AWWA IMTECH57883

Recently city staff in Olathe put together a multi-disciplined team to create a rating system for water distribution systems. The team devised a 1-5 point scoring system similar to the sanitary sewer condition index. The scale is as follows: 1 - replacement candidate; 2 - poor; 3 - good; 4 - very good; and 5 - like new. The goal of creating a Pipe Condition Index (PCI) is to identify candidate pipes for replacement, and give managers a quantifiable number for rating the distribution system. The goal for the City of Olathe is to have an overall PCI that exceeds 3.5 (between good and very good). The criteria that staff created for rating pipes includes: the year the pipe was installed; the fire flow capability of the pipe; pipe materials; number of main break repairs per 500 feet; and observed corrosion.