Water companies are carrying out extensive work programs on their networks in
order to meet customer expectations of service, regulatory requirements and
maintenance of the asset while also meeting the commercial requirements of the
business. Coordination of these activities is very important in order to maximize
efficiency. With a view to improving network management, Vivendi Water Companies
in the United Kingdom (UK) are developing integrated information systems to
assist in such coordination. This paper presents the results of a pilot study
undertaken to develop an integrated network management reporting system. The
pilot study has been implemented at Folkestone and Dover Water Services UK, a
subsidiary water company of Vivendi. The aims of the pilot study are to provide a
coherent information management system for distribution networks with particular
emphasis on leakage, pipe rehabilitation and renewal, network modeling, water
quality and job management. The pilot study is divided into two phases with Phase
1 consisting of the establishment of the system architecture, production of a
specification, and installation of software with a leakage reporting system.
Phase 2 includes extending the system to other databases establishing a suite of
management reports and developing the software as a commercial product. Includes figures.