Utility Infrastructure Management – Water Main Breaks in Washington DC

On Water Online’s guest column, Eva Rippeteau posted a forward-thinking analysis of the ongoing problem with bursting water mains in the USA’s Capital City.  

She observes that recent flooding due to aging infrastructure in the older parts of the country is perhaps just the tip of a fast-approaching iceberg.

“The fact is that local governments and their utilities face an ongoing risk of disrupted water services with each winter that passes. And D.C.’s recent troubles show, even the best-prepared utilities are vulnerable.”, Rippeteau states in her article “Busted Pipes: D.C. Demonstrates The Rule, Not The Exception“.

She goes on to comment on the importance of maintaining existing infrastructure and how current budget allowances don’t even come close to the amount needed to do effectively do so.

She heartily advocates the use and implementation of ongoing asset management programs and gives tips on how the country could better their forward planning strategies for the management of water infrastructure.

“With all of our largest cities struggling to swim upstream of an issue that has nearly a century of momentum behind it, without public support – and the types of dynamic, forward-looking utility managers necessary to tackle such large challenges – the state of our water infrastructure is unlikely to change course“, she concludes.

Utility infrastructure management practices, as Eva notes in her article, provide a methodology for utility managers to move forward with the issues they face with aging infrastructure.

The problem of aging infrastructure is not just an issue in the USA, it is a worldwide issue.

Inframanage.com agrees with Eva’s analysis and encourages readers to continue to develop and use these practices to manage their infrastructure.

PHOTO CREDIT: DC-Conn-N Water Main Break by thisisbossi; United States Capitol by Jack Says Relax via Creative Commons License. The photos have been reduced to fit the website requirements.