Abstract

Integrated Use of ArcGIS and InfoWorks for Sewer Rehabilitation
Track: Water, Wastewater, and Stormwater
Authors: Fazle Rabbi

Being the fourth-largest city in the nation, the City of Houston provides sanitary sewer services to 2.1 million residents. Recent O&M challenges include an aging infrastructure, increasing cost of energy, chemical, labor and materials with a near static budget, a flat topography, and frequent surface water flooding.

Recognizing the need for enhanced infrastructure planning and O&M optimization, the City developed an enterprise ArcGIS system in the mid-1990s. In addition to infrastructure as-built information, it provides a backbone to track performance data, such as SSO, service calls, work orders and field-verified facility conditions. It has also helped expedited hydraulic model building for the City's sewer system using InfoWorksTM software.

Combining the hydraulic simulation and spatial data analytical capabilities of two leading software packages in their respective industries, the City developed and recently applied a methodology to identify and prioritize critical sewer basins for rehabilitation within two wastewater treatment plant service areas.