Issue link: https://resources.esri.ca/i/1185876
Understanding the Utility Network: A Guide for Water Utilities APRIL 2019 4 Understanding the Utility Network: A Guide for Water Utilities Executive Summary Water utilities today face a myriad of challenges ranging from increasing production demands, water shortages, aging infrastructure, and financing capital projects. In addition, utilities must also keep up with fast-paced changes in technology and information security. To help address these challenges, Esri has developed next generation data structures and tools delivered via the ArcGIS ® Utility Network Management extension to ArcGIS Enterprise, available at version 10.6 and higher. The utility network leverages ArcGIS Enterprise to create a seamless Web GIS. This system enables the sharing of your network across the entire organization, providing an authoritative view of your assets to everyone that needs it. The utility network delivers advanced asset modeling capabilities, a modern web GIS architecture, and analysis tools that provide unprecedented levels of information gathering for better operational awareness and decision-making. The utility network also serves as a centralized system of record that can be accessed by everyone at the utility on any device at any time. This results in increased efficiencies in daily operations, planning projects, and responding to emergencies. The utility network can also be integrated with other business systems such as work order management and SCADA for a fully automated operational view in real time. The utility network enables utilities to model the location of assets, including the modeling of internal configurations of complex assemblies such as pump houses, meter pits, and valve assemblies. The flow of resources through these complex assemblies is accounted for during network analysis, yet assets can also be hidden in map visualizations to declutter the operational view. Assets that control the flow of commodities, such as valves, can be modeled to reflect the directional flow of those commodities through pipes and depict what is happening in real time. The utility network is designed to allow for new levels of specification in analysis such as identifying areas of water loss or determining valves to close in the event of a water main break. Assets and customers affected by outages can also be identified. Subnetwork management enables isolation of subsets in the network based on common attributes such as pressure. This drives additional analysis capabilities and visualizations of the network. Network diagrams can be created from the utility network that provide a schematic view of network connections. These diagrams deliver a clear visualization of connectivity and relationships between features in the network that is not always apparent in a traditional map view.