AEC TECH NEWS: DC Water selects InfoWorks ICM for integrated water management

Broomfield, Colo. — The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water) selected InfoWorks ICM, an integrated catchment modeling solution, to support its comprehensive integrated water management plan. By taking advantage of InfoWorks ICM’s 1D and 2D modeling capabilities and predictive analytics, DC Water will be better positioned to optimize its sewer system capital planning sustainability and resiliency, strengthen local flood protection, and maximize value for customers, according to Innovyze.

DC Water provides drinking water and wastewater collection and treatment for a population of more than 600,000 residents, 500,000 employees and 17.8 million annual visitors in the District of Columbia. DC Water also treats wastewater for a population of 1.6 million in Montgomery and Prince George counties in Maryland, and Fairfax and Loudoun counties in Virginia. The Authority operates the world’s largest advanced wastewater treatment plant, with a capacity of 384 million gallons per day and a peak daily capacity of more than a billion gallons. Its sewer system comprises 1,900 miles of sanitary and combined sewers, 22 flow metering stations and nine offsite wastewater pumping stations. The DC Water service area covers approximately 725 square miles.

DC Water has received scores of prestigious industry awards, and Standard and Poor’s Investors Service (S&P) has recently upgraded its credit rating to AAA for senior lien revenue bonds and AA+ for subordinate lien revenue bonds — the highest rating available by a rating agency.

“InfoWorks ICM is a critical component of our comprehensive Sewer Program Management,” said Getachew Melsew, P.E., DC Water Planning Branch Manager in the Department of Engineering & Technical Services. “It will help us accurately model our very large and complex sewer system; effectively optimize its performance, reliability and sustainability at maximum savings; extend its service life; and better serve our customers.”

A hallmark of InfoWorks ICM is its dynamic integration of one-dimensional hydrodynamic simulation of flows in rivers, open channels, and pipe networks with two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulation of surface flooding in the urban environment and river floodplain. The software provides a solution for simultaneously modeling belowground and aboveground elements of catchments to accurately represent all flow paths and improve understanding of processes occurring in the holistic environment.

The software also takes into account interactions of natural and man-made environments and effectively simulates the water quality impact of polluting runoff and effluent from urban areas. Such capabilities enhance wastewater utilities’ ability to predict overflows; support cost-effective drainage design and management; develop online urban flooding forecasts; conceive and evaluate sound and reliable urban catchment strategies such as storm sewer separation, active real-time control, and provision of adequate additional storage; and improve the operation of any drainage system.

InfoWorks ICM facilitates development of cost-effective, innovative solutions to engineering challenges as well as a complete understanding of the processes involved. Multiple simulations can be scheduled across a pool of workstations with results returned to a single location, making for highly effective use of computing resources.

“The Innovyze family of smart network modeling and management solutions continues to be the standard for the world’s largest and most prominent water and wastewater utilities,” said Paul F. Boulos, Ph.D., BCEEM, Hon.D.WRE, Dist.D.NE, Dist.M.ASCE, NAE, President, COO and Chief Innovation Officer of Innovyze. “DC Water manages a very large and complex sewer system, and we are proud that this leading Authority has selected our powerful smart water modeling tools as the best alternative for helping them meet their business challenges. InfoWorks ICM gives users the complete and powerful toolset they need to make fast, reliable management and operational decisions while maximizing profitability. DC Water is especially well-equipped to make full use of these advantages, and our company is proud to contribute to its success.”