Water & Wastewater Asia November/December 2022

NEWS
SOFTWARE ASSET FOR WATER
INVESTMENT PLANNING LAUNCHES
The latest version of Probit’s asset
investment manager (AIM) software aims
to help water companies in England and
Wales save time and cost in planning
works to optimise geographical synergies.
AIM4 also makes web service interfacing
and more localised analysis available to
water companies and other organisations
managing large asset bases.
AIM4 is said to have set a precedent for
analysing water and wastewater assets
together. Historically, water companies
that manage both water and wastewater
infrastructure were unable to do so, as
software with the capacity to process such
vast numbers of assets was not available.
This meant work stream management
teams were not working collaboratively and
modelling was siloed.
Increasing demand for cost efficiencies
in investment programmes means asset
management challenges are being given
greater strategic importance and becoming
more complex. Ageing infrastructure,
climate change, increasing regulation, and a
growing population can all impact on asset
life.
IMPROVED FUNCTIONALITY
Reflecting on the advances of AIM4, Philip
Jonkergouw, managing director at Probit,
said: “The biggest improvements have
been to functionality, optimisation set-up
capability, and adaptability. AIM4’s greatest
strength lies in its ability to respond to the
unknown and develop accordingly.
“AIM4 has a high level of adaptability and
flexibility when clients are facing new
requirements, especially during water
utility price reviews or asset management
modelling transitions. As a result, it can
now be used to answer more and more
complicated questions for clients.”
Using the AIM software, asset intensive
organisations in water and other sectors
can model the complete lifecycle of assets,
anticipating changes and how they will
impact on services. This results in better
business decision-making that helps make
assets more resilient and reduces service
disruption and the risk of regulatory fines.
AIM4 also delivers improvements in
software functionality, such as the ability
to analyse risk per region and per asset
base. This allows users to examine factors
such as planning constraints, along with
the associated risks of not commencing
work at specific points in the future, at a
granular level.
In addition, AIM4 introduces the option of
web services, meaning AIM is no longer a
standalone piece of software with limited
client interaction. Third party systems
can now connect directly to AIM to enter,
extract, and link up data, creating an allround
tool.
AMP7 PLANNING
The regulatory asset management
period 2020-2025, AMP7, requires water
companies in England and Wales to
calculate investment needs and provide
evidence on expenditure over a five-year
period. By allowing asset managers to
explicitly model what happens to assets
under various conditions, certain questions
can be asked such as how assets will
deteriorate with how much risk and the
associated costs due to failures in the
network.
Reflecting on the growth of the AIM
software, Jonkergouw said: “Initially, AIM
was used for underground linear assets
such as sewer and water pipes, water
mains and trunk mains. Then, clients
wanted to do more types of modelling to
Probit’s asset investment manager (AIM) software is
helping water companies in England and Wales save
time and cost in planning works
include above-ground assets, such as
wastewater treatment plants and pump
stations.
“Now it can be used to synchronise works
across the whole water and wastewater
asset base, and potentially with other
sectors too. This is a perfect example of
the adaptability and flexibility of the AIM
software to meet new client requirements
and we hope to continue these strong
working relationships with AIM4 and
beyond.”
FUTURE OF AIM
AIM software also delivers digital
solutions and asset management across
other infrastructure intensive sectors
including power and transportation. The
next step is to bring other utilities into
the cross-sector optimisation work. For
example, synchronising gas works to
be done at the same location and at the
same time as planned roadworks.
“There has been ambition for this in the
past,” said Jonkergouw, “but until now
the tools, technology and processing
power were not available nor did the
sectors have the datasets needed. Now
that asset management streams have
the potential to come together in a single
optimisation investment framework in
AIM, this could start to drive cross-sector
collaboration and trials.”
12 WATER & WASTEWATER ASIA | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2022