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WSSC Achieves Over 60% Reduction in Hydraulic

WSSC Achieves Over 60% Reduction in Hydraulic

WSSC Achieves Over 60% Reduction in Hydraulic

Product catalog summary
Introduction
The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) Development Services Group achieved a significant reduction in hydraulic plan review times for water and wastewater systems by implementing Bentley’s WaterGEMS® and SewerGEMS® software. This case study outlines the improvements in efficiency and customer service resulting from this implementation.

Hydraulic Plan Review Scope
WSSC reviews approximately 160 development plans and 172 small-site utility plans annually. The hydraulic plan analysis (HPA) process involves sizing mains and ensuring system integrity and future needs, including adequate fire flow and pressure. The goal was to improve customer service by enhancing workflow processes.

Increased Review Efficiency
Prior to using WaterGEMS and SewerGEMS, WSSC used less advanced in-house software. The new tools allowed for a standardized model, improved quality assurance, and reduced review cycle times from 73 to 27 days. The software's scenario and alternative capabilities facilitated organized modeling, enabling quicker responses to developers and adjustments for environmental issues.

Reduced Project Delivery and Operation Costs
WaterGEMS expedited pipe sizing and communication with consultants, allowing faster revenue collection by connecting more customers sooner. The software also helped identify problem areas and potential outages earlier, reducing operational costs.

Safer Water and Sewer Infrastructure
WaterGEMS' fire flow capability allowed for comprehensive fire flow analysis, ensuring adequate fire protection. SewerGEMS improved wastewater infrastructure analysis, enhancing hydraulic design quality and preventing future sanitary sewer overflows.

Information Mobility and Increased Collaboration
Enhanced workflows improved collaboration between engineering, GIS, and consultants. The integration of GIS capabilities and ModelBuilder functionality streamlined the incorporation of proposed pipelines with existing ones, resulting in over a 60% reduction in review cycle times.

Conclusion
The implementation of WaterGEMS and SewerGEMS significantly improved WSSC's hydraulic plan review efficiency, customer service, and operational cost management, supporting the rapid development in Maryland.
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Catalog excerpts

WSSC Achieves Over 60% Reduction in Hydraulic-1

CASE STUDY Project Summary Organization: Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) Solution: Water and Wastewater Location: Maryland, United States Project Objective: • Improve workflows associated with the hydraulic review of development plans Products used: WaterGEMS, SewerGEMS WSSC Achieves Over 60% Reduction in Hydraulic Plan Review for Water and Wastewater Systems Helped Complete Hydraulic Plan Analyses More Efficiently than WSSC's In-house System Fast Facts • WSSC Development Services Group reviews and analyzes 160 large development and 172 private development systems annually for hydraulic adequacy. • It was critical that the review process and turnaround to the development engineers be completed as quickly as possible to keep up with the rapid pace of development in one of the fastest growing areas of the country. Hydraulic Plan Review Scope Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) Development Services Group reviews hydraulic plans for approximately 160 proposed development plans per year. This includes water and sewer system extensions as well as approximately 172 small-site utility plans (commercial private systems) that connect to the existing water and sewer network in two large Maryland counties. Each system extension is hydraulically reviewed and mains are properly sized by WSSC hydraulic engineers during the hydraulic plan analysis (HPA) process. In this process, engineers use hydraulic-grade benchmarks developed by the planning group within the existing system to analyze the proposed extensions and connections. These benchmarks are developed using system-wide modeling while considering the severest conditions in the system. The WSSC hydraulic engineers determine the appropriate sizes for the proposed mains while considering various scenarios that focus on the system integrity and future needs to provide adequate fire flow and pressure to new developments. When the creation of a new pressure zone is sometimes required to serve a new development, the hydraulic reviewer interacts with the planning group that models the system-wide network to help with zone creations. The projects overall goal was to increase customer service levels by implementing a workflow process improvement. To meet this goal the Development Services Group implemented Bentleys WaterGEMS® and SewerGEMS® to increase the turnaround time on reviews and keep pace with one of the most rapidly developing areas in the United States. The reviews were critical to the success of the projects as they serve as the primary planning mechanism for growth. Increased Review Efficiency Prior to using WaterGEMS and SewerGEMS the Development Services Group completed the hydraulic plan analyses with small-scale software developed in-house that was less advanced and less user-friendly. Through the use of Pre-Project Workflow • The overall efficiency improvement for the hydraulic review of development projects along with internal group restructuring decreased review cycle time from an average of 73 to 27 days. • The workflow process improvement allowed revenue collection to be expedited, by allowing more customers to connect to the system sooner. Create New Water Model (.wtg, .sqlite) Water Model Ready for HPA Proposed Water/ Sewer Sketch ( dwg) Proposed Water t Sewer Sketch (pdf) Site Sketch (.jpg/raster) Create New Sewer Model " (.stsw, .mdb) Sewer Model Ready for HPA Post-Project Workflow Proposed Water Sketch WaterGEMS addin (.dwg) WaterGEMS Model Water Model Ready for HPA Site Plan with Water, Sewer WSSC permit turnover time reduced by 60 percent Proposed Sewer Sketch Applicant has standardized template to simplify work, new capabilities to enhance design, and added data for pre-analysis Plan review workflow improvement charts

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WSSC Achieves Over 60% Reduction in Hydraulic-2

The fire flow capability in WaterGEMS enabled reviewers to perform fire flow analysis for numerous locations throughout a large or small network used for a project in a single run. Find out about Bentley at: www.bentley.com Contact Bentley 1-800-BENTLEY (1-800-236-8539) Outside the US +1 610-458-5000 Global Office Listings www.bentley.com/contact WaterGEMS and SewerGEMS, as well as group restructuring, the Development Services Group increased review efficiency through a standardized model between projects, improved quality assurance of reviews, and reduced review cycle times from an average of...

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