Utility company Three Valleys Water is to replace their geographical information system (GIS) to improve the management of its underground network.

The firm supplies water to more than three million people in the Home Counties, and the system will allow remote engineers to access and record map-based data on laptops or PDAs.

Providing staff with this technology will enable Three Valleys to update and analyse field information faster and improve the efficiency all staff, says Ted Volpe, the firm’s IT operational assets systems manager.

‘All of our network of pipes and valves are managed by GIS. GIS is a computerised map of that network, and the new system will give us a more comprehensive overview of how what is underground relates to what is overground,’ he said.

‘If we then send a team out to work on a pipe they can find it faster, they know what kind of pipe and valve it is. It will be integral to improving efficiency.’

Rather than having two systems – one for managing network data and one for viewing it – Volpe says the company wants a single rationalised system with a central database that will also link to other systems such as finance and maintenance.

Three Valleys hopes to appoint a supplier to provide the system in a few months, and plans to install it in early 2008, pending financial approval.

The system will allow the utility to perform new functions.

‘It will be easier and more practical to produce schematics for our engineering department with the new system,’ said Volpe.

The true value of GIS emerges when it is integrated with other systems, says Mark Blowers, analyst at Butler Group.

‘Geographic information is very important to utilities because it helps them operate more efficiently and produces statistics that help analyse their business,’ he said.

Blowers says GIS technology is becoming much more widespread because of its integration capabilities with software such as business intelligence.

‘Utilities are changing the way they use these systems and the technology is only now starting to release its full value because of that,’ said Blowers.