How to Streamline water main failure and condition assessment using Geospatial Technology
Skip Heise
Senior GIS Consultant EMA, Inc. 4463 Lake Forest Drive East Ann Arbor, MI 48108
Phone: (734) 913-7956, Fax: (734) 913-7957
Email: sheise@ema-inc.com
Holly Takara
GIS Project Manager Honolulu Board of Water Supply
630 South Beretania Street Honolulu, HI 96843
Phone: (808) 527-5060, Fax: (808) 550-5050
Email: htakara@hbws.org
Abstract
The Honolulu Board of Water Supply (HBWS) uses a manual process that is highly
labor and time intensive to document information during a water main break incident.
HBWS currently documents and tracks information about water main breaks on a
paper- based “Water Main Failure Report” (WMFR). This paper report is routed to four
or five different people, in addition to various reviews and approvals, each adding
various pieces of information. This process is extremely inefficient and provides
opportunity for error.
HBWS initiated a project with EMA, Inc., a specialized utility consultant, to improve the
processes for collection and documenting information regarding a main break and pipe
condition, through the use of software technology. The manual processes would be
automated using laptop and handheld devices with electronic forms to replace the
paper-based reports. The electronic forms provide ways of collecting this critical
information using pick lists and standard input, reducing data entry errors, minimizing
data redundancy, and preserving data integrity.
In addition, Global Positioning System (GPS) technology is introduced to capture the
location coordinates of the main break or pipe to be included in the enterprise spatial
database. Web-based tools would be developed to publish main break reports to the
desktops of HBWS management.
Background
The Honolulu Board of Water Supply (HBWS) uses a manual process that is highly
labor and time intensive to document information during a water main break incident.
HBWS currently documents and tracks information about water main breaks on a
paper- based “Water Main Failure Report” (WMFR). This paper report is routed to four
or five different people, in addition to various reviews and approvals, each adding
various pieces of information. This process is extremely inefficient and provides
opportunity for error.
In addition, since this report is paper-based, the information has to be manually entered
into a database. The report is handwritten, which provides for interpretation by the dataentry
specialist, allowing for error or misinterpretation of the information. The spatial
location plotted in GIS by IT staff is based on the approximate location listed on the
WMFR.
Intermittently, information regarding the water main’s condition is collected on a paper-
based “Investigation of Water Main Condition” form (IWMC). This form is filled out while
the main is exposed during connections, service renewals, adjustments to existing main
(lowering, jacketing, etc.), maintenance, or other work requiring excavation that exposes
the pipe. Similar to the WMFR, the IWMC follows an inefficient path from data collection
and documentation to being filed in a folder. The IWMC form collects some but not all of
the same types of information as the WMFR.
In addition to the WMFR and IWMC, a third form is used during a water main break
incident, called a Water Service Interruption (WSI) form. This form is used to identify the
customers and fire hydrants that will be out of service due to the isolation of the water
main. A WSI is completed for all service interruptions. In addition to main breaks,
service interruptions may be caused by planned closures for connections and other
work on the system, including clamping or caulking a joint under pressure, or other work
done by BWS staff or private contractors.
Some of the same information is being collected on both the WSI and the WMFR. This
provides for redundant data entry and opportunity for errors.
The following describes redundant information being captured on the three forms:
- Location (street address and between, to, and from streets)
- Pipe size and material type
