Data integration for infrastructure asset management in small to medium-sized water utilities

Abstract Water utilities collect, store and manage vast data sets using many information systems (IS). For infrastructure asset management (IAM) planning those data need to be processed and transformed into information. However, information management efficiency often falls short of desired results. This happens particularly in municipalities where management is structured according to local government models. Along with the existing IS at the utilities' disposal, engineers and managers take their decisions based on information that is often incomplete, inaccurate or out-of-date. One of the main challenges faced by asset managers is integrating the several, often conflicting, sources of information available on the infrastructure, its condition and performance, and the various predictive analyses that can assist in prioritizing projects or interventions. This paper presents an overview of the IS used by Portuguese water utilities and discusses how data from different IS can be integrated in order to support IAM.

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WATER INFRASTRUCTURE ASSET MANAGEMENT: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THREE URBAN WATER UTILITIES IN SOUTH AFRICA

Sustainable Development and Planning X ◽

10.2495/sdp180781 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

ELKINGTON SIBUSISO MNGUNI

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Comparative Analysis ◽

Asset Management ◽

Water Utilities ◽

Urban Water ◽

Water Infrastructure ◽

Infrastructure Asset Management

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Urban Water Infrastructure Asset Management Plan: Case Study

Open Engineering ◽

10.1515/eng-2019-0058 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 459-467

Author(s):

Bruno Ferreira ◽

Nelson J. G. Carriço

Keyword(s):

Asset Management ◽

Management Plan ◽

Supply System ◽

Water Utilities ◽

Urban Water ◽

Plan Implementation ◽

New Challenges ◽

Definition Of ◽

Infrastructure Asset Management

AbstractThe current paper aims the application of the Portuguese infrastructure asset management (IAM) methodology to a case study. The inevitable degradation of urban water infrastructures creates new challenges for water utilities engineers and manager, as they need to decide which components should be rehabilitated to efficiently match the public’s demand, while still providing a qualitative and efficient service that doesn’t compromise the financial integrity of water utilities.This methodology is based on a five-step structured sequence - (i) definition of objectives assessment criteria and metrics; (ii) diagnosis; (iii) plan production; (iv) plan implementation; and (v) monitoring and revision – being structured in three distinct levels of planning and decision (i.e., strategic, tactical and operational). The IAM methodology was applied to a sixty-year-old water supply system (WSS) located in Lisbon’s metropolitan area, Portugal, mainly focused on steps (i) to (iii) and to the tactical level of planning. Results obtained are discussed and the main conclusions are presented.

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Highlights of key international water infrastructure asset management initiatives, and trends, challenges and developments in Portugal

Water Policy ◽

10.2166/wp.2016.137 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

pp. 128-146 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

R. Amaral ◽

H. Alegre ◽

J. S. Matos

Keyword(s):

Asset Management ◽

Water Services ◽

Water Utility ◽

Services Sector ◽

Leading Role ◽

National Strategic Plan ◽

Efficiency And Effectiveness ◽

Critical Issues ◽

Portuguese Water ◽

Infrastructure Asset Management

Over the last two decades, remarkable progress in the Portuguese drinking water and wastewater services sector has been achieved. Nevertheless, it faces a serious challenge in trying to ensure long-term sustainability. There is equally scope for considerable efficiency and effectiveness gains. The national strategic plan for the period 2014–2020 has assigned a prominent role to infrastructure asset management (IAM) in the paradigm shift required in water services. This paper discusses the progress made, the critical issues and the challenges faced by the Portuguese water sector regarding IAM, based on a comparative analysis of international and national contexts. Various worldwide initiatives are presented. The main drivers to start using IAM were quite diverse. In Portugal, legislation initially contributed to attracting the attention of the sector to IAM, but LNEC, a research institute, has played a leading role in this process. The water services regulator has also been playing a very important role. The highly fragmented structure, the politicised nature of municipal water utility management and the existing accounting procedures are some of the main barriers to the spread of IAM best practices. The sector's ongoing restructuring and the new tariff regulation will be key enabling opportunities and challenges in coming years.

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CoDEC: Connected Data For Road Infrastructure Asset Management

IOP Conference Series Materials Science and Engineering ◽

10.1088/1757-899x/1202/1/012002 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 1202 (1) ◽

pp. 012002

Author(s):

Sukalpa Biswas ◽

John Proust ◽

Tadas Andriejauskas ◽

Alex Wright ◽

Carl van Geem ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Asset Management ◽

Current Status ◽

Data Sets ◽

Data Accessibility ◽

Road Infrastructure ◽

Fully Integrated ◽

Current Asset ◽

Integrated Or ◽

Asset Data ◽

Infrastructure Asset Management

Abstract Road infrastructure asset management is rapidly transforming into a digital environment where data accessibility, effective integration and collaboration and accessibility from different sources and assets are key. However, current asset management processes are not yet fully integrated or linked, and there are incompatibilities between various systems and platforms that limit the ability to integrate asset management with BIM. The CoDEC project has sought to understand the current status of information management for assets, including inventory, condition and new data sources such as sensors and scanning systems, to identify the challenges and needs for linking and integrating different data sets to support effective asset management. As a result, CoDEC has developed a data dictionary framework to help link/integrate static and dynamic data for the “key” infrastructure assets (road pavements, bridges, tunnels). This will enable BIM and Asset Management Systems (AMS) to exchange data and help optimise and integrate data management across systems and throughout the different asset lifecycle phases, from build to operation. This work will be followed up with three pilot projects to demonstrate the feasibility of integrating asset data from various sources through linked data/semantic web technology to build the connection between AMS and BIM platforms.

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BIM business value for asset owners through effective asset information management

Facilities ◽

10.1108/f-03-2019-0036 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 38 (3/4) ◽

pp. 181-200 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Mustapha Munir ◽

Arto Kiviniemi ◽

Stephen Finnegan ◽

Stephen W. Jones

Keyword(s):

Information Management ◽

Asset Management ◽

Effective Management ◽

Content Type ◽

Large Sets ◽

Lack Of Information ◽

Qualitative Thematic Analysis ◽

Building Information ◽

Asset Data ◽

Asset Managers

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the processes, tools and techniques of strategic asset information management (AIM) for built assets, and how the asset information content enhances the proficiency of asset managers to effectively manage their assets throughout their life cycle by utilising building information modelling (BIM) and asset management (AM) systems. For most asset managers, the problem is not the lack of information about their assets, but the abundance of it, and most especially the absence of established processes and protocols to effectively manage large sets of asset data. Therefore, it is crucial to develop a strategy to control and manage this information in order for asset managers to harness its potential and realise value from their organisation’s information assets.. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative case study strategy was used to investigate the effective management of asset data in an AIM system. Seven sets of interviews were conducted and nine respondents were interviewed. These were analysed through qualitative thematic analysis using the NVivo software. Findings The paper identifies six dimensions of value that BIM contributes to AM, which are: management, commerce, efficiency, industry, user and technology value. Also, the paper demonstrates that there is real value to be derived by the asset owner from the effective management of asset information. The study highlights that the value of BIM is not inherent but would require many other processes to deliver value to the organisation. Originality/value The key value of the paper is that it identifies important techniques for managing asset data and how asset information is collected, organised, stored, controlled, analysed, secured, shared and reported within a virtual AIM system for strategic management-based decisions.

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Urban water infrastructure asset management – a structured approach in four water utilities

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.2012.509 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 66 (12) ◽

pp. 2702-2711 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

M. A. Cardoso ◽

M. Santos Silva ◽

S. T. Coelho ◽

M. C. Almeida ◽

D. I. C. Covas

Keyword(s):

Water Supply ◽

Asset Management ◽

Water Utilities ◽

Urban Water ◽

Wastewater Systems ◽

Wastewater Infrastructure ◽

Risk Cost ◽

Levels Of Service ◽

Structured Approach ◽

Infrastructure Asset Management

Water services are a strategic sector of large social and economic relevance. It is therefore essential that they are managed rationally and efficiently. Advanced water supply and wastewater infrastructure asset management (IAM) is key in achieving adequate levels of service in the future, particularly with regard to reliable and high quality drinking water supply, prevention of urban flooding, efficient use of natural resources and prevention of pollution. This paper presents a methodology for supporting the development of urban water IAM, developed during the AWARE-P project as well as an appraisal of its implementation in four water utilities. Both water supply and wastewater systems were considered. Due to the different contexts and features of the utilities, the main concerns vary from case to case; some problems essentially are related to performance, others to risk. Cost is a common deciding factor. The paper describes the procedure applied, focusing on the diversity of drivers, constraints, benefits and outcomes. It also points out the main challenges and the results obtained through the implementation of a structured procedure for supporting urban water IAM.

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Preliminary Reflection on Performance Indicator and Performance Factor for Infrastructure Asset Management

Journal of Infrastructure & Facility Asset Management ◽

10.12962/jifam.v2i1.6904 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Hitapriya Suprayitno ◽

Ria Asih Aryani Soemitro ◽

Mahendra Andiek Maulana ◽

Yervi Hesna

Keyword(s):

Asset Management ◽

Performance Indicator ◽

Performance Factor ◽

And Performance ◽

Infrastructure Asset Management

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Investigating engineering asset management standards (PAS-55) adoption and performance evaluation in information management: case study in Hong Kong

International Journal of Strategic Engineering Asset Management ◽

10.1504/ijseam.2016.076949 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 45

Author(s):

Jingjing Zhong ◽

Peter W. Tse ◽

Samuel K.S. Fung

Keyword(s):

Hong Kong ◽

Performance Evaluation ◽

Information Management ◽

Asset Management ◽

Management Standards ◽

And Performance ◽

Management Case Study

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Levels of Uncertainty in Infrastructure Asset Management

Transportation Research Record Journal of the Transportation Research Board ◽

10.1177/0361198121991844 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 036119812199184

Author(s):

Amir R. Hessami ◽

Stuart D. Anderson ◽

Roger E. Smith

Keyword(s):

Strategic Management ◽

Asset Management ◽

Large Scale ◽

Level Of Service ◽

Management Planning ◽

Usage Patterns ◽

Four Levels ◽

Large Scale Networks ◽

Asset Managers ◽

Infrastructure Asset Management

The management of infrastructure assets is often challenged by uncertain factors such as changing weather trends and usage patterns. To reliably maintain the assets above a specified level of service, the extent of this uncertainty should be identified, and adequate methods for analyzing the risk factors should be implemented. The analysis of risk is well-defined in the field of strategic management. In the current study, four levels of uncertainty that are widely discussed in strategic management were used as a benchmark to determine the levels of uncertainty in infrastructure asset management. These levels range from known issues, to statistically predictable factors, to complete indeterminacy. The current methods of treating uncertainty in infrastructure asset management were reviewed to determine how they overlap with the four levels of uncertainty and whether or not asset managers handle this uncertainty in an optimal fashion. The current approaches in asset management were found to be primarily deterministic and probabilistic. A shortcoming was found in regard to the incorporation of risk analysis into asset management planning for large-scale networks. The researchers concluded that the level of uncertainty present in asset management at the network planning level can be best described as a range and addressed through the use of representative scenarios within that range.

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