Case Study
Untangling 100 Years of Pipelines to Bring Recycled and Potable Water to Public Parks
Kennedy Jenks (KJ) developed state-of-the-art tools and processes for a challenging project making daunting data collection and tracking a breeze.
At KJ, we develop tools to make our clients’ large, complex projects more manageable. Our client, a utilities commission, was faced with a seemingly insurmountable challenge: as part of a project to build an advanced recycled water treatment facility that would provide recycled water to two separate urban parks spanning 1,250 acres, they needed to collect data pertaining to 7,000 system components in water supply (recycled vs. potable) serving facilities in both parks.
The recycled water facility and planned irrigation system upgrades will save up to four million gallons of drinking water per day by using recycled water for irrigation and refilling lakes within the park. Adopting recycled water for irrigation will allow the utilities commission to use high-quality groundwater wells to augment the city water supply, making it more resilient to droughts, the impacts of climate change, and population growth.
The vast parks are major attractions for the public and visitors, hosting many events each year and boasting museums, gardens, lakes, and recreational opportunities. These considerations presented substantial logistical challenges around the timing and staging of water shut-offs to collect data. KJ was selected to manage this daunting data collection effort.
The Challenge
Our client needed a specialized data tool to manage cross-connection testing in the more than 7,000 system components (valves, fittings, faucets, irrigation spigots, and more) that they needed to inspect, test, document, and retrofit to verify appropriate use of both potable and recycled water. This process was expected to generate an enormous quantity of data to track and update the condition of these fittings.
Untangling the network of pipelines and infrastructure installed over the last century required substantial investigation to evaluate existing infrastructure, uncover the source of leakages, and record unmapped irrigation components.
The client needed to obtain approval for using recycled water at the parks by confirming there were no potential cross connections between the irrigation system and the potable supply.
Field inspectors then needed to use those data to:
Conduct cross-connection testing to identify points of potential cross-connection between the parallel potable and irrigation networks, and
Implement retrofits to address aging infrastructure, detect and repair leaks throughout the system, and prevent overflow from irrigation water storage lakes.
This required accommodating the needs of popular parks with unique, world-class facilities and scheduling the work around park events to minimize disruption to planned activities. Cross-connection testing, in particular, required careful coordination with visitor hours, irrigation schedules, and the various building and facility demands.
Other challenges involved designing alternatives for the lakes to manage and contain recycled water to prevent overflow, and considering the potential effects of recycled water quality on the variety of plants irrigated at a botanical garden, a plant nursery, and a green roof. It was vital that the installation of retrofits did not substantially alter the current operation of the irrigation system. The magnitude of facilities in the parks required the following major challenges to be successfully met:
Verify the conditions of more than 100 potable water meters and their connection to the irrigation system.
Provide more than 3,300 identification tags on irrigation system components.
Replace more than 3,400 quick coupling valves with purple caps.
Install about 50 isolation valves to isolate irrigation sections and manage cross-connection control testing.
The construction cost for implementing these retrofits and improvements to the irrigation systems was estimated to be $4 million.
The Solution
KJ developed digital tools to manage the implementation of a detailed Cross Connection Control Plan (CCCP). To improve efficiency and quality control on this highly complex project, KJ converted our client’s as-built files into an interactive web map and associated GIS-enabled app, the ESRI Collector app. Both the web map and app displayed locations of pipelines, fittings, and other appurtenances throughout both parks.
The web map served as a hub for the client, consultants, and field team members to track project status and identify potential issues. The web map was also presented on an interactive mobile map app in ArcGIS Enterprise and helped our client manage field testing of the more than 7,000 system components in the parks. The field team also used the app in all stages of field cross-connection testing. Additional benefits of the app included:
Multiple field workers could use the app simultaneously; field workers could see one another’s progress and avoid replicating efforts.
Field workers could navigate to fittings requiring testing and locate fittings that may be obscured by vegetation growth.
Each fitting had an interface that allowed field workers to input test results, notes, troubleshooting information, and photographs.
Smart symbology dynamically changed color to display test results in real-time, visible to the entire project team. This reduced project costs by allowing the teams to troubleshoot and make decisions in the field.
Test results were visible to all stakeholders and synced to an offline geodatabase in real time.
Data could be quickly compiled and reported upon the completion of field testing.
The Result
KJ developed tools that supported the inspection, testing, documentation, and retrofit of the complex water supply system spanning more than 1,250 acres of urban recreation area. The web map and app developed to support cross-connection testing improved efficiency substantially and received positive feedback from the field workers. It also gave client leadership and the field team enhanced access to the testing process. Stakeholders could view project status and provide input in real-time throughout testing.
The cross-connection testing app was so successful, our client requested a second web map and app for their Construction Management (CM) team to use in reviewing retrofits completed by a contractor. The CM team uses their customized app to inspect features requiring retrofits, confirm completion of scope where work is satisfactory, and document issues requiring correction.
The interactive web maps and apps created by the project team have contributed to the successful completion of the project, allowing our client to further increase the diversity, reliability, and resilience of its water supplies.
“Everyone who had attended previous pilot tests remarked on how much easier it was using the app. The GPS units helped us find three or four fixtures that had not been found previously even after the gardeners had been digging around looking for them.”
Kieran Locke
Field Team Lead