BUILDING A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE®

OPTIMIZING PERFORMANCE IN THE COLLECTION SYSTEM WORKPLACE

TERESA DIGENOVA, PHILIP HANNAN : BLACK & VEATCH

ABSTRACT PERFORMANCE METRICS PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTS

Wastewater utilities must routinely strive to increase collection system Predictive Maintenance < 1 SSO / 100 miles of sewer Sewer Overflow Rate = 2 SSOs / 100 miles
performance and prevent SSOs and backups while accommodating new Preventive Maintenance Tracking Top Quartile Sewer Overflow Rate Wet Weather Backups
SEWER OVERFLOW RATE UTILITY ■ UTILITY ■ UTILITY ■

Reactive/Emergency Cleaning System Cleaning Frequency: every two years Peak Flow Reduction
development, managing aging infrastructure and workforce, stretching
A B C
■ ■ ■

shrinking budgets and staff, and coping with tightening regulations. System I/I Planned Maintenance Ratios? Use of Existing Data to Identify Trends
■ ■ ■

Given these demands, wastewater utilities are acting to ensure their

■ ■ ■

resources are maximized for efficiency and effectiveness. An assessment

of collection system performance combined with a review of operational Dominance of reactive/corrective cleaning
Planning based on system age
UTILITY UTILITY
strengths and weaknesses in the context of industry best practices can
Performance ■
Measurement

Seasonal manhole investigations

help the utility to focus investment on areas with the greatest rewards
D E
Field Systems ■
Operations

Baseline condition assessment

5

and opportunity for improvement.

Shift/ Training Hours ■

Move from reactive -> proactive

Staffing per FTE
Patterns
■
4 ■
6
Sewer Overflow Rate = No. of overflows / 100 miles of pipe
INTRODUCTION 3

Twice weekly PS inspections

Plant
Shift/ Labor

Review of alarm data

Management

This presentation reviews in a blind format results of six different utili-

COLLECTION SYSTEM INTEGRITY 5 Staffing
2 Relations
UTILITY ■
Patterns

ties of various system sizes (from small municipal to large-scale region- “Risk Reliability”
F
■

al) and geographic locations across the United States. These utilities Alarm frequency
4 1 ■

commissioned operations efficiency reviews and other management and

Utility ■
State

O&M assessments to help optimize use of their individual resources.

Peer Group 0 500

Often it is useful to conduct a wastewater performance review integrated

3
% Crew
Overtime

as an element of an effective Capacity, Management, Operations &

Size 400

Maintenance (CMOM). This approach tends to alleviate the anxiety and

2

Alarm Risk Score

defensiveness that often accompanies management directed self-audits,
300

during which it is often difficult to critique performance in a productive

1 200

manner. The purpose of this treatment is not to highlight the perform- Maintenance Safety

ance of any single agency, but to glean from these studies a number of
Scheduling 100

recommendations for collection system performance enhancement that

0
Failure Rate = No. Failures / 100 miles of pipe Collection Collection Wastewater

are applicable to a wide variety of utilities.

System System Treatment Service Level Drivers 0

Area A Area B Cost Drivers Span of Control Strategic Planning Pumping Stations
PLANNED MAINTENANCE RATIO
CAPTURING CRITICAL UTILITY INFORMATION Planned Maintenance Ratio = 100 x $ of Planned Maintenance / FIGURE 1 - UNIT STAFFING LEVELS FIGURE 2 - PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS FIGURE 3 - PUMPING STATION RISK ANALYSIS
($ of Planned + Corrective Maintenance)

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or Inefficient Efficient
100 x Hours of Planned Maintenance / SMART GOAL
(Hours of Planned + Corrective Maintenance)
SETTING SUMMARY
Each of these examples highlights different tools and methods of opti-
SYSTEM CLEANING FREQUENCY
mizing workplace performance that respects the staffing, inventory con-
Proactive
Corrective

SPECIFIC dition and other factors that make each utility unique. The most effec-
tive approaches must be individually tailored to each utility as the final
Proactive

■ Utility system inventory ■ Stimulate the exchange

Reactive

step in a process that includes a review of all utility data and ongoing
Corrective

■ Existing guidance and operation of ideas MEASURABLE

conversation with the staff performing and directing the work.
Reactive

manuals ■ Identify issues impacting

■ Documented maintenance goal achievement
ATTAINABLE Combining a thorough assessment of a utility's historical performance
procedures ■ Establish consensus on with a review of its operational strengths and weaknesses in the context
of industry best practices can enhance and improve utility operations to
■ Interviews with engineering and appropriate goals and
RESULTS-ORIENTED
more efficiently meet the ever-increasing challenges of the future.
FIGURE 4 - DIVISION OF OPERATIONS AND
maintenance personnel benchmarks TIMELY MAINTENANCE RESOURCES