Development of a global asset management data standard for water systems
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The document discusses the development of a global asset management data standard for water systems, addressing the challenges and complexities of water management in international development. It highlights the need for improved asset management practices to meet SDG6 targets and the benefits of adopting standardized data fields and flexible hierarchies for water infrastructure. A draft standard has been created and is open for public review and comment, aimed at enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of water system management.
Development of a global asset management data standard for water systems
- 1. Development of a global asset management data standard for water systems • Colorado WASH Symposium – March 11, 2022 • John Feighery / mWater
- 2. Background:The evolution of water management in international development Centralized planning and management • National governments and donors invest in large scale urban and rural water infrastructure • Not enough investment in institutional capacity for operations and maintenance • Many systems fall into disrepair and financial distress Decentralized community management • Donors and NGOs invest in low-tech community self supply, such as improved springs and hand pumps to meet MDGs • Operations and maintenance delegated to volunteer water user associations and local government • Poor service quality leads to unwillingness to pay user fees Professionalized management • National governments devolve responsibility to regional or district water authorities • Operations and maintenance performed by public utility, regional umbrella utility, or professional service provider • Emphasis on piped water onto premises to meet SDG6
- 3. Water data needs become more complex with professionalized management Centralized planning and management Decentralized community management Professionalized management • Paper-based records by national ministries of health and water • Water point mapping • Once-off project-driven data collection • Repositories of spreadsheets • Infrastructure asset management • Geographic information systems • Billing and revenue collection • Maintenance work orders • Accounting and finance • Customer service
- 4. Why asset management? • 3X increase in capital investment needed to meet SDG6 targets • Perception ofWASH as high-risk by investors and banks • High levels of non-revenue water • High rates of non-functionality due to poor maintenance • Lack of public confidence leads to investment in private self-supply, increasing inequality Definition of asset management: the coordinated activity of an organization to realize value from its assets Benefits of asset management: • Improved financial performance • Informed asset investment decisions • Managed risk • Improved services and outputs (ISO 55000)
- 5. Current practice/standards • Standards exist (ISO 55000, IAM,AWWA) but require specialized expertise to interpret and implement • Large, well-performing utilities design and build asset management systems in-house using GIS and engineering software • Commercial firms provide very capable but costly asset management software to municipalities, using proprietary data models (ArcGISWater, CityWorks, WaterGEMS) • Free software (EPANET, QGIS) is poorly maintained and limited in capabilities $0 $2,000 $4,000 $6,000 $8,000 $10,000 $12,000 $14,000 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 5-Year Total Cost for Software Feature Score Engineering design tools Hydraulic analysis tools Free and open source software GAP Market analysis for piped water management software
- 6. mWater experience with asset management data systems • Haiti national water information system • Afar and Somali RegionalWater Bureaus (Ethiopia) • Kitui County water asset data system (Kenya) • Malawi national water asset inventory • Water system management features co-developed with WaterAid (used in Myanmar and Uganda) • 120,000+ users in 180+ countries using mWater Water point monitoring Water asset monitoring Piped water network management
- 7. Common problems with water asset data • Long lists of questions, including non-asset data on service delivery and management practices • Overwhelming for field staff to collect and update data Too much detail • Poorly defined fields and too many free text answers • Field staff don’t have the data they need to plan and carry out maintenance Too little detail • Survey forms with repeating question groups • Difficult to find and analyze data Complex data structures
- 8. Methodology for developing the standard • Analyzed database of over 1200 individual data fields from previous mWater asset management projects • Reviewed international standards (ISO 55000 series), public guides (IAM, AWWA,WERF, USA EPA CUPSS, IRCWASH asset registry tool), and proprietary systems (ESRI, CitiWorks) • Gathered stakeholder input in Haiti from DINEPA, utilities, and USAIDWater and Sanitation Project • Standardized field names, matched similar data, removed non-asset data (e.g. service delivery), developed definitions and standard choice lists • Written draft standard reviewed by water sector professionals • Public comment (starting now!) 1200 fields! ~300 potential attributes
- 9. Features of the standard • Open source (CC BY-SA 4.0 “share-alike” license) – anyone can use or adapt the standard, even for commercial purposes • Platform-agnostic – any technology or database can implement the standard, even a spreadsheet • Varying levels of complexity – from water points up to large surface water treatment plants • Flexible hierarchy – any asset can be a parent or a child of another asset, allowing organizations to decide how best to organize their asset portfolio
- 10. Asset classes and types System Facility Vertical Horizontal Natural Asset classes: Asset types: Water system Water facility Source Pump Tank Power Pipe Canal Reservoir River or stream Treatment Meter Electrical Valve Aquifer Riparian zone Hydrant Junction Sampling point Sensor Infiltration zone Forest Analyzer Structure Water point Other Wetland Water- shed
- 11. Asset attributes • Attributes are fields with specific data • Many attributes are choice lists with defined options • Attributes can be conditional, meaning they are only asked if a condition is satisfied Type 2 Type 1 All types ---- ---- ---- -------- ----- ------- -- -- ---- -- - - --- - - -- -- - --- ----- --- - -- --- ---- -- - - --- - - -- -- - --- ----- --- - -- --- ---- --- - -- --- ---- -- - - --- - - -- -- - --- ----- -- - - --- - - -- -- - --- ----- Groups: Attributes: General Attributes Type- specific Attributes … ----- ---- -- - ----- ----- -- -- -- - --- --- ----
- 12. Asset hierarchies Water System Intake Valve Pipe Tank Pipe Water System Raw water intake Intake Valve Pipe Reservoir Tank Pipe Simple listing (no hierarchy) Facilities / Assets (two-levels of hierarchy)
- 13. Implementation in mWater • All water points and water systems can use the new asset management attributes contained in the standard • Organizations can customize their own asset management system by selecting which attributes they want to use • Initial translations to French and Spanish planned; mWater partners welcomed to assist with additional languages • All asset data can be viewed and edited in the mWater app, online and offline • Each asset has a landing page with a clickable tree displaying sub-assets
- 14. Next steps: mWater tools for service providers Meter reading Accounting Work orders • Read bulk and service meters for billing and non- revenue water reduction • Flexible workflows for operations, maintenance, and inspections • In-app reference documents and drawings • Chart of accounts, balances, and expense tracking • Set tariffs and manage customer accounts
- 15. Join us! The draft standard is available for review and comment. Go to: https://go.mwater.co/draftstandard Please keep in mind: • The standard is focused on the asset management needs of water service providers.While it can be useful in sector monitoring, donor reporting, or service delivery, these functions would require additional data that is not part of an asset management system. • Comments with specific suggestions (e.g. from->to language) are more likely to be considered than general comments (e.g. “not enough details about pumps…”). • The standard is governed by mWater, but anyone is free to use or adapt it under the open source license.