The Drinking Water regulator has required water companies to develop a risk based approach for developing appropriate processes to underpin distribution operational strategies and provide the necessary links to The Common Framework for Capital Maintenance Planning.

RPS Water were appointed to project manage the delivery of the Distribution Operation & Maintenance Strategies (DOMS) for one such water company. The project had to ensure that business processes were in place to support the assessment by the water company of its future operation and maintenance needs for incorporation into its business planning cycle.

The key objectives for DOMS were as follows:

• To identify the activities necessary to improve water quality where it is not satisfactory and to quantify them;
• To identify the risks to drinking water quality in the distribution system, and to quantify their likelihood and consequence by reference to water quality standards and internal operating criteria;
• To identify the activities necessary to safeguard water quality on a continuing basis where it is already satisfactory, and to quantify them; and
• To ensure that procedures are in place to implement these activities so as to maintain water quality at acceptable levels on a continuing basis into the future, and to inform the process of funding these activities.