Applicability of Reliability-Centered Maintenance in the Water Industry

Many water utilities are seeking to improve reliability, availability, and utilization of their assets while also looking to control or reduce maintenance costs as they grapple with issues such as aging assets, more stringent environmental rules, a graying workforce, and tight budgets. In addition, many utilities are poised to make significant investments in new infrastructure to replace assets reaching the end of their life-cycle. Utilities also need to cater to increased user bases or adhere to stricter compliance requirements. The report lays out clear evidence of the significant successes that can be achieved by properly structured RCM programs. RCM experts also make clear that the RCM process can achieve even more striking results when applied to new capital investments where plant design can be optimized for reliability and maintainability and the maintenance function is able to hit the ground running with an optimized maintenance program for the assets on day one.