It is a well-known adage that ‘success breeds success,’ and this is definitely the case at Northern Ireland Water (NI Water).  Over the course of several years, the organisation had built several mobile solutions for its fieldworkers using Esri’s geographic information system (GIS) technology, ArcGIS.  These apps were not only beneficial to the business but also popular with staff, and demand for more mobile solutions soon began to grow beyond everyone’s original expectations.  “Colleagues were seeing the value of using ArcGIS apps in the field and asking us for more!” recalls Aidan McCann, Asset Data Manager at NI Water.

Significant efficiency improvements 
The ArcGIS apps for fieldworkers are delivering significant improvements in operational efficiency.  In the new Water Rehabilitation workflow, for instance, hundreds of hours of effort have been removed annually as a result of the switch from paper-based to digital data capture.  “ArcGIS has sped up the whole process from the installation of new pipes to the recording of the as-built assets,” McCann says.  “It has gone from taking months to validate and receive As Constructed drawings to just a couple of weeks.”  

Cost savings across the business 
Cost savings are hard to quantify, but the project team is confident that the time savings are translating into substantial cost efficiencies for the business.  The Ingress and Infiltration app, for example, has dramatically improved the detection of tidal sea water ingress into the sewerage network.  The business has halted ingress that was previously undetected and, as a result, significantly reduced energy usage at several wastewater pumping stations.

Ease-of-use for staff and contractors
ArcGIS apps are very easy for staff and contractors to use, which has contributed to their rapid adoption throughout the business.  ArcGIS Survey123 forms have been designed with pre-populated fields and drop down boxes making them simple to complete.  ArcGIS Field Maps apps are similarly intuitive to use, enabling people to find hidden and remote assets, like sensors on rivers, without wasting time.  

Effective collaboration within dispersed teams
Many of NI Water’s ArcGIS mobile apps have been configured to allow other team members to see asset changes or progress updates straight away.  The ArcGIS solution for Ingress and Infiltration is a good example of this, as Micheal Coyle, Ingress and Infiltration Project Manager at NI Water, explains.  “The new Ingress and Infiltration platform allows field staff and contractors to capture network data in real-time and automatically inform analysts and managers, to identify trends or raise follow-on work,” he says.

Better quality data, securely backed up
Through the use of ArcGIS mobile apps, NI Water can collect better quality asset data, alongside photos and videos, and verify existing asset data in the field, all of which is improving the accuracy of the Corporate Asset Register.  What is more, all the data collected in the field is securely backed up.  “Recovering this data could take many days of additional fieldwork and therefore cost thousands,” notes Murphy.  “Our back-up process gives us confidence that our valuable asset data is safe.”