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Providing clean and safe water for public use is a task that requires the highest level of hygiene and diligence. Water must be collected, purified, and distributed across considerable distances with the assurance that it will remain potable until it reaches the consumers. After that, the process continues over again and over again every day.

Water utility companies and other government authorities that are involved in the water purification and distribution process are required to ensure the upkeep of mission-critical equipment and facilities, monitor maintenance tasks, and comply with regulatory requirements. There is little to no allowance for errors because the effects of contaminated water are usually dire.

However, to truly understand the best approach for maintenance in water utilities, let’s start by looking at how the major assets in this industry are classified.

Asset Classification In Water Utilities

Water utility companies are responsible for managing hundreds of different kinds of assets but there are mainly classified into 2 major groups:

Water Distribution Assets – This group refers to assets and systems that are spread over a wide geographical area. Examples include sewer systems, distribution and booster pumps, gas distribution systems, electrical installations, stormwater collection systems, etc.

Water Treatment Assets – This refers to assets that are concentrated in water treatment facilities and are used in the direct treatment of water. They include filtration systems, pumps, centrifuges, etc.

Although both categories of assets are unique and adopting a maintenance program for this sector can appear quite complex, a modern computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) is equipped with all the features required to streamline the required maintenance tasks in this industry and deliver excellent service quality.

What Can A CMMS Do For Water Utilities?

Here’s how CMMS helps water utility companies.

Lower Maintenance Costs

Water utilities are required to run 24 hours every day of the week. The result of this much usage is the problem of assets aging rapidly. Fortunately, keeping a machine in optimum working condition will improve the chances of extending its useful lifespan. Whether its a water treatment or distribution equipment, a CMMS helps to automate all activities that will keep assets running at their best such as scheduling inspections, generating alerts for maintenance work when due, and tracking servicing and repairs.

Minimize Equipment Downtime

One of the most common causes of water contamination is asset deterioration that is not detected on time. A piece of equipment that is failing can easily contaminate processed water with oil, soil, or other substances.

If maintenance staff are able to detect potential failure in a machine, they can schedule an intervention before the asset fails completely. In other words, switching from reactive to proactive maintenance is a necessity for water utility management.

Advanced maintenance techniques such as condition-based monitoring whereby machines are fitted with sensors to report changes in operating parameters (noise, vibration, heat, etc), could prove to be the best actionable maintenance program for water utility companies. When combined with a CMMS, this setup can generate alerts for the attention of technical teams.

Remaining Compliant

Water utility companies are subject to several regulations concerning purification and delivery. Using a CMMS greatly enhances water treatment facilities’ compliance status by easing the process of inspections, audits, and generating real-time reports when requested.

Note that there are still several other features that our CMMS system offers this industry. For example, Axxerion’s GIS integration gives the exact location of multiple equipment and makes it easy to track assets in a matter of seconds.

Whether you’re looking for an all-in-one solution, a single feature set, or something customized specifically for your business, the Axxerion team is here to help set up the right software and configuration for you.

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