South Carolina utility looks to MWH Soft technology to assist in risk-based capital planning

Nov. 30, 2010
BROOMFIELD, CO, Nov. 30, 2010 -- Startex-Jackson-Wellford-Duncan Water District (SJWD) in South Carolina has selected MWH Soft's ArcGIS-centric InfoWater and CapPlan Water for advanced water system modeling and rehabilitation planning...

BROOMFIELD, CO, Nov. 30, 2010 -- MWH Soft, a leading global innovator of wet infrastructure modeling and simulation software and technologies, today announced that Startex-Jackson-Wellford-Duncan Water District (SJWD), South Carolina, USA, has selected the ArcGIS-centric (Esri, Redlands, CA) InfoWater and CapPlan Water for advanced water system modeling and rehabilitation planning. SJWD is the latest utility to turn to the CapPlan product line for comprehensive decision support and optimized rehabilitation and renewal spending. The decision further substantiates MWH Soft's worldwide leadership position in geospatial modeling, simulation and management software for water utilities.

Created in 1956, SJWD covers 128 square miles in Spartanburg County in western South Carolina. The District serves approximately 20,000 accounts and a service area population of approximately 45,000. "SJWD is committed to providing our customers with the best possible service at the lowest possible rates," said Billy Cothran III, Director of Engineering for SJWD. "Using MWH Soft technology helps us to further that goal. InfoWater and CapPlan Water enable us to do our modeling and rehab analysis work on one cohesive platform and make smarter decisions on managing our critical infrastructure."

CapPlan Water changes the way water utilities plan the relative phasing of system improvements by allowing users to assess both the probability and consequence of failure for each asset. Assets that affect system operation will normally rate high on the consequence scale, while assets in poor condition will have a high probability of failure.

Probability of failure is determined based on the pipe's physical condition (structural integrity, age, material, roughness factor, leakage/break/defect history) and location (proximity to a seismic fault or construction zone) as well as its hydraulic performance characteristics (head loss, pressure, velocity). Consequence of failure draws on data such as water outages (schools, hospitals, critical care facilities); low- and no-water conditions; reduced fire protection capabilities; flooding, including structural damage and impacts of chlorinated water in natural waterways; degradation of water quality; and other factors.

Built upon ArcGIS and InfoWater platforms, CapPlan Water tackles the toughest data integrity and processing issues that slow typical large-scale asset management analysis projects. Leveraging the unique InfoWater geodatabase architecture, users can seamlessly work between hydraulic modeling calculations and traditional GIS data to determine probability and consequence scores without cumbersome error-prone exports and data synching to third party applications.

CapPlan Water calculates the risk of each asset linearly (consequence score multiplied by probability score), using either a bi-directional distribution matrix or a more complex multi-criterion classification. This choice of calculation methods gives the utility unprecedented flexibility to define risk based on virtually any combination of supporting data. The greatest attention can then be given to water mains at highest risk. With this evaluation in hand, water utilities can create fully prioritized short- and long-term water main rehabilitation, replacement, maintenance and management plans and develop sound, cost-effective capital programs to support them.

The program's intuitive interface; easy-to-use functionality; and rich analytical, graphing and reporting capabilities save utilities considerable resources. With minimal effort, users can quickly pinpoint assets at the greatest risk of hydraulic and water quality deficiencies or structural failure, identify the best possible improvement alternatives for optimal system performance, prioritize improvements based on available budget, and realize significant cost savings.

"With many of the world's drinking water supply and distribution systems reaching or having already exceeded their design lives, utilities need smarter ways to prioritize rehabilitation, repair, and/or replacement," said MWH Soft Vice President and Americas Business Director J. Erick Heath, P.E. "CapPlan Water is the only software package that seamlessly combines sophisticated GIS, hydraulic modeling, cost and budgeting data, and advanced decision support in one complete package. SJWD is constantly looking for cost-effective ways to improve system performance and customer service. Choosing CapPlan Water is the latest example of this commitment."

About MWH Soft
MWH Soft is a leading global provider of wet infrastructure modeling and simulation software and professional solutions designed to meet the technological needs of water/wastewater utilities, government industries, and engineering organizations worldwide. Its clients include the majority of the largest UK, Australasia and North American cities, foremost utilities on all five continents, and ENR top-rated design firms. With unparalleled expertise and offices in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific, the MWH Soft connected portfolio of best-in-class product lines empower thousands of engineers to competitively plan, manage, design, protect, operate and sustain highly efficient and reliable infrastructure systems, and provide an enduring platform for customer success. For more information, call MWH Soft at +1 626-568-6868, or visit www.mwhsoft.com.

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