Water/Wastewater Sessions

If you own, manage, operate, or maintain infrastructure related to water organizations, you can’t afford to miss the innovative and ready-to-implement ideas presented at this event. Register now to check out these targeted sessions, and much, much more!

Tuesday, March 11, 8:30

Utilizing GIS for a Stormwater Drainage Utility Implementation
Track: Public Sector
Marikka Williams, City of Highland Village

Learning Objectives:

• Learn how GIS can be used for stormwater drainage utility implementation.
• Discover methodological approaches for project-specific GIS implementations.
• Understand the value of a GIS support system to solve real-world problems.

In response to the 1987 amendments to the Clean Water Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency developed the NPDES Stormwater Program. In order to respond to the requirements of this program, it was necessary to implement a fee to fund a stormwater drainage utility. This presentation outlines the GIS methodology created for a stormwater drainage fee implementation and discusses how GIS can be used to serve as a support system for stormwater drainage utility management.

Tuesday, March 11, 9:30

Mobile Forms and GIS for Underground Damage Prevention
Track: Mobile Applications
Jennifer J. Nieland, Integrys Business Support, LLC

Learning Objectives:

• Learn to use what you have: “home grown” mobile forms and GIS for damage prevention.
• Go from paper to PC: change management while going mobile.
• Understand two steps: Going mobile changes a process, then improves it.

Imagine combining several tools in such a way they create a powerful new tool that can be applied to other processes, rendering them more efficient, effective, and less costly. This was the case at Wisconsin Public Service Corporation when locating tickets from state One Call systems, the mobile GIS viewer and electronic forms were combined and applied to Damage Prevention, or Locating. These “old” tools, used in a new way, transformed Locating from a paper process to an electronic process, improving data, saving hours and reducing costs.

Tuesday, March 11, 10:30

A Battle Plan for Disaster Management
Track: Critical Infrastructure Protection and Emergency Response
Jeremy Sadler, Osmose Utilities Services, Inc.

Learning Objectives:

• Get an overview of emergency management principles.
• Learn application of emergency management principles to utility operations.
• See examples of successful strategies used by utilities in all phases of emergency management.

Knowing how to respond effectively to a hurricane, ice storm, or other disaster is important for every utility. This presentation will explore strategies for developing a “storm plan” that meets the four phases of disaster management identified by the Emergency Management Institute. One presenter has organized disaster response teams for major hurricanes including Katrina. The other presenter is a utility representative who has weathered major disasters and knows how to develop a successful disaster plan.

Tuesday, March 11, 11:30

Enterprise GIS—Powering the Utility of the Future
Track: New Technology and Market Directions
William J. Meehan, ESRI

Learning Objectives:

• Learn the latest in and future of GIS architecture as applied to future utility directions.
• Discover how GIS enables the smart grid.
• Understand how spatial Web services and mobile GIS impact utilities.

Increasing challenges from customers, employees, regulators, and investors require utilities to transform themselves. GIS is a key technology of the transformation. Utility of the future involves automated interaction with customers, self-healing smart grids, enhanced use of automated metering, optimized use of resources, predictive methods for maintenance and capital improvements, more security, and more integrated technology and processes. This session will examine the role that enterprise GIS plays in powering the utility of the future.

Tuesday, March 11, 2:30

Better O&M Facility Management Through Data Management and GPS Technologies
Track: Surveying
Todd Rothermel, Bentley Systems, Inc.

Learning Objectives:

• Data management of geospatial engineering documents.
• Understand the use of geospatial engineering documents for inspection, stakeout, and as-builts.
• Update data archives using GPS Hardware and Software technologies.

Working archival systems that contain both computer-aided drafting
(CAD) data and computer-aided engineering (CAE) will be discussed in the context of the daily workings of large operations and maintenance facilities. New advances in technology will be presented that create a vendor-neutral archive of CAD/CAE information that can be used in data inspection/stakeout mode, as well as in the data update mode. GPS and total station deployment using the extracted data will be reviewed.
Copresenters: Rob Mellis, Bentley Systems, Inc.

Wake Up the Sleeping Giant! Make Your GIS Investment Pay Off Through Field Automation
Track: Return on Investment/Business Case
Charles Lang, MapFrame Corporation

Learning Objectives:

• Learn business benefits and the ROI of using GIS for field automation solutions.
• Learn why field workers embrace a map-based work approach.
• Discover how a map-based approach brings value to the entire organization.

Organizations spend millions building and maintaining a GIS only to realize a portion of its great potential. Real return on investment from GIS can only be found when it is released from the office, extended throughout the enterprise, and leveraged to automate work processes beyond that of just map viewing. This presentation will focus on the business benefits and return on investment of using GIS as a field automation solution.

Tuesday, March 11, 4:30

Evaluating the Effects of Development on Water Treatment Operations
Track: Public Sector
Amy Atamian, Malcolm Pirnie, Inc.

Learning Objectives:

• Learn how GIS is used for watershed assessment and management.
• Discover lessons learned in data management and integrated modeling.
• Understand an implementation of performance-based watershed management.

The Birmingham Water Works and Sewer Board is concerned about forthcoming development in its watersheds, the impacts to the raw water quality, and subsequent treatment costs. A step-wise decision-making approach was designed to focus on specific board goals for water resource protection that maximized the use of existing information. Unique aspects of this program include modeling treatment plant costs based on inputs from watershed models and development of the Reservoir Overlay Protection District Ordinance.
Copresenters: Jerry Jones and Cindy How, Malcolm Pirnie, Inc.

Wednesday, March 12, 9:00

Information Pipeline: A Geospatial Approach to Pipeline Management at the Tarrant Regional Water District
Track: Work and Asset Management
Jeffery Coffey, Tarrant Regional Water District

Learning Objectives:

• Learn about the development of a pipeline management decision-support tool.
• Discover innovative ways to create GIS data from existing nonspatial data.
• See how a geodatabase can support a pipeline management strategy.

The Tarrant Regional Water District is developing a comprehensive pipeline management strategy that depends upon an accurate, manageable GIS database of information that supports all pipeline operation and maintenance activities. This presentation will examine the development of the pipeline geodatabase at TRWD and discuss how the organization effectively acquired, developed, and migrated disparate sources of data into the pipeline geodatabase, developed access for non-GIS users, and how that supports our operation and maintenance activities.

Wednesday, March 12, 10:00

Regional Watershed Management System
Track: Public Sector
Durmus Cesur, San Antonio River Authority

Learning Objectives:

• Learn basics to use an ESRI GIS platform for integrated modeling management.
• Learn to implement workflows using enterprise GIS.
• Learn to use enterprise GIS to communicate/coordinate modeling efforts.

The presenter will describe the use of geographic information system (GIS) as a framework to manage water resources modeling information—as well as to facilitate business processes and workflows that rely on this information—through the integration of hydrologic, hydraulic, and environmental modeling systems, enterprise databases, and the Web portal technologies. The GIS-based data models and application extensions are used to integrate hydrologic, hydraulic, and environmental models of interest on the GIS platform.

Building and Sustaining a Geospatially Enabled Enterprise Asset Register Capability
Track: Work and Asset Management
Paul J. Yarka, Accenture

Learning Objectives:

• Learn what technology solutions other organizations are using to integrate enterprise GIS with enterprise asset management systems.
• Develop an understanding of a single business process that can be used to optimally maintain a synchronized, asset-centered database.
• Discover lessons learned in implementing a geospatially enabled enterprise asset register.

T&D Utilities have invested heavily in enhancing their asset management operating model, processes, and tools. An enterprise asset register is a component of these improvements, providing a foundation for asset-related decision making. The geospatially enabled enterprise asset register is envisioned to provide a single system of record for the majority of assets. Some utilities are driving the enterprise asset register toward providing a 360-degree view of assets, enabling all asset planning and work execution.

Wednesday, March 12, 11:00

Coping with a Shifting Landbase at Helix Water
Track: Data Acquisition & Maintenance
Quince Lunde, Helix Water District

Learning Objectives:

• Update landbases with improved accuracy datasets.
• Automate network and infrastructure adjustments to fit new landbases.
• Understand business benefits of an automated approach shifting the focus to QA.

Use of improved landbase data was problematic for Helix Water District with their water infrastructure referenced to their original landbase. Manual methods for adjusting the network and assets to fit the new landbase were time consuming, costly, and inaccurate. This presentation will demonstrate, from a GIS operator perspective, Helix’s systematic conflation project for automating detection of spatial change between the old and new landbases and applying the derived shift information to the water infrastructure data for an accurate fit.
Copresenter: Dan Bowditch, Ubisense Consulting

Maximizing ROI on Geospatial Infrastructure Solutions
Track: Return on Investment/Business Case
Kecia Pierce, Intergraph Corporation

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize that the ROI for general purpose GIS is 1:1.
• Understand the downstream applications that deliver the real ROI for impacting the bottom line.
• Learn how companies have increased ROI and benefits with geospatial infrastructure solutions.

Geospatial infrastructure solutions provide many benefits to utilities and communications companies. They are not just for distribution and operation maps; they can maintain and manage the facility network model. The downstream applications that leverage the geospatial network model outage management, mobile workforce management, engineering network analysis, customer reporting, and work and asset management deliver real results that impact the bottom line. Real-world examples will be presented along with the resultant benefits.
Copresenter: Brimmer Sherman, Intergraph Corporation

Rapid City CMMS Selection and Implementation
Track: Work and Asset Management
Garry LaBelle, Burns & McDonnell

Learning Objectives:

• Learn about software selection.
• Understand maintenance management (Cityworks) and GIS implementation.
• Learn about more data management.

This presentation will cover the case study of Rapid City, South Dakota, water and wastewater distribution and collection systems, software selection, and the integration of ArcGIS and Maintenance Management software (Cityworks). These two systems are working in conjunction with the data and results from the hydraulic modeling and utility billing systems to utilize the city’s current data and assist the city in a more centralized data management approach.
Copresenter: Bryan Claxton, Burns & McDonnell

Wednesday, March 12, 1:00

Case Study: Integrating GIS and Work Management
Track: Enterprise Architecture & System Integration
Samuel Newman, Cobb EMC

Learning Objectives:

• Gain an architectural understanding of how to integrate WMS with other systems.
• See the benefits of integrating WMS with GIS, CIS, and ERP.
• Understand the challenges facing integration of WMS, GIS, CIS, and ERP.

The power of a work management system can be enhanced upon integration with GIS and ERP systems. Work management by itself improves work order management capabilities. By integrating work management with ERP, and particularly GIS, a company realizes a more complete solution that can create a work order, design a job for the work order, requisition assets for the work order, manage charges for the work order, and finally unitize the assets.

Spatially Enabled Performance Management
Track: Business Intelligence and Data Warehouse
William S. Holland, GeoAnalytics, Inc.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the basics of data warehousing, business intelligence, and predictive analytics.
• Gain insight into how to leverage business intelligence, analytic, and GIS technologies to support strategic and operational decision-making.
• Learn how to deliver greater business value from GIS technology and data investments.

Increasingly, organizations are employing performance management practices and technologies in support of strategic and operational business decisions. Spatially enabled performance management offers unique and compelling support for decision making. This session will provide an overview of performance management concepts and practices and a high-level insight into the technical architectural alternatives for integration of spatial technologies with performance management. Finally, this session will provide an overview of the business value of spatially enabled performance management.

Wednesday, March 12, 2:00

Capturing Field Data with Video: A New Approach
Track: Data Acquisition & Maintenance
David Mohammed, Osmose Utilities Services, Inc.

Learning Objectives:

• Explore the advantages of collecting facility information using a digital camcorder.
• Learn the logistics of extracting data from the video for use in a GIS or another database.
• Examine the delivery mechanisms for video-based information.

Digital video provides a means to collect comprehensive field data and establish a reviewable, information-rich asset record. Field technicians capture outside information on a digital camcorder. Data entry personnel then “extract” information from the video. The process allows you to collect all the information that you’d collect using traditional field-survey techniques—and also provides a video record that is a valuable reference resource that can prevent the need for costly field visits.

Using Geospatial Technology to Communicate with the Public When Disasters Strike
Track: Critical Infrastructure Protection and Emergency Response
Joe Francica, Directions Magazine

Learning Objectives:

• Understand disaster mitigation and response for the public.
• Learn about available real-time geospatial information.
• Become aware of political changes with informing the public to disasters.

This presentation will provide a detailed, first-person account of the lack of communication currently being issued to the general public in the event of a natural disaster or terrorist attack. While money is being poured into communications with first responders, the general public is often left out. This presentation will show problems with how government entities communicate currently and what can be done to mitigate problems in the future using existing technology.