Typical of many older cities, the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission (SWSC) manages a combined sewer collection system for both wastewater and stormwater. When there is significant rainfall, these sewers can overflow at several locations. These events, called combined sewer overflows (CSOs), are heavily regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The EPA issued the SWSC Administrative Orders to address its CSO issues by developing a Long-Term Control Plan (LTCP). At the same time, the aging collection system was at increasing risk of leaving SWSC customers without reliable sewer service due to its deteriorating condition. The SWSC’s challenge was to address the demands of the EPA, while SWSC simultaneously reducing the risk of collection system failures within a budget that was already a burden on the rate payers.
The SWSC hired Kleinfelder to develop a LTCP that takes into consideration the needs of the failing collection system within the SWSC’s budget constraints. Working closely with stakeholders, Kleinfelder introduced an asset management program that enables the SWSC to select the most beneficial projects across diverse asset types for both CSO reduction and collection system improvements, based on risk reduction and other benefits. The program is managed through an extensive GIS-centric data model built by our team.
The risk-based asset management program enables our client to satisfy the EPA CSO requirements and reduce consequential collection system risks within a budget supportable by SWSC rate payers. The asset management practices adopted by the SWSC continue to save costs through a capital improvement plan that minimizes the life-cycle cost of operating the system.
Location:
Springfield, Massachusetts
Owner:
Springfield Water and Sewer (SWSC)
