U.S. Air Force Approves CapPlan Water for Smart Asset Performance Modeling

Innovyze, a provider of business analytics software and technologies for wet infrastructure, announced the U.S. Air Force added CapPlan Water to its Approved/Evaluated Products List (A/EPL) after a rigorous evaluation process. 

CapPlan Water changes the way water utilities plan the relative phasing of system improvements. Users can assess both the probability and consequence of failure for each asset. Assets in poor condition will have a high probability of failure, while assets that affect system operation will normally rate high on the consequence scale.

Probability of failure is based on the pipe’s physical condition (e.g., structural integrity, age, material, roughness factor, leakage/break/defect history) and location (e.g., proximity to a seismic fault or construction zone), as well as its hydraulic performance characteristics (e.g., head loss, pressure, velocity). Consequence of failure draws on data such as water outages (e.g., schools, hospitals, critical care facilities), low- and no-water conditions, reduced fire protection capabilities, degradation of water quality and flooding, including structural damage and impacts of chlorinated water in natural waterways.

Built upon ArcGIS and InfoWater platforms, CapPlan Water tackles the toughest data integrity and processing issues that usually slows typical large-scale asset management analysis projects. Users can seamlessly work between hydraulic modeling calculations and traditional GIS data to determine probability and consequence scores, without cumbersome error-prone exports and data synching to third party applications.

CapPlan Water calculates the risk of each asset linearly (consequence score x probability score), using either a bi-directional distribution matrix or a more complex multi-criterion classification. This choice of calculation methods gives the utility unprecedented flexibility to define risk based on almost any combination of supporting data. Water mains at highest risk can then be given the greatest attention. These evaluations will help water utilities create prioritized short- and long-term water main rehabilitation, replacement, maintenance and management plans, as well as support them with sound, cost-effective capital programs.

Utilities will save considerable resources thanks to CapPlan Water’s intuitive interface, easy-to-use functionality, and expansive graphing and reporting capabilities. With minimal effort, users can quickly pinpoint assets at the greatest risk of hydraulic and water quality deficiencies or structural failure, identify the best possible improvement alternatives for optimal system performance and prioritize improvements based on available budget. Significant cost savings are just a side benefit.

“With many of the world’s drinking water systems reaching or having already exceeded their design lives, utilities need smarter ways to prioritize rehabilitation, repair, and/or replacement,” said Innovyze Vice President and Americas Business Director J. Erick Heath, P.E. “CapPlan Water is the only software package that combines GIS, hydraulic modeling, cost and budgeting data and advanced decision support in one seamless package. We look forward to working with the Air Force to ensure CapPlan Water meets their capital planning needs for years to come.”