Improving the Long Term Management of Sewer Systems

Experiencing cost increasing pressures and competing demands for public money, it is necessary for water utilities to be able to prioritise expenditure to meet asset management objectives in a cost effective and transparent manner. The largest proportion of the asset value of a water utility lies in the buried networks of pipes that form the water supply and sewer collection systems. These assets require significant and ongoing expenditure to maintain their functionality and to service the changing and expanding cityscape above. 

Sewer collection systems have historically presented unique challenges in terms of asset planning because of the corrosion and odour management required to achieve the network assets design life, prevent failure and meet communities’ expectations. This paper outlines an applied approach to sewer network management that includes innovative modelling and analysis tools resulting from specific applied research into the mechanisms of corrosion and odour generation in sewers. These tools improve the reliability of the data upon which long term planning relies. The outputs from these tools can be integrated with hydraulic and financial analysis tools to give a complete network analysis, enabling a technically complete and financially justifiable long-term sewer network management plan to be developed.