Z September 9

– 11, 2014 | Hampton, VA

KATHERINE NIXON CITY OF VIRGINIA BEACH, DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC UTILITIES

SUPRIYA MURTHY ARCADIS US INC. 

# HOW TO LEVERAGE TECHNOLOGY TO EFFECTIVELY MEASURE & MONITOR 

# YOUR UTILITY’S REGULATORY COMPLIANCEZ 

# Background

to verify information, start tracking and enforcing regulationsZ 

# Case Study

City of Virginia Beach, Public Utilities

3 

# 1 Regulations impacting Water Utilities



# 2 Backflow Prevention Program



# 3 Performance Monitoring Gaps & Pain Points



# 4 Technology enabled Transformation



# 5 Continuous ImprovementZ 

# Case Study

4 

# 2 Backflow Prevention Program



# 4 Technology enabled Transformation



# 1 Regulations impacting Water Utilities 

# 3 Performance Monitoring Gaps


# 5 Continuous ImprovementZ 

# Clean Water Act

Limits What We Put in Bodies of Water by Regulating

ü Pollutant Discharge:

1. Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs)

2. Pretreatment Streamlining

ü National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permits

ü Sewage Sludge ( Biosolids )

ü Total Maximum Load of Pollutants in Water

ü Analytical Methods

ü Cooling Water Intakes

ü Industrial Wastewater DischargesZ 

# Safe Drinking Water Act

Treats and Provides Safe Drinking Water by Regulating

ü Chemical Contaminants

1. Arsenic

2. Lead & Copper

3. Radionuclides


## ü Microbial Contaminants

1. Filter Backwash Recycling

2. Groundwater

3. Surface Water

4. Disinfection Byproducts

5. Total ColiformZ 

# Closer to home

What drives regulation at City of Virginia Beach?

CITY ORDINANCEZ 

# Case Study

8 

# 2 Backflow Prevention Program



# 4 Technology enabled Transformation



# 1 Regulations impacting Water Utilities 

# 3 Performance Monitoring Gaps


# 5 Continuous ImprovementZ 

## WHAT IS A BACKFLOW PREVENTION PROGRAM?

A mutual effort between water purveyors, property owners and certified testers

to 

# educate the public

about cross

-

connection control and backflow prevention requirements. These requirements ensure

that established guidelines are followed to 

# protect the public drinking water supply.Z 

### Scope : Surveying, inspecting,& tracking the testing of all Backflow Prevention devices and assemblies within the Public Utilities water distribution systems Purpose : to protect the health and welfare of the citizens of Virginia Beach by ensuring that the City's drinking water distribution system is protected from harmful substances Requirement : condition for the issuance of water system operator’s license 

# Backflow Prevention Program

City of Virginia Beach, Public UtilitiesZ 

# What is Backflow Prevention?

Backflow is the undesirable reversal of the flow of water & other substances from cross

connection(such as used water, industrial fluids, gasses, or any substance other than the intended potable water) into the distribution pipes of the potable water system. Cross

- connection is a direct or indirect connection between a potable water distribution system and any private system (such as a residential plumbing system)Z 

# Roles & Responsibilities

Permits & Inspections

Permit required inspections & Re

- inspections

Test Reports for brand new installations 

# Public Utilities

Annual Testing, Monitoring of Test Results & Follow

- up

Cross connection investigations

System & Record Maintenance & Compliance Reporting

Customer Service & Technical Resource for Testers PUBLIC UTILITIES RESPONSIBILITY: Implement & maintain a cross connection control and backflow prevention program to prevent contamination of public water supply systemZ 

# Public Utilities Organization

Stephen Motley, P.E.

Regulatory Compliance Manager

Surveys

External Contractor

Devices & Cross Connection Notification Inspections

Paul Leonard David Paolucci
Codes Inspector Codes Inspector Database Management

Jason Truitt Brandy Spicer
Engineering Tech Engineering Tech City/Schools/Military

Jim Hester Bob Williams
Special Projects Special Projects Katherine Nixon, P.E.

Backflow Prevention ManagerZ 

# Impact of failure for City

Public Health Compromised Regulatory Compliance Issues & Exposure to Litigation

Negative Impact on Customer Confidence & Loss of Public Support

Fines, NOVs and Consent OrdersZ 

# Case Study

15 

# 2 Backflow Prevention Program



# 4 Technology enabled Transformation



# 1 Regulations impacting Water Utilities 

# 3 Performance Monitoring Gaps 

# 5 Continuous ImprovementZ

Metrics Reported Customer Database 

# Process & Reporting

– How it was

Manual Data EntryZ 

# Process & Reporting

– Gaps Identified

Business need : a customizable & integrated solution for tracking, monitoring and proactive management of regulatory compliance Manual processes with aggregation predominantly in desk drawer databases

Reactive or Lagging Indicators

Limited focus on process improvement

Discrete & siloed data sources and systems, limited integration or business intelligenceZ

18 

# 2 Backflow Prevention Program



# 4 Technology enabled Transformation



# 1 Regulations impacting Water Utilities 

# 3 Performance Monitoring Gaps 

# 5 Continuous Improvement 

# Case StudyZ 

# Process & Reporting

– How it is now

ü Streamlined process for data integration

ü Tracking of monthly and annual trends through Compliance Dashboard

ü Comparison against targets, identify repeat offenders, report stop

- light metrics if metric is approaching or is non

- compliant

.

ü Standard reports to authorized business

users enable preventive & corrective action

ü Simple and interactive forms on enterprise reporting platform allow automatic updates and aggregation into reporting dashboard for Overdue Device Letter TrackingZ 

### ü Enterprise Reporting

– Centralized, Scalable, Secure

ü Elimination of Manual Data Entry

ü Logic enabled for key process controls

ü Automation of the Overdue Tracking Tool

ü Reduced duplicate entry, lesser errors

ü Multiple users/viewers

ü Personalized user rights

ü Address Comparisons with Customer Database

ü Data integration & analytics Integrated Enterprise Reporting 

# Technology enabled TransformationZ 

# Compliance Monitoring Metrics

ENABLING UTILITY MANAGERS TO GET AHEAD OF COMPLIANCE ISSUES!Z 

# Lessons Learned

Design & Requirements 1. Modeling the design is critical

- visualize what you want your end product to be before development 2. Define business rules and publish on dashboard for all users 

## Project Delivery 1. Enterprise IT Integration is nuanced 2. Testing plan is very important

– go through each test scenario more than once before going into production



## External Factors 1. Know your vendor ‘s limitations (Seller’s Market) 2. Know your regulation 

### Change & Communication Management 1. Data reporting & process standardization 2. Training to get team to a level of comfort with new technologyZ 

### Define Measure Analyze Improve Control

Observe the

Processes Measure Performance Over Time 1 2 3 4 5

Map the Processes

Gather and Measure Data Cause & Effect Analysis

Generate Solution Ideas

Validate Solution Ideas

Formalize Opportunities and Benefits Sustain Improvements Gained

Look for Continuous Improvement Opportunities Review Background Information

Form Core Team

Interview Stakeholders

Develop Initial F indings Implement Quick Wins

Pilot Larger Improvements

Document Improvements

Full Scale Implementation

Performance Evaluation Implementation 

# Enabling Performance EvaluationZ 

# Case Study

24 

# 2 Backflow Prevention Program



# 4 Technology enabled Transformation



# 1 Regulations impacting Water Utilities 

# 3 Performance Monitoring Gaps 

# 5 Continuous ImprovementZ 

### Define Measure Analyze Improve Control

Observe the

Processes Measure Performance Over Time 1 2 3 4 5

Map the Processes

Gather and Measure Data Cause & Effect Analysis

Generate Solution Ideas

Validate Solution Ideas

Formalize Opportunities and Benefits Sustain Improvements Gained

Look for Continuous Improvement Opportunities Review Background Information

Form Core Team

Interview Stakeholders

Develop Initial F indings Implement Quick Wins

Pilot Larger Improvements

Document Improvements

Full Scale Implementation

Performance Evaluation Implementation 

# Targeting Continuous ImprovementZ 

# Thank you! SUPRIYA MURTHY, CMA, ENV SP
ARCADIS US INC

. Supriya.murthy@Arcadis

- us.com (757) 419

- 3978 KATHERINE NIXON, P.E.
CITY OF VIRGINIA BEACH, DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC UTILITIES knixon@vbgov.com (757) 385

- 8860