Management Approaches to Improve Sewer Systems

Many tools are available to water and wastewater utilities to help structure programs for maximum results. Many of these tools focus on management approaches that help a utility identify priority needs. These include maintenance checklists, full cost pricing templates, asset management programs, environmental management systems, best practice assessments, and strategic planning tools. This page provides links to some of these tools and techniques.

Recognizing that utility managers are presented with an array of choices that can be confusing, we begin with some insight into how they might be integrated, and follow that with some individual references to guidance and tools.

Integrating Management Systems
Capacity, Management, Operation and Maintenance (CMOM)
Asset Management
Environmental Management Systems
Energy and Water
Full Cost Pricing

Integrating Management Systems

The wide range of management tools available today can present a challenge for utility managers in choosing the right programs and integrating them for maximum efficiency and benefit.

Continual Improvement in Utility Management: A Framework for Integration (PDF), (118 pp., 825 KB, about PDF) January 2004
Responding to a defined need within utility management, this Guide provides a roadmap showing how a collective group of management initiatives interrelate and how a utility can best approach integrating them in the context of a continual improvement management system framework. This Guide was funded through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and sponsored by the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies (AMSA) and the Water Environment Federation (WEF).

Managing for Excellence: Analysis of Water and Wastewater Profiles of Utility Management Systems, August 2005, USEPA Office of Water
Eight utilities were profiled to document the types of management systems in place, the drivers to implement those systems, costs and benefits, successes and challenges, and the roles of various stakeholders. The analyses identified trends, common themes, and other insights.

Capacity, Management, Operation and Maintenance (CMOM)

CMOM programs incorporate many of the standard operation and maintenance activities routinely implemented by the owner or operator with a new set of information management requirements in order to:

Better manage, operate, and maintain collection systems
Investigate capacity constrained areas of the collection system
Proactively prevent sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs)
Respond to SSO events

The CMOM approach helps the owner or operator reduce regulatory noncompliance and provide a high level of service to customers. CMOM can help utilities optimize use of human and material resources by shifting maintenance activities from “reactive” to “proactive”– often leading to savings through avoided costs due to overtime, reduced emergency construction costs, lower insurance premiums, changes in financial performance goals, and fewer lawsuits. CMOM programs can also help improve communication relations with the public, other municipal works and regional planning organizations, and regulators.

Optimizing Operation, Maintenance, and Rehabilitation of Sanitary Sewer Collection Systems, December 2003
Developed by New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission (NEIWPCC) through a grant with EPA, this guidance document is for use by collection system owners, managers, and operators seeking to optimize the operation, maintenance, and rehabilitation of their systems. This document highlights areas of day-to-day operation and maintenance, and the long-term system planning that can be implemented, improved upon, or documented in order to optimize system performance, enhance program effectiveness, and reduce overall long-term costs.

Guide for Evaluating Capacity, Management, Operation and Maintenance (CMOM) Programs at Sanitary Sewer Collection Systems, January 2005, USEPA Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance
This guide identifies some of the criteria used by EPA to evaluate a collection system's management, operation, and maintenance (CMOM) program activities. It is intended for use by EPA and state inspectors as well as the regulated community--owners or operators of sewer systems collecting domestic sewage as well as consultants or other third-party evaluators or compliance assistance providers. Collection system owners or operators can review their own systems by following the checklist in Chapter 3 to reduce the occurrence of sewer overflows and improve or maintain compliance. This guide is applicable to small, medium, and large systems, both publicly and privately owned systems, and both regional and satellite collection systems.

Sanitary Sewer Overflow Solutions, 2004, American Society of Civil Engineers
Guidance manual by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) that presents a range of solutions for sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs). Solutions for both dry and wet weather SSOs are presented. Organization of the report was derived from the Capacity, Management and Operation and Maintenance (CMOM) program. The report includes nine case studies that represent a range of approaches and investments applied by agencies to reduce their SSO problems.

Sanitary Sewer Overflows: Technical and Issue Papers, USEPA Office of Water
Find additional documents about the causes and prevention of SSOs.

Asset Management

An infrastructure asset is any long-lived capital asset that is operated as a system or network, such as a sewer collection system. The sewers, manholes, and pump stations are the primary asset components of the collection system. Buildings that are integral to the function of the network, such as pump station houses, are also considered part of the infrastructure asset.

For wastewater management utilities, asset management can be defined as managing infrastructure capital assets to minimize the total cost of owning and operating them, while delivering the service levels customers desire. Asset management is a continuous process that guides the acquisition, use, and disposal of infrastructure assets to optimize service delivery and minimize costs over the asset's entire life.

Asset management programs with long-range planning, life-cycle costing, proactive operations and maintenance, and capital replacement plans based on cost-benefit analyses can be the most efficient method of meeting this challenge.

Bridging the Gap: An Educational Primer on Sustainable Water Infrastructure Asset Management , Pennsylvania State University
Developed with EPA grant funds, Bridging the Gap is an on-line video designed to help elected officials and water and wastewater managers make smart choices as they address water and wastewater infrastructure issues. The video outlines the key steps to developing an asset management plan for both novice and experienced professionals. The hosting Web site provides an on-line learning experience with an extensive array of reference materials to support the central concepts and real-world examples of emerging best practices and innovations in water asset management.

Asset Management for Sewer Collection Systems, Fact Sheet, 2002, USEPA Office of Wastewater Management, PDF
This fact sheet defines asset management and discusses the components of an asset management system for a sewer collection network. It also discusses asset management as it relates to Capacity, Management, Operation and Maintenance (CMOM), Government Accounting Standards Board Statement 34 (GASB 34) and Environmental Management Systems (EMS).

Asset Management, USEPA Office of Water
As part of the EPA's Sustainable Infrastructure Initiative, the Office of Water works in collaboration with partner organizations to host and co-sponsor training sessions and facilitate discussions on best practice in Advanced Asset Management. Information about EPA-sponsored training.

Asset Management Train-the-Trainer Course and Total Electronic Asset Management Software (TEAMS) , Maryland Center for Environmental Training, College of Southern Maryland
This course covers the establishment of management teams, developing objectives, conducting asset inventory and condition assessments, developing maintenance and rehabilitation programs, capital improvement planning and program administration. The curriculum, complete with trainers guides, can be downloaded from the site. Links are included for ordering a copy of the software program.

Environmental Management System (EMS)

An EMS is a set of management processes and practices that enables an organization to manage and reduce its environmental impacts and to operate with greater efficiency and control. In addition to its value in traditional industrial settings, an EMS is a powerful tool for local governments, especially municipalities, to more effectively manage their operations and reduce environmental impacts.

Environmental Management Systems (EMS), USEPA New England
Visit the EPA New England EMS Web site for more information about our regional efforts, contact names and programs, and other links.

Public Entity Environmental Management System Resource , PEER Center
Find EMS tools, case studies, information about the benefits of an EMS, procedures and training, frequently asked questions, and points-of-contact from wastewater organizations that have developed EMSs.

Achieving Environmental Excellence: An Environmental Management Systems Handbook for Wastewater Utilities , August 2004, PEER Center

Water/Wastewater Initiatives, USEPA, Environmental Management
Information and links about EMS initiatives with local government entities.

Energy and Water

Energy and water use are closely linked. Savings in one area can often translate into savings in the other, and integrating energy efficient practices into the daily management and long-term planning of the water sector will contribute to long-term sustainability and reduce the impacts of climate change. Identifying approaches to integrate energy efficient practices into the daily management and long-term planning of the water sector also contribute to the long-term sustainability of water infrastructure by reducing operation costs and adding to a utility’s bottom line.

Energy and Water, USEPA, Sustainable Infrastructure for Water & Wastewater
Find information on a number of activities EPA is supporting to improve energy efficiency at water utilities across the country including energy management, basic information on energy use and benchmarking tools.

Full Cost Pricing

To help utilities recognize that pricing structures must effectively recover costs and promote environmentally sound decisions by customers, EPA has developed an extensive web site focused on water and wastewater pricing. Some of the resources on these websites can be downloaded and used free of charge, while others must be purchased.

Guides & Manuals, USEPA
Many resources are available to help water and wastewater systems of all sizes design a rate structure and understand the relationship between pricing and conservation.

Tools & Training, USEPA
Software tools, training materials, and live trainings are available for water and wastewater systems. The tools linked on this website can assist systems in recognizing which rate structure is the most suitable, whether financial capacity is lacking, how system infrastructure and water conservation measures are suffering as a consequence, and how their finances compare to those of other utilities nationwide

Environmental Finance Center , Boise State University
Software and guidebooks on setting rates, capital planning and evaluating a water utility’s financial condition are available.

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