iGPI, the National Initiative for Infrastructure Asset Management of urban water services will have its kick-off meeting at LNEC (Lisbon) on April 10th, 10:00-5:00pm. More details and a full program at www.iniciativagpi.org
iGPI, the National Initiative for Infrastructure Asset Management of urban water services will have its kick-off meeting at LNEC (Lisbon) on April 10th, 10:00-5:00pm. More details and a full program at www.iniciativagpi.org
An Aware-P course on infrastructure asset management, with a strong emphasis on the Aware-P planning software, will be given at Belo Horizonte (Brazil),March 15-16. The event is promoted by LNEC and ABES, with support from IWA, and will be hosted by COPASA. Find out more in Training.
The soon-to-be-released first public beta version of the Aware-P software was previewed in a special session during the 7th IWA Workshop in Yokohama Japan on Sustainability of Infrastructure toward Customer Awareness and Satisfaction in Water Utilities (2-3 February 2012). The software was presented by Helena Alegre in a plenary session, and generated much interested among the aproximately 200 delegates present in the room.
A first open meeting presenting iGPI, the National Initiative for Infrastructure Asset Management of urban water services took place at LNEC (Lisbon) on October 7th, 2:30-4:00pm. Over 100 technical managers, asset managers, planners and consultants turned up to hear about and discuss LNEC's proposed collective partnership programme to assist water utilities in developing their asset management plans.
This capacity-building formula has been successfully used by LNEC in the last decade, where a number of utilities receive training and technical guidance under a common, tiered project framework with bi- or tri-monthly result presentation. The networking effect is usually a major plus, and cost-sharing among participating utilities helps make this type of programme accessible to a wider audience. The programme is promoted by a consortium of LNEC with IST and Addition (all 3 are Aware-P partners), and is expected to start in April 2012 with up to 15 utilities, for a total duration of 17 months.
The software was shown in a live demonstration highlighting:
> To find out more, download the Aware-P software presentation at LESAM 2011 (pdf, 6Mb) <
Also announced was the availability of the software from the end of 2011, on the upcoming baseform.org open-source platform.
The Aware team will be on LESAM 2011 presenting some of the outputs of this project.
Here is a sneak peek of what will be shown by the software team on Thursday.
As a by-product of a wider open-source effort, this code will be managed as open-source. As well as the library, a launchpad is now released for download, allowing you to see this new library in action:
Your email (optional): download
This software effort was only feasible given the outstanding work done at USEPA, namely by Dr. Lewis Rossman whom we strongly thank for Epanet itself and for his availability and time in discussing this port.
The software makes available on a leading-edge technology platform advanced tools for visualizing, diagnosing and evaluating a water supply, wastewater or stormwater system, through a portfolio of performance, risk and cost models, enabling the user to compare a system with any number of alternative solutions or proposed changes using standardized methods that facilitate choice and decision-making. The software is web-based, open-source and will be freely distributed. This will be a great opportunity for the development team to discuss the concepts that drove the design of the planning software and of the open-source platform that was built to support its development. Look out for us in Session 7 (09:00-11:00am), Thursday Sep.29.
LNEC would like to discuss and listen to prospective participants' needs and expectations, in order to put together a useful programme that may maximise user experience and effective knowledge transfer. The programme is expected to start during the first half of 2012. This exploratory meeting is open to all interested parties, and will take place at LNEC (Lisbon), October 7, 2:30-4:00pm. Enquiries through João Paulo Leitão at 218 443 773 or
The AWARE-P project will be represented at LESAM through several oral and poster presentations (see the abstracts at the downloads page), including methods, case study reports, business case applications, and software. More details about LESAM's programme at http://www.lesam2011.org/
A significant part of the project is the continued development of methods and tools that continue the AWARE-P effort, namely through TRUST's Work Area 5. This will lead to improvement and extension of the current tools and software, and will thus grant continued investment in the AWARE-P effort. More information about TRUST at www.trust-i.net
Active participation and positive feedback from delegates have contributed to significant improvement of the usability of the methodologies presented, as well as paving the way to further initiatives under AWARE-P.
These handbooks, available for free download, will assist water utilities in defining objectives, performing diagnoses, setting up priorities, comparing alternatives and selecting improvement solutions. Both manuals are based on the AWARE-P integrated IAM methodology, which aims to develop and implement in water utilities a structured procedure for strategic infrastructures asset management. They are targeted at raising awareness, changing current practice and improving the technical know-how of the utilities' human resources. As a strategic sector of great social and economic relevance, it is vital that it is managed in a more rational and efficient way than at present. Without an advanced asset management, it will not be feasible to assure adequate levels of the service in the future, particularly with regard to reliable high quality drinking water supply, use of natural resources and prevention of pollution and flooding of urban environments.
The handbooks are freely available from the ERSAR website (www.ersar.pt) or by using the direct links below:
Alegre, H., Covas, D. (2010). Infrastructure Asset Management of Water Services. Guia Técnico 16, ERSAR Série Guias Técnicos, Lisboa. ISBN 978‐989‐8360‐04‐5 (in Portuguese).
Almeida, M.C., Cardoso, M.A. (2010). Infrastructure Asset Management of Wastewater and Stormwater Services. Guia Técnico 17, ERSAR Série Guias Técnicos, Lisboa. ISBN 978‐989‐8360‐05‐2 (in Portuguese).
The first day of the 4-day training course is simultaneously an open introductory seminar and the first module of the technical course. The remaining 3 days combine lectures with case studies and hands-on groupwork for an in-depth review of IAM techniques.The courses are based on the best-practise manuals as well as on the methodologies developed during the AWARE-P project. Participants may enroll for the full course, or for the seminar only. The full set of course materials can be found here.
The courses are taught in Portuguese, and will be held at the following locations/ dates:
Lisbon: Seminar, Jan 19; Course, Jan 19-20 and 27-28
Faro: Seminar, Feb 01; Course, Feb 01-02 and 08-09
Évora: Seminar, Feb 03; Course, Feb 03-04 and 10-11
Coimbra: Seminar, Mar 22; Course, Mar 22-23 and 29-30
Porto: Seminar, Mar 24; Course, Mar 24-25 and Mar 31-Apr 01
Please refer to the program and leaflet (both in Portuguese) for details.
