Fall NEARC 2018

AUTHORS: Michael Olkin, Alex Hiller, Kyle Barna – Springfield Water and Sewer Commission

ABSTRACT: Water utilities of today must marry century-old infrastructure with 21st century technology to meet workflow demands and customer expectations. Due to the varied and expansive nature of the water sector, such technology must be versatile in order to realize efficiencies. GIS applications play a pivotal role in construction, maintenance, planning, communication, and daily operations at the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission (SWSC). This presentation highlights how SWSC is using AppGeo’s open source General Purpose Viewer (GPV) web mapping technology to bring GIS data, CMMS content, and other SWSC systems together to improve operations and customer experience. The SWSC GIS staff’s approach to the process of testing, implementing, providing training, and supporting the use of a new web technology will also be covered. Demonstrations will include GPV capabilities that have been leveraged to automate or enhance SWSC workflows including upstream/downstream tracing of sewer pipes, user-friendly queries that help to automate asset reporting, enhancements in emergency management communication processes, and improvements to interdepartmental communication. SWSC provides drinking water to the residents of Springfield and Ludlow, Massachusetts, while wholesaling or providing peak water service to six other communities in the Pioneer Valley. SWSC is responsible for maintaining three reservoirs with a total capacity of more than 25 billion gallons, approximately 19,000 acres of property, and over 1,000 miles of water and sewer pipe.