Clean Smarter, Not Harder: FreeFlowH20

In 2014 Winston-Salem/Forsyth County (WSFC) Utilities faced a defining moment for their organization. The utility was experiencing historically low levels of service and facing potential regulatory action from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) relating to high rates of sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs). These events negatively impact public health, cause property damage, and harm local environments. Primarily caused by pipe blockages, the most efficient path to reducing WSFC Utilities SSOs was identified as more effective asset maintenance programs. By improving WSFC Utilities' approach to clearing and removing grease, roots, and debris from the collection system -- the primary cause of blockages leading to SSOs -- the utility had the opportunity to improve collection system performance and avoid regulatory action. As a part of this mission, WSFC Utilities established the Collection System Improvement Program (CSIP), a multi-year effort to relaunch the organization's Capacity, Management, Operation, and Maintenance (CMOM) program. HDR collaborated with WSFC Utilities to establish its vision and develop a strategic plan to achieve it. Program components included target initiatives to optimize utility operations -- including cleaning -- as well as condition assessment, capacity assessment, repair, rehabilitation, and replacement (3R) design and delivery, and staff augmentation to assist in implementation efforts. A key initiative established early in the program was to develop a methodology to optimize cleaning operations within the utility's 1,800-mile collection system and an associated tool to implement this methodology within the organization. The result of this effort is FreeFlowH20 (FFH20). FFH2O is a web-based application that simplifies systemwide collection system maintenance through the optimization of cleaning operations. Leveraging utility data such as GIS-based asset information, work order histories, maintenance observations, and condition assessment findings, FFH2O creates and manages a pipe cleaning schedule to promote right-time cleaning. By actively managing cleaning schedule within the collection system, FFH20 allows WSFC Utilities to focus cleaning resources on highest risk pipes and limit unnecessary maintenance on lower risk pipes. This results in cleaning activities taking place in pipes that have grease, roots, and debris that need to be removed and avoids unnecessary cleaning on pipes that are already clean. FFH2O implements this approach through a web-based interface that allows users to:

1.Visualize the pipe cleaning schedule
2.Select non-contiguous geographic groupings of pipe for maintenance
3.Manage individual pipe status
4.Directly interact with suggested schedule modifications
5.Review Asset History
6.Create manual recommendations in response to real-time field events
7.Manage active work

FFH2O has allowed WSFCU to transition from a reactive O&M approach to a proactive one. Since the implementation of the pipe cleaning schedule, WSFCU's SSO count has dropped from 124 in FY15 to 55 in FY22 -- a 55% reduction in 7 years. This has resulted in a more predictable operating environment that enables the utility to better plan for resource needs and maintenance operations within its system. In addition, SSO reductions resulted in the USEPA dropping the regulatory case against the utility and avoiding a consent order. By cleaning smarter, not harder, utilities have the opportunity to implement more effective maintenance strategies within their collection system. This enables organizations to positively impact collection system performance in the face of a range of challenges. Regulatory threats, staffing challenges, and budgetary constraints in collection system operations can all be mitigated by becoming more effective in day-to-day cleaning. FFH20 is one way to achieve this goal.