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Europe and the United Kingdom (UK) are at the forefront of Asset Management forwater utilities. This is primarily due to the fact of privatization of water utilities in the UK. TheUK is currently in the third generation of the Asset Management procedures and has well definedmethods for identifying and managing assets. In the United Kingdom (UK), large scale AssetManagement has been practiced for approximately 20 years when computer modeling and pipeinspection techniques allowed the current performance and impact of potential improvements towater or sewerage networks to be evaluated for whole systems. In the United States (US), it is a different story. There are a number of forms that AssetManagement takes in the US including SSES Programs, Infiltration / Reduction Programs,Capital Improvement Programs and CMOM, flow monitoring, SCADA Systems, etc., but veryfew public utility infrastructure owners have a true Asset Management Program in place.Furthermore, Risk Assessment as used in the UK is now only beginning to be understood andused in the US. The Risk Assessment in the US is done in terms of Criticality of the systemcomponents and the effects it will have on the users and public in general should the componentof the system go off line. In the US, Risk Assessment is generally not used for investmentdecisions when it comes to Capital Improvement Programs, but is beginning to be used in theOperations and Maintenance of the systems. This paper reviews Asset Management practicesin the United States and in the UK, and compares the two sets of practices. The review alsoidentifies key business and technical practices, how Asset Management is perceived by the ownerson both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, and will identify lessons learned from the UK for the NorthAmerican utility infrastructure owners and engineers. Includes 21 references, tables, figures.

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Edition: Vol. - No. Published: 06/01/2006 Number of Pages: 17File Size: 1 file , 290 KB