The Portland Water Bureau has taken an active role in using asset management to consider the needs of the water system. Being able to identify and quantify the risks posed by asset failure is a key asset management concept.  A critical asset is considered to be an asset with both a high likelihood of failure and a high consequence of failure. 

 

Water Bureau employees, from Operations, Finance, Resource Protection, Customer Service and Engineering have formed a group called CLEM (for Consequence and Likelihood of failure, and Effectiveness Measures). The members of CLEM have been trying to identify critical assets in the water system.  We have looked at many different parts of the water system to rank assets in terms of their “criticality.”

 

We aren’t always getting what we expected. Because the consequence of failure can mean impacts to customers (like traffic disruption when we close a road) and the environment (like a spill to a creek), in addition to impacts to our ability to deliver water, we learned that some assets have more consequences because of where they are located, rather than just what function they serve in the water system. That means pipes that cross major roads, that are in landslide-prone areas, or near environmentally-sensitive zones are likely to be relatively more critical. Of course, it also depends on how well the asset is doing (is it likely to fail soon?), and understanding the condition of the assets is a key to understanding if an asset will fail soon.

 

We realized that many problems can be made much less severe with more advance planning.  If a pipe or pump station failure means an area could end up without water, what steps can we take now to ensure a rapid response to the problem? Well, we could make sure we know what equipment will be needed and where it can be found.  In one case, we found a back-up system was available, but had not been tested (it should be!). 

 

To me, asset management means thinking about problems before they occur, and analyzing the overall risks that exist in the water system so we can find ways to reduce the likelihood of a failure occurring or reducing the consequences if a failure does occur.  Using asset management concepts, we can create better strategies and better solutions.

 

Jeff Leighton

Senior Engineer, Asset Management