AWWA DPOC56497

Waterlines comprise well over half of a water utility's built infrastructure. Most of our waterline infrastructure is over forty years old and, with age, leaks and breaks increase, causing concern about water quality, system dependability, and public risk. Yet, waterline restoration must compete for limited dollars within water utility budgets. Using "break" history criterion to replace waterlines typically results in replacement of some deteriorated waterline segments as well as the replacement of many waterline segments that have substantial remaining useful life. In other words, this single criterion is not cost efficient. More waterlines can be restored within a given budget through the use of a structural condition assessment technology, such as Remote Field Technology (RFT). This paper describes the City of Calgary's use of RFT to establish an asset management approach to waterline restoration. The approach enables the city to establish priorities that enhance optimum utilization of budgeted funds. The technology is described as it is used in the field. RFT results have been confirmed by visual examination of samples of excavated cast-iron and ductile-iron pipe. The city's use of RFT data to pro-actively restore waterlines is presented, along with an analysis of resulting avoided costs. Includes figures.