Charlotte Water's Use of a Risk Management Tool to Effectively Mitigate Sanitary Sewer Overflows

Charlotte Water's Use of a Risk Management Tool to Effectively Mitigate Sanitary Sewer OverflowsAbstractCharlotte Water, the largest water and wastewater utility provider in the Carolinas, received an Administrative Order from the US EPA mandating the reduction of sewer overflows occurring throughout the system. To combat the overflows, Charlotte Water deployed real-time satellite sewer monitoring technology in targeted creek basin hotspots utilizing a unique risk assessment tool which helped identify and prioritize locations where spills were most likely to occur. In order to assess vulnerable regions and spill risks within their collection system, Charlotte Water employed a tool called Smart Nodal Analysis Protocol (SNAP). This tool provided a means to maximize the effectiveness of smart sewer monitoring, while reducing risk and minimizing cost. SNAP incorporated Charlotte Water's field historical data with the physical properties of the collection system to identify and prioritize locations for smart sewer monitoring. This analysis allowed Charlotte Water to provide effective tradeoffs between risk reduction and the costs of basin coverage. All basins were able to achieve Administrative Order compliance without 100% manhole coverage. The SNAP tool incorporated the evaluation of the probability of an event and the potential consequence of that event. Spill probability included elements such as previous spills, intense cleaning areas, aging infrastructure, I SmartCover Systems 2;SourceProceedings of the Water Environment FederationDocument typeConference PaperPublisherWater Environment FederationPrint publication date Feb 2024DOI10.2175/193864718825159298Volume / Issue Content sourceUtility Management ConferenceWord count15