Standard Pipe Data Model for Water and Wastewater Utilities

Abstract

Availability of data in an organized way is required for accurate prediction of wastewater and water pipe structural or functional deterioration. The key is to develop a standard data model which helps in developing indices for a prediction model. Sharing and integrating useful Municipal Infrastructure Asset Management Information is the initial step in creating a standard data model. GIS allows viewing, understanding, question, interpreting, and visualizing data of geographically referenced information in many ways that reveal relationships, patterns, and trends in the form of maps, globes, reports, and charts. The primary objective of this research is therefore to develop a standard GIS data model that can be used to develop protocols and methods for predicting the remaining life of water and wastewater assets. The main objective is to set up a one-stop shop for a center of Excellence to address, facilitate, promote and show case successful Municipal Infrastructure Asset Management Programs. Geospatial water and wastewater infrastructure data and associated metadata are collected from a minimum of 17 cities. The source data is the utility data and other downloadable data available for the public like in USGS, SSURGO etc. Field mapping files are generated from source files and the standard data model. These are then programmed to the common XML file developed as a base which is then converted to the data model where the final form of utility data is stored. The data taken from the utilities is cleansed and analyzed to match with the standard data model. It is then uploaded to the standard data model through the common XML and stored in the data warehouse as a geospatial database. The geospatial database is an aggregated water and wastewater infrastructure data consisting of the utility data in standard data model format. The data warehouse is developed for utilities to store their data at a centralized server i.e. San Diego Super Computing center or otherwise. In the future, web applications shall demonstrate how the aggregated data in the geodatabase can be published, queried and visualized in a map-based browser application. This aggregation of data will help in providing timely access to Asset Management (AM) information and resources that will lead to more efficient programs. This also helps in providing the public with a convenient tool to learn about municipal water and wastewater infrastructure systems.