Small system maintenance management using GIS

It took only three months and less than $3,000 to develop this comprehensive maintenance management system. A geographic information system (GIS) was developed for maintenance operations at a small (6,104 customers) utility district. Characteristics unique to GIS applications, such as the accurate modeling of physical and environmental processes, data modeling and preparation, and the spatial nature of the data, were incorporated into the steps used to develop the system. The steps were problem identification, process modeling, data modeling, developing a data plan, cartographic modeling, data entry, and testing. These steps achieved computability—the transition from a real‐world problem to a computer application. The results give an accurate depiction of the water supply processes, including the hydraulic characteristics of the infrastructure and the service requirements. This low‐cost application was implemented rapidly and has the flexibility to create additional applications.