PUTTING YOUR PLANT UNDER THE MICROSCOPE –AN INNOVATIVE PLANT AUDIT FORMULA

An innovative audit formula was developed for the Deer Island Treatment Plant to provide an independent assessment as to whether the design, construction and operations interfaced effectively to produce a functional final product. The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) realized the benefits of a comprehensive audit program that developed a useful database for operations and maintenance of the facility.In order to perform an audit, a basis on which to conduct the evaluations was needed. As such, a set of performance standards was developed. The culmination of this effort resulted in 15 performance standards designed to provide a broad-based perspective covering plant process, operations & maintenance, and physical facilities/equipment.The program was designed to apply the performance standards to a representative crosssection of the critical process and support subsystems within each of the 20 main construction packages (CPs), a selection of 18 process and support systems that cross CP boundaries and must be properly interfaced and coordinated, and to plant process performance.The outcome of these evaluations is a set of conclusions, recommendations, and corrective actions for each CP and plant wide system. The plant staff has also implemented a program to prioritize and track the resolution of all issues, whether they are corrective actions or recommended enhancements, raised during the evaluation.Because of the plant staff's active participation in this audit process, and the otherwise excellent plant performance, the Deer Island treatment plant is meeting or exceeding expectations as envisioned over ten years ago. This streamlined protocol can easily be adapted and applied to audit new or existing facilities of any size or type.