Westmoreland water authority GIS system recognized

A geographic information system that locates and monitors the status of the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County’s infrastructure was recognized with a national award.

“There is so much more we can do (with the GIS), that we could not do five, six years ago,” said Thomas Ceraso, the authority’s assistant manager, who noted the GIS replaces the former system, where authority workers would have to rely on paper maps to find the location of waterlines.

The authority is one of about 110 organizations, government agencies and utilities in the nation recognized this week with a Special Achievement in GIS Award for its use of the system. The Environmental Systems Research Institute of West Redlands, Calif., which supplies GIS software and web-based software, sponsored the award.

Using GIS makes the operations much more efficient, Ceraso said.

Crews restoring water service from a break or installing waterlines have access to the digitized GIS while in the field through iPads and computerized tablets, Ceraso said.

When there are waterline breaks, the crews can use the GIS to determine the how many customers would be impacted by shutting off water service, said Matt Junker, authority spokesman.

Through PA One Call, they can log where digging occurs near waterlines, Junker said.

“They can see the latest information,” said Matt Junker, authority spokesman.

The digitizing initiative started about five years ago with a needs assessment, Ceraso said. The pace of the work quickened with the hiring of Anthony Pologruto to lead the program.

The authority budgeted about $5 million for the GIS project, but not all of that money has been spent, Junker said.