Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 24TH - 30TH NOVEMBER 2017 | 13 Operations & Assets Operations & Assets panies and put it into huge vats to produce bio methane that can be converted into gas suitable for injection into the network." Roundhill is Severn Trent's second food waste anaerobic digestion plant, following on from its Coleshill plant, which has been operating since 2015. Construction work is also under- way at a third site, at Spondon in Derbyshire. That plant is expected to become operational in 2018. If you have an asset or project you would like to see featured in this slot, email: paulnewton@ fav-house.com. I t is undeniable that the water and wastewater infrastructure is deteriorat- ing and in need of some tender loving care. Every few months we are reminded of its degra- dation with the publication of the latest questionnaire. Of course, we need to know how big the gap in infrastructure is, but we also must answer the question as to how we can close the infrastructure gap. The industry is adopting two business practices to close this gap – building informa- tion modelling (BIM) and asset management – which are good practices to use in capital project delivery and operations and maintenance. Regulators and stakehold- ers are discouraging opera- tors from capitalising assets, demanding that utilities utilise existing infrastructure to its fullest capacity through better operations and maintenance – the so-called "sweating assets". This thought process makes sense because approxi- mately 80 per cent of total expenditure on assets (totex) is spent on operating and main- taining the existing asset base. While it is well understood that BIM is an important enabler of best practice asset management, we also need to recognise that the availability of data that informs operators about the current operational state of their assets is arguably of greater importance. This means constructing, populat- ing, and maintaining an asset information model with what I like to call "biographical" data and information that helps describe the asset condition and performance origin and how it affects service delivery. Asset management involves optimising the cost, risk, and performance of assets over their lifecycles to deliver satisfactory service to stake- holders who are demanding an increased service with higher expectations against the backdrop of deteriorating asset condition and constrained funding. Information needed to manage and maintain water and wastewater assets can be summed up in the "Five I's of Asset Information Manage- ment": Inventory, Inspections, Intervention, Incidents, and Investors. The key is to make information and data pertain- ing to these five I's "asset- centric", while also supporting specific business processes. Making this information "asset-centric" provides a single point of access to con- solidate and track inventory, inspections, interventions, and incidents throughout an asset's lifecycle, which provides the biography of an asset. Having the five I's of asset information consolidated and associated to individual assets not only prevents operators from wasting time, money, and effort in retrieving data, it also allows for optimal risk-based decision making regarding the prioritising of maintenance and investments. Otherwise, operators are basing their deci- sions on personal experience or simply guessing about an asset's lifecycle in order to close the infrastructure gap. Tony Andrews, solutions executive water and wastewater, Bentley Systems UK Ltd For more information, visit: www.bentley.com EXPERT VIEW TONY ANDREWS, BENTLEY The Five I's of Asset Information Management Comprehensive information bolsters asset management in water and wastewater infrastructure.

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