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Asset Management for Water and Wastewater Utilities

On this page:

Overview of Asset Management

Workshops and Training
Additional Resources

Overview of Asset Management

Renewing and replacing the nation's public water infrastructure is an ongoing task. Asset management can help a utility
maximize the value of its capital as well as its operations and maintenance dollars.

Asset management provides utility managers and decision-makers with critical information on capital assets and timing
of investments. Some key steps for asset management are making an inventory of critical assets, evaluating their
condition and performance, and developing plans to maintain, repair, and replace assets and to fund these activities.

What is asset management?

Asset management is a process water and wastewater utilities can use to make sure that planned maintenance can be
conducted and capital assets (pumps, motors, pipes, etc.) can be repaired, replaced, or upgraded on time and that there is
enough money to pay for it.

Asset management is the practice of managing infrastructure capital assets to minimize the total cost of owning and
operating these assets while delivering the desired service levels. Many utilities use asset management to pursue and
achieve sustainable infrastructure. A high-performing asset management program includes detailed asset inventories,
operation and maintenance tasks, and long-range financial planning.

Each utility is responsible for making sure that its system stays in good working order, regardless of the age of its
components or the availability of additional funds. Asset management programs with good data—including asset
attributes (e.g., age, condition, and criticality), life-cycle costing, proactive operations and maintenance, and capital
replacement plans based on cost-benefit analyses—can be the most efficient method of meeting this challenge.

What are the benefits of asset management?

Examples of outcomes that can be realized by utilities through asset management:

Prolonging asset life and improving decisions about asset rehabilitation, repair, and replacement
Meeting consumer demands with a focus on system sustainability
Setting rates based on sound operational and financial planning
Budgeting focused on critical activities for sustained performance
Meeting service expectations and regulatory requirements
Improving responses to emergencies
 Improving the security and safety of assets
Reducing overall costs for both operations and capital expenditures

What are the elements of asset management practice?

Asset management is centered on a framework of five core questions, which provide the foundation for many asset
management best practices:

1. What is the current state of my assets?

2. What is my required "sustainable" level of service?
3. Which assets are critical to sustained performance?
4. What are my minimum life-cycle costs?
5. What is my best long-term funding strategy?

EPA's Asset Management: A Best Practices Guide (PDF) (4 pp, 242 K, About PDF) explores the five core
questions and best practices for each. This guidebook is for owners, managers, and operators of public water systems,
local officials, technical assistance providers, and state personnel.

Who should practice asset management?

Asset management is a scalable approach that can be used by systems of any size. Whether running a small drinking
water system serving 50 customers or drinking water and wastewater systems of the largest cities, asset management
means putting in place a long-term plan to sustain these systems and the services they provide.

Asset management is also used in other sectors where infrastructure needs to be managed for the long term, such as in
the transportation and housing sectors. Some leading communities are adopting cross-sector asset management programs
where infrastructure investments are coordinated and prioritized across the different infrastructure areas.

Asset Management Workshops

Advanced Asset Management Workshop Materials

Advanced Asset Management Training Workshop Agenda

Story Line
Exercise Tables
Pump Station Drawings
Excel Spreadsheet Tool (7 pp, 138 K) (XLS)
Training Slides
America's Pathway To Sustainable Water and Wastewater Services
Fundamentals of Asset Management Session 0-Executive Overview
Fundamentals of Asset Management Session 1-Develop Asset Registry
Fundamentals of Asset Management Session 2-Assess Condition, Failure Modes
Fundamentals of Asset Management Session 3-Determine Residual Life
Fundamentals of Asset Management Session 4-Determine Life Cycle & Replacement Costs
Fundamentals of Asset Management Session 5-Set Target Level of Service
Fundamentals of Asset Management Session 6-Determine Business Risk ("Criticality")
Fundamentals of Asset Management Session 6.5-Develop Asset Registry
 Fundamentals of Asset Management Session 7-Optimize (O&M) Investment
Fundamentals of Asset Management Session 8-Optimize Capital Investment
Fundamentals of Asset Management Session 9-Determine Funding Strategy
Fundamentals of Asset Management Session 10-Build Asset Management Plan

Web-based Asset Management Training

EPA's Check Up Program for Small Systems (CUPSS) Self-paced Training Modules - CUPSS is a legacy software
application that was developed more than 10 years ago to assist drinking water and wastewater utilities in
implementing an asset management plan. While still available for use, the tool is no longer being updated and may
not be compatible with the latest computer operating systems. Additional asset management tools and resources
can be found at:
Asset Management for Water and Wastewater Utilities
Asset Management Resources for States and Small Drinking Water Systems
Virginia Tech's Sustainable Water Infrastructure Asset Management Online Non-Degree Program EXIT
- The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech, in partnership with EPA, GHD
Consulting, and Water Environmental Research Foundation, offers a certificate program on the fundamentals of
sustainable water infrastructure asset management.

Asset Management Resources

EPA Asset Management Resources

Asset Management: A Best Practices Guide (PDF) (4 pp, 242 K, About PDF) - This guide explains
what asset management means, the benefits of asset management, best practices in asset management, and how to
implement an asset management plan. It is for owners, managers and operators of public water systems, local
officials, technical assistance providers, and state personnel.
Building an Asset Management Team (PDF) (2 pp, 155 K, About PDF) - This guide explains how
having a team can help your system successfully implement asset management and the components of a successful
asset management team. It is for local officials, owners and operators of public water systems, technical assistance
providers, and state personnel.
Asset Management: A Handbook for Small Public Water Systems—STEP Guide Series - Learn how to inventory
system assets and develop a long-term maintenance plan to save money and avoid unexpected problems.
Asset Management Programs for Stormwater and Wastewater Systems: Overcoming Barriers to Development and
Implementation - This paper presents information from case studies and input from utilities at various stages of
asset management program implementation.

Asset Management Partner Resources

The following links exit the site EXIT

Water Environment Research Foundation's (WERF) Sustainable Infrastructure Management Program Learning
Environment (SIMPLE) - A web-based tool to help wastewater plants learn about life-cycle asset management
 plans. Access is free to WERF members.
New Mexico Environmental Finance Center's Asset Management Guide (PDF)
(112 pp, 1.1 MB, About PDF) - Provides a practical, hands-on roadmap to implementing an asset
management program.
Maryland Center for Environmental Training (MCET) - The Center developed an Asset Management Guide for
Wastewater Utilities and a Train-the-Trainer Toolkit for Total Enterprise Asset Management Systems (TEAMS)
software. The toolkit teaches the principles of asset management and introduces open source software (TEAMS)
supporting wastewater utilities.
Virginia Tech's Sustainable Water Infrastructure Asset Management Online Non-Degree Program - The
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech, in partnership with EPA, GHD Consulting
and Water Environmental Research Foundation (WERF), offers a certificate program in the fundamentals of
sustainable water infrastructure asset management.
Liquid Assets: The Story of Our Water Infrastructure - A public media and outreach initiative to inform the nation
about the role water infrastructure plays in protecting public health and promoting economic prosperity.
Combining a 90-minute documentary with a community toolkit for facilitating local involvement, Liquid Assets
explores the history, engineering and political and economic challenges of our water infrastructure, and engages
communities in local discussion about public water and wastewater issues.

Asset Management in National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permits

Municipalities across the country face the challenging obligation to manage their aging sewer and stormwater systems at
a time of urban population growth, stringent water quality protection requirements, and resiliency challenges. It is often
difficult for municipalities to secure funding for infrastructure improvements or replacement, or to maintain existing
funding levels. Asset management planning is a proven tool for maintaining and elevating levels of service for
wastewater and stormwater systems and planning system renewal and upgrades.

The NPDES program regulates point sources that discharge pollutants into waters of the U.S. and serves to standardize
practices associated with operating and maintaining sewer and stormwater collection systems.

Incorporating Asset Management Planning Provisions into NPDES Permits - This document outlines the benefits and
basis for addressing asset management in NPDES permits. It also suggests potential language and implementation
practices to incorporate into permits.

Case Studies - The case studies examine the experiences of several municipalities in various stages of implementing
asset management practices: Folsom California; South Placer, California; South San Francisco, California; San Diego,
California; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Grand Rapids, Michigan.