Virginia Tech to Launch Water Infrastructure Database

On September 1st a new web portal created specifically for water and wastewater management will officially launch to fill the industry’s need for a comprehensive database on water infrastructure in the United States. Dubbed WATERiD, this project is funded by Virginia Tech and it is the brainchild of Sunil Sinha, a National Science Foundation Career Award recipient for his work in sustainable water infrastructure management systems. One of the biggest problems in water utility management is figuring out when to replace pipelines and equipment, before things break and cause serious problems. It’s estimated that at least 2 million miles of the nation’s infrastructure is nearing the end of its useful life, and at present there is no singular resource for utilities to consult when making a decision on when to make replacements. This is the primary need WATERiD is looking to address. By collecting various technical papers, case studies, and research data this knowledge base can minimize the loss of institutional memory that occurs when a senior operator in a location leaves. Over the past year Virginia Tech students and researchers have been busy visiting 87 different water and wastewater utilities around the country. So far they have compiled around 100 different case studies along with 300 technical descriptions and another 100 technology data sheets. All of this information will serve plant managers to make more informed decisions regarding their equipment and more efficiently manage their assets. Having a concentrated resource will especially benefit the smaller utilities that might otherwise be unable to gain such knowledge independently. A key difference between WATERiD and other online databases is that the individual users will not have editing capabilities, a la Wikipedia. Instead, the information will be maintained by Virginia Tech’s Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science’s Center of Excellence in Sustainable Water Infrastructure Management (VTICTASCESWIM???). Users are still highly encouraged to share their experiences, and WATERiD will be completely free to all users. Read Virginia Tech's announcement Visit the official WATERiD site