A Small Utility Increases Operational Efficiencies with Digital Innovations

Parker Water & Sanitation District (PWSD), a special district utility based in Parker, Colorado, has provided water and sanitation services to local residents since 1962. Parker's proximity to the suburbs of Denver has influenced the town's significant growth and development in recent years, creating both challenges and opportunities for the district. Originally relying on regional wells for the population's water supply, the district has evolved by finding new ways to supplement depleted aquifers and seeking renewable sources of water. PWSD is committed to providing customers with reliable, sustainable water and sanitation services.

Historically, PWSD had relied on paper-based maps and manual processes to locate underground infrastructure, perform construction inspections, collect data on maintenance operations, and share status updates with management. Field crews attempted to move toward the use of mobile cache maps, but this was a static resource that made it difficult to update. In recent years, the rapid growth of the community has underscored the need for a more efficient, agile, and transparent system.

The district's GIS staff, having previously used ArcGIS Desktop to develop maps for data representation, decided to turn to Esri for solutions. Initially, the district deployed ArcGIS Collector, a mobile data collection app to help field crews maintain belowground assets and gather data on water quality, system valves, and asset condition. With Collector, PWSD was able to gather information during valve exercising, then compile and analyze it, leading to swift and effective decision-making. Following the success of its ArcGIS Collector launch, PWSD expanded its geographic information system (GIS) operations to include a suite of Esri field apps and solutions.

PWSD field crews found that using ArcGIS Survey123, a formcentric survey management app, during underground construction projects permitted them to capture notes and inspection details, including images and other data crucial to quickly locating and managing their infrastructure. The district also started using Esri Story Maps, a storytelling web app, as a user-friendly tool to share news online about upcoming projects in a geospatial context that customers could easily grasp and digest.

The district subsequently broadened the scope of its GIS functionality by embracing ArcGIS Web AppBuilder and ArcGIS Dashboards. With Web AppBuilder, GIS analysts at PWSD created an online map to display up-to-date water quality data to customers, a service that was not previously feasible. Now, customers can see real-time updates and stay informed about the status of projects in their neighborhoods. Web AppBuilder also enables the district's customer service agents to update residents online on hydrant flushing schedules and ongoing capital projects.

The final piece of the puzzle was ArcGIS Dashboards, a configurable web app that provides location-aware data visualization and analytics, which the district's GIS team used to create dashboards to support chloramination conversions and valve exercising. PWSD also used ArcGIS Dashboards to generate numerous internal dashboards to enhance customer service, billing, and maintenance.

PWSD's migration to Esri solutions resulted in a 100 percent improvement in workflows that had depended on paper-based processes. The district has cut over 150 hours of work per year in maintenance activities and has seen the elimination of duplicate work. By deploying Esri's versatile solutions, PWSD has successfully streamlined the field data collection process, which has made it easier for field crews to identify infrastructure in need of maintenance or repair. In-house specialists are able to easily examine data collected during inspections and testing, determine whether action is needed, then seamlessly assign the issue to field crews for completion. Supervisors use the dashboards to monitor and analyze the data collected by in-house field crews, as well as third-party agency data, and apply what they gather to current decision-making. The district's use of Esri technology has promoted clear and accurate communications with customers and improved relationships within the community.

During the recent conversion of the district's primary disinfection process from using free chlorine to monochloramine throughout the distribution system, PWSD saw great strides in the ability of staff to collaborate in real time using the same map and the same data, even while miles apart and in the field.

Parker Water & Sanitation District (PWSD), a special district utility based in Parker, Colorado, has provided water and sanitation services to local residents since 1962. Parker's proximity to the suburbs of Denver has influenced the town's significant growth and development in recent years, creating both challenges and opportunities for the district. Originally relying on regional wells for the population's water supply, the district has evolved by finding new ways to supplement depleted aquifers and seeking renewable sources of water. PWSD is committed to providing customers with reliable, sustainable water and sanitation services.