Innovation results of IAM planning in urban water services

Area of Science:

• Environmental Engineering
• Civil Engineering
• Water Resource Management

Background:

• Aging infrastructure necessitates sustainable infrastructure asset management (IAM) for continuous urban water services.
• Existing IAM approaches often fall short in addressing system behavior and long-term organizational alignment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To support urban water utilities in developing, implementing, and maintaining effective IAM plans.
• To present and discuss the principles, innovations, challenges, benefits, and drawbacks of the AWARE-P IAM methodology.

Main Methods:

• Application of the AWARE-P IAM methodology in collaborative projects with water utilities.
• Analysis of strategic and tactical plans of participating utilities to validate methodology principles.
• Documentation of the implementation process, including challenges and outcomes.

Main Results:

• Successful implementation of 16 strategic and 14 tactical IAM plans by participating utilities.
• Demonstration of the AWARE-P methodology's effectiveness in supporting IAM.
• Identification of key challenges, benefits, and drawbacks in establishing an IAM process.

Conclusions:

• The AWARE-P methodology provides a robust framework for sustainable IAM in urban water utilities.
• Aligning IAM planning with organizational objectives and considering system behavior are critical for success.
• The study highlights practical insights into the implementation of IAM plans, offering valuable lessons for the sector.