The Straight Forward Application of Reliability Centered Maintenance for Optimizing Collection System Performance

This paper discusses the application of Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) analysis at the Metropolitan Council Environmental Services Division to evaluate current lift station operational and maintenance practices to determine if they could be improved to:Increase the reliability of the lift station, especially during critical flow events,Determine the right maintenance strategy to support day-to-day lift station operation, andDetermine the right amount of staff to sustain the lift station's function.RCM was used in a facilitated, workshop environment to analyze the essential functions of the lift station, identify critical equipment and determine maintenance tasks that could prevent critical failures. The Classical RCM 7-Step process provided a clear path through the systems analysis process that resulted in a compelling recommendation to immediately augment the current lift station maintenance strategy.At the end of the RCM study, the participants provided an evaluation of the process itself. The application of RCM was unanimously supported by the group, with certain cautions about the best areas of applicability.After determining that the RCM-based maintenance strategy could be implemented and carried out with existing staffing levels, MCES began to see tangible results as failures were identified or prevented earlier than would otherwise have been possible.