Date of Award
Summer 8-25-2014
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Public Administration (MPA)
Abstract
Local, state and national water infrastructure are failing because they have reached or are reaching the end of their useful life. The purpose of this study is to find an optimal water asset management system that will increase the assets useful life while minimizing costs to consumers. The literature review chapter identifies various literary works by recognized industry professionals identifying the benefits of an asset management system. The research section looks to neighboring water agencies and industry standards to identify a water asset management system that will pay for itself through savings achieved by extending the system’s life and replacing pipes before they fail. The results and findings chapter looks at current replacement and asset management strategies by the cities of Palo Alto, Sunnyvale and Santa Clara and the districts of Elk Grove and Santa Clara Valley along with Arcadis (a private contractor who works with public water utilities on construction and asset management projects). This paper concludes by identifying the common failure points in the water system and describes the evolution of asset management. The recommendations chapter identifies four key recommendations (i.e., $20-40 million bond creation, enterprise asset management system acquisition, condition asset management system pilot program and average replacement cycle reduction). Finally, the research comprised in this study will produce value for the City of Mountain View and future organizations by identifying asset management best practices from the water industry.
Recommended Citation
Munoz, Rene, "Water Pipe Infrastructure Asset Management" (2014). EMPA Capstones. 233.
https://digitalcommons.law.ggu.edu/capstones/233