The Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources (GCDWR) provides potable water to a population in excess of 800,000 within an area of 438 square miles.
Through application of CAPCOMS software, Halcrow assisted GCDWR in developing an optimized solution to meet the objectives of the 2030 capital improvement plan (CIP) for the water distribution system. The CAPCOMS derived optimised CIP solution is estimated to result in a cost saving of 56% as compared with the requisite sum as budgeted for in the 2003 Master Plan for the Water and Wastewater Systems.
The GCDWR operates approximately 2989 miles of water mains, 11 distribution storage tanks and two water treatment plants - the 150 MGD Lanier Water Filtration Plant and the new 75 MGD Shoal Creek Filter Plant.
Main objectives for the analysis included:
- Delineating possible CIP components, including but not limited to mains, tanks, and pumps, that require solutions to resolve non-compliance issues for each scenario
- Screening CIP options using a risk and benefit approach with a calibrated hydraulic model of the system
- For each solution, determining the effectiveness in meeting the predefined standards for hydraulic design, levels of service, project constructability, and responding to public health, water quality, and environmental requirements and concerns.
- Develop a short-list of alternatives and use CAPCOMS and its built-in genetic algorithm process to select optimized alternative solutions and to develop a CIP schedule