Jan 22 - MWH Soft Debuts CapPlan for InfoWater

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MWH Soft Debuts CapPlan for InfoWater

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·	MWH Software website
·	Civil Engineering Software - list by TenLinks.com
·	Ultimate Civil Engineering Directory - by TenLinks.com

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BROOMFIELD, CO, Jan 21, 2009 - MWH Soft, a leading global provider of environmental and water resources applications software, today announced the upcoming worldwide release of its highly anticipated CapPlan for InfoWater, the next generation of GIS-centric decision support software for water infrastructure management and risk assessment.

Many drinking water distribution systems throughout the world are reaching or have exceeded their design lives. These systems now urgently require extensive upgrading through rehabilitation, repair and/or replacement. As aging water distribution systems gradually deteriorate, they become increasingly vulnerable to structural failures and are plagued by excessive leaks, drops in carrying capacity, poor water quality, and service disruptions. When water infrastructure fails due to age, it is commonly an unexpected and catastrophic failure resulting in large water losses, flooding, and local area damage.

Because of the potential public health and safety implications, water utilities are forced to meet the challenges of keeping their infrastructures up to date and efficient. This can require large expenditures that often exceed available funds. Making alterations and improvements that are effective and economical demands good investment planning decisions based on sound analysis procedures.

The forward-looking MWH Soft CapPlan changes the way water utilities plan the relative phasing of necessary system improvements by allowing users to effectively assess both the probability and consequence of failure for each asset. Probability of failure (“how likely is it that a pipe will fail?”) is determined based on the pipe’s physical condition (e.g., structural integrity, age, material, roughness factor, leakage/break/defect history) and location (proximity to a seismic fault or construction zone), as well as its hydraulic performance characteristics (e.g., head loss, pressure, velocity).

Consequence of failure ranking (“if a pipe does fail, how will it impact my system?”) draws on data such as water outages (e.g., schools, hospitals, critical care facilities); low- and no-water conditions; reduced fire protection capabilities; flooding, including structural damage and impacts of chlorinated water in natural waterways; degradation of water quality; and other impacts. Assets that affect system operation will normally rate high on the consequence scale, while assets in poor condition will have a high probability of failure.

CapPlan calculates the risk of each asset as the product of probability times the consequence of failure. The greatest attention can then be given to water mains at highest risk. With this evaluation in hand, water utilities can create fully prioritized short- and long-term water main rehabilitation, replacement, maintenance and management plans and develop sound, cost-effective capital programs to support them.

The majority of water infrastructure assets (pipelines) are buried and pressurized, and there is no easy way to assess their condition as they age. For example, in the same distribution system there may be two 12-inch diameter Ductile Iron pipes that were both installed in 1945; but one is pristine and the other is on the verge of failure. The failure of one pipe may only cause a water outage to eight residences, while failure of the other pipe may result in a water outage to a critical care facility and low to no water pressure at 24 residences. In addition, many utilities simply replace aged pipes with the same diameter pipe without considering future system demands. CapPlan gives them the ability to evaluate the needs of existing and future scenarios against existing infrastructure to optimize improvements by considering phasing issues.

Powerful, comprehensive and engineer-friendly, CapPlan for InfoWater reflects MWH Soft’s time-honored practice of continually adding value to its world-class software and bringing critical new infrastructure design and management capabilities to the water industry. The program’s intuitive interface, easy-to-use functionality and rich analytical, graphing and reporting capabilities save utilities considerable resources. With minimal effort, users can quickly pinpoint assets with the greatest risk of hydraulic and water quality deficiencies or structural failure, identify the best possible improvement alternatives for optimal system performance, prioritize improvements based on available budget, and realize significant cost savings.

“CapPlan for InfoWater is being built in close collaboration with our engineering communities to ensure that their expectations and requirements are met,” said Paul F. Boulos, Ph.D, President and COO of MWH Soft. “This groundbreaking asset management solution is the latest example of our company’s steadfast commitment to innovation and responsiveness to our customers’ needs. It delivers the advanced functionality water professionals need to help strengthen and optimize their hydraulic infrastructures and keep them operating efficiently well into the future. It also sustains MWH Soft’s record for being first — a distinction that is important only because it extends our customers’ competitive advantage. CapPlan will influence water asset management for years to come.”

Pricing and Availability

CapPlan for InfoWater will be available by subscription worldwide in April 2009. Prices start at $20,000. For the latest information on the MWH Soft Subscription Program, including availability and purchase requirements contact local MWH Soft Certified Representative.

About MWH Soft

MWH Soft is a leading global provider of technical and infrastructure software and professional solutions designed to meet the technological needs of utilities, government industries, and engineering organizations worldwide. Its clients include major water and wastewater utilities on every continent, the majority of the largest North American cities, and ENR top design firms. The multifaceted, state-of-the-art CAD, GIS and Internet enabled products created by MWH Soft empower thousands of engineers across the globe to competitively plan, manage, design, protect, maintain and operate highly efficient and reliable infrastructure systems.

For more information, visit www.mwhsoft.com.

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