BE Magazine - Volume 6, Issue 1 - (Page 44)

Best Practices – Water and Wastewater City Expands Water Supply Without Deploying Additional Water Sources Project will also help safeguard limited ground water sources and preserve endangered species habitats air Oaks Ranch is a city in south central Texas, just north of San Antonio. Like most Texan cities, water is always a concern. So in late 2007 when negotiations with the region’s only available water supplier broke down, Fair Oaks Ranch was in a real bind. The city had not only been negotiating for enough F additional water to fulﬁll commitments to two major subdivisions, it had also been in discussions for the maintenance of current water rates for its existing 8,500 customers. With additional water from the only source now out of the question, Fair Oaks Ranch had to ﬁnd a way to keep both pledges and do it fast—the city’s promised delivery date was just six months away. Fair Oaks Ranch approached M&S Engineering Ltd., a 65-person Texas consulting ﬁrm, to analyze the situation and provide a solution. The time frame was minimal and the scope was broad. M&S Engineering ﬁrst determined the three major objectives: Engineering would need a schematic of the entire water system, which did not exist. The system had been built piecemeal over a 30year period by various developers and no single plan or comprehensive CAD drawing had ever been completed. The city did have a SCADA in place, but it was of no use for calibrating a model. In fact, as in many smaller water agencies, most of the relevant system knowledge resided between the ears of expert operators, and that knowledge had to be captured. Generating options was also complex. In addition to expected difﬁculties, the larger of the two proposed developments is 50 feet higher than the greatest hydraulic grade in the city so the list of options had to contend with the possible need for additional wells and/or an elevated water tank. The alignments of any new transmission lines would have to be considered, and the city would have to make an intelligent and economically sound choice between hydropneumatic tanks—which come with additional energy and maintenance costs—or large static tanks. And last but not least, M&S Engineering would have to attach costs and beneﬁts to each option and come up with a phased capital improvement plan that met immediate needs and prepared the city for future development. “There were a myriad of major challenges, and the aggressive time frame forced us to rely heavily on automation and time-saving capabilities,” explained M&S Engineering Project Manager Daniel Konstanski. “M&S Engineering was able to meet what appeared to be an unmanageable project schedule almost exclusively due to WaterCAD.” Preparation of the system model was a good example of the time-saving ability of WaterCAD. Because there were no existing electronic drawings, M&S Engineering engineers built a system schematic from scratch working from multiple sets of developer drawings assembled over 30 years. “This presented a major problem. We would have to draw everything by hand and then draw BE AWARD NOMINEE I Analyze existing infrastructure and water sources to see if the proposed subdivisions could be supplied without an adverse effect on current city residents I Based on this analysis, generate a list of options for consideration I Evaluate combinations of the options, taking into account factors like cost, feasibility, constructability, and time to complete Each objective faced additional complicating factors. To analyze the existing infrastructure, for example, meant that M&S City of Fair Oaks Ranch Water System Analysis and Expansion Organization: M&S Engineering Ltd. Category: Innovation in Water Resources it by hand again to enter it into the modeling software,” continued Konstanski. “Fortunately, Bentley support staff and instructors guided us on how to use the extracting capabilities of WaterCAD 44 Be Magazine | Volume 6 Issue 1 http://www.bentley.com/en-GB/Products/WaterCAD/

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of BE Magazine - Volume 6, Issue 1

BE Magazine - Volume 6, Issue 1 Contents Anticipation’s Name Is V8i Be Awards of Excellence Kicks Off Competition Bentley Launches the Most Comprehensive SoftwarePortfolio for Infrastructure Ever Assembled in a Single Release MicroStation V8i Up Close & Personal Is Water the New Oil? How Does Intent Become Reality? Does Performance Create Sustainability? Renewing Confidence in Public Highway Infrastructure Enterprisewide System Manages International Airport Standardized CAD/GIS Platform Streamlines Infrastructure Engineering 3D Modeling Refines Reusable Design for Plant Prototype Lean Teams Deliver Automotive Assembly Plants Through Innovative Use of BIM Integrated 3DModels Enable Compact and Safe Plant Design Sustainable Development Supports Thriving Community Terminal Pumps Natural Gas Through Longest Subsea Pipeline Large UtilityWorks To Reduce SO2 Emissions Aging Power Station Boosts Engineering Productivity Hydropower Dam To Fuel Growing Economy Collaboration Tools Accelerate Chinese Railway Electrification System Design Rapid Rail Link To Meet Socio-Economic Development Goals High-CapacityWastewater Treatment Facility ReclaimsWater Resources City ExpandsWater SupplyWithout Deploying AdditionalWater Resources Private Calling Meets Public Service Learning Paths Map Skill Development for Infrastructure Professionals A Contemporary Approach to Site Design The Art of Visualization Special Feature: Be Communities Physical + Digital Investments = Intelligent Infrastructure

BE Magazine - Volume 6, Issue 1

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