http://www.haestad.com.