With improved infrastructure needed to support its booming economy, Jacksonville, Florida, combined its electric, water, and wastewater departments into one utility—known as JEA—to reduce operating costs and improve customer service. To help JEA manage these complex utilities systems—serving more than 335,000 electric, 170,000 water, and 127,000 sewer customers—CDM designed a comprehensive geographic information system (GIS). With all utility information accessible in a single database, the GIS provides improved operations management, a service safeguard, and an effective tool for planning capital improvements.
A Unique System
CDM custom-built the GIS to meet JEA's complex data management needs, merging the electric utility's existing database with the new water and sewer system information to create a single, integrated system. Designed as a rule-based system, the GIS incorporates an "infrastructure intelligence" of rules and procedures that prevents the insertion of any incongruent components. Linking the GIS facilities model with the CDM-developed hydraulic model also allows JEA to test growth scenarios and make informed capacity planning and capital improvement decisions. CDM also integrated the city's maintenance database with the GIS.
A Quality Program For Quality Service
JEA's innovative, integrated GIS helps the city better serve the community now and for the future by:
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Assessing the need and priority for infrastructure improvements to support new or expanding industries and development.
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Effectively managing utility operations and maintenance activities to isolate and/or avert potential infrastructure problems before they occur.
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Coordinating all underground and overhead infrastructure construction projects to minimize disruption to the community.