What does CMOM stand for?
CMOM stands for capacity, management, operations, and maintenance. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) developed CMOM parameters as an initiative to reduce and eventually eliminate the discharge of sewage from sanitary sewers, which is referred to across the industry as sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs).
Currently, the EPA says there are a minimum of 40,000 SSOs annually. These overflows can not only damage property and hinder public health by backing up into basements, but they can also negatively affect water quality by contaminating water bodies, such as lakes, streams, oceans, and reservoirs. So you can see the importance of reducing their occurrence, and a sound CMOM program at utility and public works departments helps do just that.
Why would a utility implement a CMOM program?
There are a few reasons a utility may implement a CMOM program. A utility may take a proactive step to address its SSO challenges. Or the EPA may mandate that a utility perform a CMOM assessment because its SSOs are violating the Clean Water Act. Also, in some regions of the country, the regional EPA is starting to require utilities to have sanitary sewer management plans-especially those regions near sensitive water bodies.
What is involved in a CMOM assessment?
A CMOM assessment allows a utility to take a snapshot of its system and how effectively it is operating and maintaining that system, or look at where they are today in relation to SSOs. It helps you start to see what, overall, is driving your SSOs and then develop a long-term strategy for preventing them.
The first step in a CMOM program is completing a regulatory checklist or assessment. This comprehensive document asks such questions as:
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Are there documents that include design criteria and standard construction details?
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Are wastewater treatment plant and operations and maintenance (O&M) staff involved in the design review process?
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Is an organizational chart available that shows the overall personnel structure for the utility, including O&M staff?
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Does the utility have a capital improvement plan that provides for system repairs and replacements on a prioritized basis?
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Does the utility have a formal job knowledge, skills, and abilities training program?
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Does the utility have a management information system in place for tracking maintenance activities?
How would an assessment benefit a utility when communicating with community stakeholders?
A CMOM assessment is a great way for a utility to grade its system and put it into a tangible document available for stakeholder view. So if I'm a regulator or a ratepayer, I can look at this checklist and see the ins and outs of O&M for the utility; if there is good safety program in place; if the operators are well-trained; or if there is a response plan for SSOs, should they happen.
Once you have completed the assessment, what do you do with it?
A CMOM assessment is a starting point, a tool to use when managing and operating the system that is causing overflows. We want to understand the cause of a utility's overflows so they can then be remedied.
For example, if a utility regularly performs maintenance, but is still having overflows, we want to know what else is going on to cause them. In this case, the current maintenance practices are not addressing the real problem. It could be that the overflows are being caused by vandals or people are putting grease into the system. You start to get to the source of the flows so initiatives can be developed that eliminate that source.
Or another example may be that a utility is great at televising its system and taking a lot of photos, but is that information being shared with people who can fix faults within the system? In essence, a CMOM asset management program starts to move beyond the initial checklist with corrective actions, a long-term strategy, and open dialogue throughout the utility.
Can you explain further what you mean by open dialogue?
Sure. The people operating the systems are the experts. We pull the information from them and draw on their expertise to understand how they are doing and why they aren't achieving their goals. CMOM crosses an entire organization, from engineering and information technology to operators and human resources. If you have a gap in your system, it is more than likely going to take more than one department to help fill that gap. Listening and working together makes a CMOM program a success.
William F. Adams, management consultant, has 20 years of management experience. He has served as a deputy director of public works, public works superintendent, and utility manager for municipal governments in California and Texas. He has expertise in water and sewer rehabilitation planning, condition assessment, labor relations, and strategic business planning for public works.