Proactive CMOM: Richardson's Holistic Approach to Collection System Assessment and Asset Management

The City of Richardson is eyeing the finish line for an eight-year, comprehensive capacity and condition assessment of its entire collection system. This presentation will focus on the City's nearly $10 million investment to develop a data-driven asset management plan. Assessment results will provide an accurate, consistently developed baseline for future master planning and asset management programs, as well as for the implementation of a more efficient, collaborative program of street and pipeline repairs. The assessment results were used to group and prioritize capacity and renewal recommendations to form a capital improvement plan (CIP) for the overall collection system. Intentional Focus on Holistic Goals Richardson City staff was intentional in maintaining a holistic approach to the assessment program to fully understand the impact of improvements on the overall system. It approached the program with five goals: - Prioritize its CIP to address system capacity deficiencies - Prioritize its rehabilitation program for aging infrastructure - Develop sizeable projects for cost and schedule efficiencies - Consider other infrastructure improvements, such as street rehabilitation - Determine funding levels needed to create a sustainable system Flow Monitoring to Determine Baseline The City installed six long-term flow meters to monitor their respective locations for two years and 34 temporary meters to develop the 2017 Master Plan. This data identified the I/I rate of each major basin and was used to establish the basin order for subsequent fieldwork. The City recently deployed 60 temporary flow meters throughout the City as part of the 2022 Master Plan Update to evaluate the impact of the City's ongoing rehabilitation effort and recalibrate the hydraulic model. Hydraulic Modeling to Understand Impact of Alternatives The City built and calibrated an all-pipes hydraulic model using the InfoWorks ICM software as part of the 2017 Master Plan. By developing the model to this level of detail, the City was able to identify existing and future capacity constraints and develop the capacity-driven CIP recommendations in the Master Plan. The City is actively recalibrating the hydraulic model using the data provided by the 2022 temporary flow monitoring. The additional 26 meters deployed in 2022 provide a more detailed picture of the hydraulic conditions, providing a better calibration and system analysis. Model results incorporate combinations of key factors, including projected growth rates, design storm selection, and its impact on I/I and operations alternatives. Asset Condition Assessments The City developed an ambitious plan to determine the condition of all its wastewater assets within eight years. The plan involved staggering the fieldwork within a basin so that the pipe, manhole, and cleanout inspections would occur in one year and be followed by the smoke testing inspections the following year. After the CCTV and smoke testing inspections are completed, a Sanitary Sewer Evaluation Study for the basin is finalized, and that data is then incorporated into the long-term rehabilitation and capital plans. The City has completed CCTV inspections for all 6 basins and smoke testing for 5 basins. CCTV for an Up-Close Look NASSCO's Pipeline Assessment Certification Program (PACP) standards shaped the program team's assessment of the pipelines using CCTV information to identify pipe defects and determine pipe-condition scores, as well as to update the City's GIS for the collection system. The CCTV inspections facilitated the cleaning of clogged pipelines, identified areas for priority re-inspection, supported the development of rehabilitation and replacement recommendations, and allowed the City to fast-track repairs of critical pipelines that needed priority attention. To date, the City has inspected nearly all 410 miles of the collection system. Digital Manhole Inspections The program team used NASSCO Manhole Assessment Certification Program (MACP) Level 2 standards for digital inspection of manholes that could be possible sources of I/I. Visual inspections covered manhole surface components -- frame, ring, cover, and frame seal -- while 360-degree scanning equipment that created 3D videos and point clouds for each manhole were used for the subsurface structure. The digital inspections fulfilled MACP Level 2 inspection criteria that traditionally have required time-consuming manned entry into the manholes. To date, the City has inspected nearly all 4,800 manholes in the system. Smoke Testing to Identify I/I Sources The program team began smoke testing during the dry summer months starting in year three of the program. Blowers and smoke candles are used to fill the wastewater lines with low-pressure smoke which escapes through defects in the system indicating possible sources of I/I. The team flagged, photographed, and collected GPS coordinates of any smoke observed leaving the system. An assessment was made to rate the intensity (high, medium, low) of the smoke observed, which is used to quantify the potential I/I rate of the observation. To date, the City has smoke tested approximately 345 miles (85%) of the collection system. GIS Updates using Field Data The data for both the City's PACP and MACP inspections are being integrated into a single repository in the City's GraniteNet data management system. The City utilizes the unique asset identifiers within the GIS system to link GraniteNet, the City's asset management system (Cityworks) and GIS database to provide a comprehensive picture of every inspected asset. This data is incorporated into the hydraulic and risk-based assessment models to provide the most up-to-date pictures of the collection system. Risk-Based Assessment to Prioritize CIP Hydraulic modeling capacity data, CCTV, MACP, and smoke-testing inspection data were entered into InfoAsset Planner software to shape a risk-based assessment (RBA) prioritization process. The program team incorporated condition data into a renewal-planning decision matrix to shape a system-wide CIP that identified and prioritized areas for rehabilitation and replacements. An automated decision tree process was developed to identify an action plan for each asset based on its observed condition and estimated risk. Lessons Learned Communication is critical to the success of the City's program. The program extends beyond Engineering and Public Works and included the GIS, Fire, Parks, and Communications departments. - Public notification while testing was underway included door-to-door notifications to business owners, door hangers at residential addresses, and road-side signs. - Having an outside vendor QA/QC the inspection data helps to validate the data's quality. - Including IT in the program plan is crucial due to the data storage size needs and the numerous software and databases that each contain a different piece of the asset management puzzle. - Through the cleaning and inspection efforts, capacity has been restored in the collection system, potentially deferring or eliminating CIP projects. - Since FY2017 through FY2021, the annual trend in SSOs has decreased. - Through the comprehensive process, the City now has updated GIS, a more holistic picture of the collection system, and can make proactive, data-driven decisions.