Water Delivery System Assessment

Dallas Water Utilities (DWU) provides water services to approximately 2.5 million people in the City of Dallas and 27 nearby communities. To reliably deliver water to this large service area now and into the future, DWU required a better understanding of vulnerabilities within their water distribution system, which they could then integrate into their long-term planning and capital improvement decisions. Thus, Carollo was contracted to develop a complete asset inventory of existing pumping, storage, and aboveground facility assets and conduct physical inspections of these distribution system components.

Carollo first reviewed historical break and condition assessment data for collected water mains as well as geocoded event records, attaching them to the waterline segment in the City’s geographic information system (GIS). Then, to facilitate consistent and defensible condition assessments, a tailored condition-rating system was developed for use in DWU’s MAXIMO® system, named the Enterprise Work Order and Asset Management System (EWAMS). And, because the City underwent an organization-wide transition to MAXIMO® during this time, Carollo made sure to take facility inventories of water distribution assets in a format that can be imported into the City’s overall asset registry.

Once the inventory and condition assessment were completed, Carollo developed a baseline risk framework for all DWU assets considering their probability of failure (PoF) and consequence of failure (CoF). PoF is calculated using condition assessment data and a calibrated hydraulic model that leverages advanced machine-learning algorithms while CoF is evaluated according to a triple bottom line of social, economic, and environmental factors. Through this method, Carollo recommended a risk-prioritized capital improvements program (CIP) for DWU’s water mains and pumping and storage facilities, which includes a prioritization scheme with a list of triggers that signal the need for an identified project, its general timeline for implementation, and projected repair or replacement costs.

In addition to this comprehensive CIP, Carollo collaborated with DWU staff to develop a set of key performance indicators and a data visualization dashboard schema that manages water distribution assets to their lowest lifecycle costs. With these various tools, the City now has a clear, long-term planning and implementation roadmap for capital projects whose progress and success can be quantitatively tracked and communicated to outside stakeholders.