Abstract

Application of GIS in Urban Utility Planning and Management: A Case Study of BWSSB GIS

Sajid S Mahmood
Sr. Environmental Engineer
EarthCAD Inc, UAE
earthcad@emirates.net.ae

Mr. Abdullah Khan
President
EarthCAD Inc, UAE
akhan@earthcad.com

M.A. Bangash
Water Supply/Sanitation Engineer
EarthCAD Inc, UAE
earthcad@emirates.net.aeia

Abstract :
Introduction
A comprehensive GIS was developed by Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) during the period May 2000 to November 2002, under the Indo-French Protocol with financial assistance worth Rs 8.5 crores from the Govt of France. The BWSSB GIS consists of a very comprehensive dataset pertaining to water supply and sewerage networks spread over approximately 290 sqkms of the BWSSB service area in Bangalore.

Project Background

Bangalore has witnessed rapid growth during the last 4 decades during which its population grew from 1.2 million in 1961 to over 6 million in 2001. BWSSB is responsible for the provision, planning and management of water supply and sewerage services in Bangalore metropolitan area. With the rapid increase in urban agglomerations, the demand for water supply and sewerage systems grew simultaneously and to handle such a large system, and to plan the rehabilitation and future expansion works, it was felt to develop a GIS in BWSSB on a priority basis.

Need for GIS in Urban Utilities Planning – the BWSSB Case
Managers of urban utility agencies need to maximize the productivity of their assets in order to provide best value to customers. This requires a sound understanding of the condition and performance of the assets, the prioritized long term investment needs of the utility, and strategies that will fully utilize each and every asset and ensure outputs are achieved for minimum whole life expenditure.
Asset management concept complements the development of the Utilities' business through the evolution of tools and procedures that enable strategic management of above ground assets and the buried infrastructure. It has been a general trend in utility companies in India that they do not maximize the benefit of available data and key performance indicators and have difficulties in quantifying how the flow of services to customers can be maintained in terms of either capital or operating expenditure.
In BWSSB’s case also it became imperative for to maintain an accurate data set of assets under their control. The trend of past developments, current asset base and predicted shape of the future investment programs give BWSSB the ability to plan its business cash flow and its facilities planning and management. It is in this particular area that geographic information is important and GIS systems have a valuable contribution to make.

A Brief Description of BWSSB GIS
Before starting the development phase of the GIS database, a detailed analysis of BWSSB water supply and sewerage systems was carried out. This study covered the historical, performance-related, functional and operational information of the networks as well as aspects like organizational structure of BWSSB, its planning, design, implementation, operation and maintenance strategies and methods as well as the financial information. Simultaneously, a User Needs Assessment (UNA) was taken up to identify the needs of BWSSB through a scientific and systematic procedure of interviews at all levels of the organization.
Based on the conclusions drawn from System Analysis and UNA, the blueprint of the GIS including its database structure and front end modules was prepared. Every single detail required for development of a GIS which would fulfill BWSSB’s requirements and would suit its procedures was outlined and the database structure was developed accordingly.
Field surveys were carried out to collect the graphical data like alignment of water supply pipes and sewers alongwith location of valves, manholes and other accessories, and also recording of attribute information such as diameter, material, age etc. of the pipes, valves and manholes. This graphical information was digitized and the alphanumerical information was attached to them. The entire spatial and numeric data was integrated together to form the Geodatabase which is the core of the GIS.
The front-end application was developed in four versions as follows – BISON Expert, BISON Light, MIP and BISON Explorer. BISON Expert, installed at the Head Office, is the main Geodatabase and has the entire digital map data. BISON Light is a lighter version of BISON and has been customized to suit the requirements of BWSSB field offices. Management Indicator Panel (MIP) was developed for monitoring and evaluation of various tasks by the Chairman and Chief Engineers of BWSSB. BISON Explorer is a communication aid meant to help create an awareness of BWSSB GIS.

Use of BWSSB GIS in Urban Facility Planning and Management
The comprehensiveness of the BWSSB GIS enables its managers and field staff to utilize it in the long term planning as well as day-to-day O&M. As a mapping resource it provides all the information and maps of the following systems:

• Water production and transmission system including intake works, water treatment plants, pumping stations, reservoirs and transmission mains;
• Water distribution network including ground level reservoirs (GLR) and over head tanks (OHT), pumping stations and valves etc (these maps will also assist in designing networks in new areas and help in assuring equitable water supply);
• Wastewater conveyance, treatment and disposal system including the wastewater conveyance, treatment and disposal system including outfall sewers, mains, sub-mains, pumping stations, STPs and manholes for outfall sewers;

The data structure of the BWSSB GIS can be utilized to record and analyze a great number of datasets associated with its planning, operations and services as discussed below.

• Production of Water (To make regular assessment of the production of water in Cauvery and Arkavathy Rivers. It will assist BWSSB in identifying the problems like reduction in total water supply and malfunctioning of WTPs, pumping stations, etc.);
• Assessment of Water Demand, Consumption and Unaccounted-for-Water (To know the water demand and actual water supply to the consumers in distribution areas, besides the actual production of water. This will enable to assess the needs for future expansions of the networks. In addition, it will also help in providing equitable water supply to all the areas, including amount of unaccounted-for-water.);
• Preventive Maintenance and Network Planning (To register and monitor complaints and actions taken related to the repairs and maintenance so as to plan the replacement and upgradation of network features which become inadequate. For example, if there is an existing distribution pipe of a smaller diameter and the flow has increased over the years, it needs to be replaced by a bigger diameter pipe. This will also help locate pipes that are often damaged or pipes that are old and need to be replaced.);
• Design of New Projects (The GIS Database will enable BWSSB to extract updated technical information for planning and design of new water supply schemes as well as new sewerage projects.);
• Asset Management, Communication and Corporate Planning (The GIS will assist BWSSB to have a statistical overview of its technical and administrative data such as with organizational structure, staff activities, consumer practices, revenue realized and technical information about meters, house connections, pipes, reservoirs, water sources.);

Conclusions
The BWSSB GIS because of its unique and innovative approach and philosophy has set trends for other urban agencies in India. Application of GIS in Urban Utilities Planning and Management has proved to be revolutionary step not only in day-to-day management of utilities, but also in planning of future infrastructure which in most cases can have a very complex dimension because of the size of the urban settlement and the geographical coverage of the utility.