Kaarina water supply plant received a practical maintenance programme

The day-to-day operations of water utilities include the management of diverse infrastructure assets. The Kaarina water supply company decided to develop its documentation methods in order to make network maintenance more systematic. A long-term maintenance programme was drawn up together.

The water supply department of the City of Kaarina is responsible for the domestic and wastewater network in its area. A new water supply manager started at the plant in 2021 and a network engineer in 2023, and at the same time the development of maintenance operations began. The biggest challenge was documentation.

“Information on the condition of the networks accumulates every day through everyday activities, but it should also be stored in one place for everyone to access,” says Water Supply Manager Kerttu Tirronen about the starting situation. Kaarina does not want to make decisions on renovations based solely on memories and guesswork. “The condition of our assets determines how reliable a service provider we are, which is why we need to have a clear idea of what needs to be done in different parts of the network at any given time.”

Conversational workshops clarified the goals

The Kaarina water supply company commissioned Sweco’s experts to create an asset management plan, which serves as both a practical maintenance programme and a strategic financial management tool. The definition of goals began in Teams workshops, where experts did not give ready-made answers, but walked alongside the customer.

“Creating an asset management plan is always a growth journey where our job is to ask the right questions and help the customer find the most suitable solutions for their plant,” says Jaana Pulkkinen, Sweco’s asset management specialist in water supply.

Tirronen liked the conversational workshops. “We were able to talk about issues extensively around different topics and make observations, while Sweco’s experts sparred us, provided peer support and shared experiences from other water utilities.”

In knowledge-based management, everything starts with documentation

After the workshops, Sweco’s experts defined an asset management path for the water supply plant, which includes not only the objectives, but also concrete maintenance measures and their schedule, responsible persons and monitoring. “We also wrote down the prerequisites required for the plan to proceed all the way to the next stage,” Pulkkinen says.

With the help of the maintenance programme, the water supply plant can move to systematic maintenance, where operative and strategic management pull together in the same direction. In Tirrose’s opinion, all profitable operations start with documentation, which helps to do the right things in the right place at the right time.

“In the future, we will be able to compile a better list of sites that need repair, so we know more clearly what is coming and we don’t rush here and there.”

An extensive data bank also helps to pass on tacit knowledge related to the water supply network from generation to generation. “The extensive experience of the staff can now be documented, which makes it easier not only to change batons but also to change batons, for example, when people retire,” Pulkkinen adds.

Wastewater network pain point analysis assistance

After the maintenance work action plan, data analyses of the pain points in the wastewater network have been carried out for the water supply company. The biggest challenge is the management of stormwater that is not part of the network. Pulkkinen is impressed by the exemplary attitude of the water supply company.

“Kaarina is truly committed to developing asset management. This is not a marathon, but rather an ultrarun. It takes courage to face problems and tackle them, even if it takes time.”

Next, the Kaarina water supply plant will acquire a new maintenance application for its cable map program, in which all maintenance information from the network will be documented. Tirronen is ready to turn to Sweco’s consultants in the future as well.

Photo: City of Kaarina, Aaron Hannula