Post on 20-Jun-2018
Esri Water ConferenceFebruary 10, 2016
Practical Application of GIS to Hydraulic Modeling
Esri Water ConferenceFebruary 10, 2016
Aqua America overview
• Aqua America– Investor owned water and
wastewater utility– 3 million people served
across 8 states– Celebrating our 130th
anniversary in 2016
• Aqua Pennsylvania– Largest operating company– Southeast PA surrounding
Philadelphia and smaller systems throughout PA
Esri Water ConferenceFebruary 10, 2016
Aqua Pennsylvania
Esri Water ConferenceFebruary 10, 2016
Southeast PA territory
Real World• 4,400 miles of pipe• 8 surface WTP• 97 Tanks• 109 Wells• 319 regulator valves• 113 pressure zones
Model World68,000 pipe segments59,000 junctions78 tanks80 source nodes140 regulator sites
Esri Water ConferenceFebruary 10, 2016
Modeling and GIS Timelines at Aqua PA
Step back from GIS and focus on mapping improvements (2000-2003)
Hire outside
contractor to use GIS
for fire hydrant mapping
(2003)Convert existing plates to GIS (2005-2006)
GIS viewer
available within office (2006)
GIS Needs Study (1992)
GIS available to field crews (2008)
“Temporary” GIS position
created (1999)
GIS web applications
deployed (2011)
Start using GIS to build
models (2012)
Begin software
evaluations (2006)
Bentley software acquired
(2007)
Initial in-house modeling
(1989)
Completion of SE PA model (1991-1993)Initial model
development by contractor using Stoner software (1980)
PSW acquires Stoner software company (mid1980’s)
PSW sells off Stoner
(1993)
Start using GIS to build
models (2012)
Esri Water ConferenceFebruary 10, 2016
Hydraulic Modeling Challenges
• Limited personnel resources• Need to work across organizational boundaries• Increased demand for hydraulic modeling• Need to update the existing model and create a
sustainable process for maintaining the model moving forward
Q: How do we meet our hydraulic modeling needs given…
A: We use GIS!
Esri Water ConferenceFebruary 10, 2016
Personnel Challenges
• Limited staff experience with hydraulic modeling• Hydraulic modeling experts busy with new
responsibilities• Losing experienced staff
• Aqua PA had multiple 40+ year anniversaries in 2015• Superintendent of Network Operations nearing
retirement
Esri Water ConferenceFebruary 10, 2016
EngineeringStaff
Personnel Challenges
Me!GIS
Staff
Who has the skills needed to use GIS for hydraulic modeling?
Esri Water ConferenceFebruary 10, 2016
Solving the personnel challenge
• Train Aqua engineers to use GIS
• Train Aqua GIS staff to use hydraulic model
• Utilize contractors
Esri Water ConferenceFebruary 10, 2016
Crossing Organizational Boundaries
Engineering• Modeling• Cap planning• Mapping
Network Operations
• Operate & maintain
• SCADA
Production• Produce water• Compliance
Engineering
ProductionNetwork Operations
ModelingCompliance
SCADA
Mapping Cap planning
Produce WaterOperate & maintain
Before GIS
After GIS
Esri Water ConferenceFebruary 10, 2016
Capturing Operational Parameters
Esri Water ConferenceFebruary 10, 2016
Increasing Hydraulic Modeling Requests
• Major source changes• Water quality (water age)• Wastewater modeling• Tank painting• Other states
Esri Water ConferenceFebruary 10, 2016
Water quality tracing
- Hydraulic model used to “trace” water source
- Pipes in red receive > 90% of water from treatment plant
- But the model alone cannot relate these results to customers
- Incorporating model results into GIS allows for spatial analysis of customers affected
- 80,000 customers potentially impacted
Esri Water ConferenceFebruary 10, 2016
Other Aqua States
Existing hydraulic
model
Open in ArcGIS
and spatially adjust
Extract relevant features
to GIS
Initial GIS
Build basic GIS Export to SewerGEMS
Evaluate growth
potential
Scenario 1
Scenario 2
Outdated hydraulic
model
Open in GIS and update
Export back for modelingScenario 3
Esri Water ConferenceFebruary 10, 2016
Why is updating our model so important?
1,743 Miles (31%)
Replaced or Rehabilitated over 19 Years
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Mile
s
Aqua PA - Miles of Pipe Cleaned & Lined and Replaced
Greater PA
SE PA
C&L
Esri Water ConferenceFebruary 10, 2016
Data challenges
Esri Water ConferenceFebruary 10, 2016
Why not use geometric network?
Esri Water ConferenceFebruary 10, 2016
Using GIS to Support Hydraulic Modeling
• Data structure• Facility simplification• Water Demands• C values • Node elevations
Esri Water ConferenceFebruary 10, 2016
GIS Data Structure:
Additional fields to support modeling
“Standard” feature dataset
Esri Water ConferenceFebruary 10, 2016
Fields added to “Water Mains” feature class
GIS Field PurposeModel Yes/No - Controls whether the pipe is
exported to modelModelCValue C Value for pipeModelCheckValve Yes/No - Defines whether the pipe
includes a check valveModelLength Defines the length of the pipe to be used
in the modelModelStatus Yes/No - Defines whether the pipe is
active in the modelModelName Defines a name to be used by controls in
the modelModelSystem Defines modeling “subsystems”
Esri Water ConferenceFebruary 10, 2016
Why did we add “Model” field?
Simplify piping around treatment plant for modeling
Esri Water ConferenceFebruary 10, 2016
“Model” feature dataset
GIS Data Structure:
Additional feature dataset to support modeling
Esri Water ConferenceFebruary 10, 2016
How do we use “Model” feature dataset?
Esri Water ConferenceFebruary 10, 2016
Water Demands
• Obtained annual water use for every meter (375,000) from Customer Information System (CIS)
• Geocoded customer locations using addresses from CIS
• Assigned demand to nearest node using LoadBuilder
Esri Water ConferenceFebruary 10, 2016
Customer points using existing Banner (CIS) coordinates
Esri Water ConferenceFebruary 10, 2016
Demand allocation for large customers
Original geocoded
location
Actual customer
location
1,570 gpm demand assigned to 8-inch pipe (nearest node) instead of 30-inch transmission main
Esri Water ConferenceFebruary 10, 2016
Original geocoded
location
157 gpm demand assigned to wrong pressure zone
Actual customer
location
Demand allocation for large customers
Esri Water ConferenceFebruary 10, 2016
Customer points using improved geocoding and manual placement
Esri Water ConferenceFebruary 10, 2016
Assigning C-values by material and installation year
-
10
20
30
40
50
6018
72
1886
1892
1895
1900
1905
1908
1911
1914
1917
1920
1923
1926
1929
1932
1935
1938
1941
1944
1947
1950
Mile
s
Miles of Cast Iron Pipe by Installation Year
Esri Water ConferenceFebruary 10, 2016
Spatial distribution of unlined Cast Iron by installation year
Esri Water ConferenceFebruary 10, 2016
Assigning elevations to nodes
• Tools to assign elevations to nodes
• Variety of data sources supported
• Use “Selection Set” to avoid updating known elevations for key facilities
Esri Water ConferenceFebruary 10, 2016
Summary
• Sustainability is as important as the initial build
• Identify the right combination of people & skills
• Don’t be afraid to modify data structure to accommodate different
needs of GIS and hydraulic model
• Take advantage of software tools, but recognize potential issues
• Capture data before it’s too late
• Look for opportunities to break down organizational barriers
• It is practical to use GIS to support hydraulic modeling
Esri Water ConferenceFebruary 10, 2016
Contact:
Frank GrablutzFMGrablutz@AquaAmerica.com
THANK YOU!