Asset Management for Pump Station Capital Planning- How MSD Does It Better

The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (MSD) operates approximately 300 wastewater pumping stations in their separate sanitary and combined sewage systems. These stations represent all types of designs from billion gallons per day CSO floodwall stations down to neighborhood submersible duplex stations. As part of a Federal Consent Decree MSD agreed to nondestructive testing of its critical force mains on a regular basis. This has led to an asset management approach for force mains which considers force main importance (consequence of failure) and condition (likelihood of failure).With force mains squarely in view due to their ongoing compliance program, MSD started taking a hard look at pump station asset management. They started with a desk top exercise based on installation date and industry norms for useful life. This analysis revealed a looming capital need for a $250 million investment in pump station replacement. With this extreme number and the understanding that a desktop exercise does not tell the whole story, MSD began an Asset Management program for their pumping stations which focuses on taking their initial steps to the next level.This presentation will show how a reliable pump station operating division moved beyond routine maintenance to implementing practical asset management. In the process, the division redefined maintenance to provide important data for decision making and justifying capital improvements that were based on solid consequence and likelihood of failure criteria. This process involved every part of the organization from operations to engineering, finance to information systems, procurement to training. Through the inclusion of these key areas of the organization, all the working pieces of the asset lifecycle have been aligned in a practical integrated program.This presentation will also highlight how maintenance strategies surrounding the asset inventory extend useful life and supply important data for renewal and replacement considerations. Project justification and prioritization against other competing capital investments will be shared. And most importantly, the lessons learned will be provided from MSD’s 18-month Asset Management effort.