INNOVATIVE USE OF TECHNOLOGY FOR IMPLEMENTING A CMOM PROGRAM IN THE CITY OF NOVI, MICHIGAN

The City of Novi has initiated a capacity assurance, management, operations and maintenance (CMOM) study to better manage their sanitary sewer system, meet regulatory and customer expectations and ensure that adequate capacity is available. The primary objectives of the CMOM program are to plan for sewer system capacity to handle the increasing flows, to improve the City's tracking systems for new sewer permits and to improve operation and maintenance procedures. The City is performing the CMOM program over a three-year period. The first-year included base flow projections, flow metering, a wet weather flow analysis, capacity assessment and development of tracking tools for system performance and flow increases. The second and third years of the program will include evaluation of the City's management, operations and maintenance procedures, a sanitary sewer evaluation survey and wet weather flow removal.The significant growth in the City has resulted in many site plans proceeding in parallel at various stages in the development process. A Geographic Information System (GIS) was used to manage site plan developments, future land use data and flow projections. In order to better manage the available capacity in the system, a capacity assessment was performed and the results were incorporated into a sanitary sewer permit tracking tool. The tracking tool was developed as a customized web browser tool that integrates with the hydraulic model and greatly simplifies the process of tracking available capacity. Peak flows in the system were evaluated through data collected from a temporary flow-metering program. Data were also available for approximately 11 years from a primary meter at the downstream end of the system. These data were used to evaluate the impact of antecedent moisture on the peak flow estimates. This was done by calibrating an antecedent moisture model and validating the model using the long-term meter data. This allowed the City to manage risks and guide the decision process regarding prioritization of improvements resulting from the capacity assessment.