AWWA ACE90005

Over the past several years, the number and scope of databases supporting water and wastewater systems design, construction, and operation and maintenance have been developed. When developing a geographic information system (GIS) database, existing databases should be analyzed to determine whether they could be a source of "instant" attribute data. This paper describes potential relationships among GIS applications and typical nongraphic databases (for example, billing records), including GIS access to external databases. GIS differs from databases mainly in its ability to manipulate graphic data and perform spatial analyses. It is actually an automated mapping system with extensive attribute handling and analysis capabilities. Several GIS applications and their use of existing databases are described, including water main break analysis, customer complaint analysis, routing, tracing networks, customer identification, modeling, address matching, and indexing electronic documents. Examples of how GIS is used in a number of US and Canadian communities are given.