EMA, Inc. - Water & Wastewater Case Studies

Water & Wastewater

Case Study: GVRD Uses New Tools to Manage Growth

Client: The Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD), a federation of 16 local governments provides services for two million people, including potable water supply, sewage collection and treatment, and storm drainage systems.

Solution: EMA designed and implemented a state-of-the-art combined water and wastewater system. A comprehensive set of management tools to operate a large, complex system that can be expanded to accommodate future growth.

Created user-helpful tools including application software design guide and system operator procedures manual
Increased data availability, display, and reporting
Developed a corporate-wide logical data model and architecture to support overall data sharing
Realized savings of $50,000 per year from leased telephone lines
Incorporated energy management tools to optimize operations

Case Study: Colorado Springs Optimizes System Operations with Advanced SCADA Technology and Process Optimization

Client: Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) operates a complex network of raw water collection, storage, transportation, distribution, wastewater collection, non-potable distribution and laboratory facilities handling more than 20 billion gallons annually.

Solution: EMA designed and integrated an advanced new SCADA system. By providing a comprehensive management system, CSU gained significant efficiencies:

Optimized operations using an Energy and Water Quality Management System
Adequate inventorying of water to maximize economic benefit in a water-limited region
Data modeling to map data to sources and users, supporting system integration

Case Study: MCES Exceeds EPA Emissions Expectations Using the Right Technology

Client: Metropolitan Council Environmental Services (MCES) processes more than
300 MGD of wastewater from the two million residents of Minneapolis-St. Paul. Their design/build incinerator project ensures that emissions are substantially reduced per EPA consent decree.

Solution: EMA provided Control Systems Engineering and Implementation Project Management services for this state-of-the-art solids processing technology. The project produced multiple benefits:

New technology to reduce emissions and odor
Best air pollution system in the U.S. using a sewage combustion process
All particulates removed, 50 percent ahead of EPA requirements
Generator produces 15 percent of the plant’s own energy needs

Case Study: Strategic Technology Plan Positions San Diego Water for the Future

Client: The San Diego Water Department serves a large population base and a vast geographic area in America’s seventh-largest city. In a large enterprise environment, managing application growth to meet business needs can be a major challenge. This requires a great deal of automation, technology systems, and information availability. The City of San Diego utilizes a large number of applications to support its business functions.

Solution: San Diego Water decided to evaluate its information systems’ strategy and align technology systems with business needs. EMA used a unique strategic planning method to help the utility develop an Information Systems Master Plan (ISMP) to address these needs. The ISMP provided a framework for uniform application expansion and development producing a series of positive results:

Adopted all initiatives in the plan, with more than half completed within two years
Employed a proven approach to enterprise-wide integration architecture
Consolidated IT resources into one operating group to deliver more effective customer service
Provided discipline and focus during long-range planning process within a tight fiscal climate (15 percent reduction) resulting in doing more with fewer resources

Case Study: OCU’s New Work and Asset Management System Speeds Information Transfer and Provides Wider Information Access to Critical System Data

Client: Orange County Utilities (OCU), located in Orlando in Central Florida, serves 135,000 customers. Within OCU, the Water, Wastewater, and Solid Waste divisions each had separate IT systems and multiple databases. OCU recognized the need to better manage inventory, purchasing, maintenance and work orders, and data collection and reporting. OCU also needed to address project cost overruns, budget accountability, data collection and duplicate data entry, difficulty locating data, and overall performance.

Solution: By selecting the right Maintenance Management System (MMS), eliminating work silos, learning cooperative decision-making and problem solving skills, and developing new work practices, OCU achieved its business goals. EMA provided a proven design, implementation, and project management approach, while OCU selected a technology solution that EMA helped implement and integrate. Today, there is one integrated database that answers a diverse set of asset management needs, including Capacity, Management, Operation, and Maintenance (CMOM) data management.

The biggest gains were achieved by integrating MAXIMO® with other mission-critical systems used in the office and field. The flexibility of MAXIMO has resulted in a sharp decline in budget variances because of easy access to real-time information. Transfer of information on project status from one shift to another happens automatically. Personnel enter updates from the field, saving time and money and enhanced reporting capability lets employees quickly analyze high volumes of data. OCU has reduced use of spare parts, increased labor productivity, and improved customer service. Despite rapid growth, use of the right technology and the right practices, allows the utility to do more with the same staff levels.

Case Study: MWRA’s Radio System Links Remote Facilities to Centralized Security Center

Client: The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) provides water supply, treatment, distribution, and wastewater services for the City of Boston and many surrounding areas.

Solution: EMA assisted the MWRA in designing, procuring, and implementing a broadband microwave radio system that interconnects their several supply sources, distribution facilities, and control systems. The system is also used to carry security and video surveillance traffic from many remote facilities to their new centralized security center.