Implementing a Geographic Information System for Water & Sewerage Company - Research Paper Example

Implementing a Geographic Information System for Water & Sewerage Company in Nairobi of the Abstract This paper presents the design and implementation of a Geographic Information System (GIS) for the Water and Sewerage Company for the City of Nairobi, Kenya. The main objective is the design and implementation of a GIS application involving spatial and attributes data for use in the City of Nairobi. This is to help to efficiently manage their utility distribution systems and replace the existing system. This will act as a learning point for other water and sewerage companies in other counties. Implementing a Geographic Information System for Water & Sewerage Company in Nairobi City a) Description of Study Area organization Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya is the most important economic centers in Eastern and Central parts of Africa (Preston, 2013). Nairobi city plays a significant role both politically, socially and economically. Unfortunately the city plan for this town has not been updated since 1973 hindering effective distribution of water to the city residents. Nairobi with a population of about 4.3 million faces urban problems such as perennial traffic congestion, expansion of slum area, and environment deterioration (Preston, 2013). These have affected the effective management and distribution of essential services like water supply and sewerage. The Water & Sewer Company was the focus of this research and system design. According to the county government office, Nairobi Water & Sewerage Company serves over 2 million customers in the county. There are more than 1000 miles of water mains distributed throughout the county (Preston, 2013). Since the main purposes of the Water Company are provision of clean, pure drinking water to residents, maintain water distribution system and add new connections lines, a GIS application system is necessary for effectiveness of the water company. County governments have a responsibility of providing its citizens clean water, sewer, and electricity among others. The system employed depends on the area to be covered and its population. The governments in Africa and especially Kenya still manage county utility systems by paper maps in hard copy which lacks the functionality of a database (Preston, 2013). Since GIS incorporates database technology, it gives county governments ability to effectively manage its service provision (Greene & Pick, 2011). This technology provides the utility organizations “with endless amounts of information about their assets, whether it is spatial or non-spatial” (Krivoruchko, 2011, p.28). GIS also help organizations cut down on time and cost of maintenance. Such organizations can employ one system to effective management of utilities. b) Methodology The GIS application will only requires the linking of the existing infrastructure inventory database with a GIS. The design includes replacing the water distribution hardcopy paper maps with GIS. A new database for water distribution was developed from a hard copy map and data available. c) Data Collection Data was got from the available records and from city plans. These were used as a guide to capture data. Most of these were available from the Water and Sewerage Company. This data and information is of spatial relationships hence easily got from locational information. Data collection began by doing need assessment where a number of functions and processes to achieve were identified as follows; Water distribution mapping, break/leakages reporting, Staff routines, Maintenance inventory and a Web mapping application. Table 1 shows estimated average monthly operations for the Water and Sewerage Company and Table 2 gives the number of features within the county. Table 1: Estimated Average Monthly Operations ITEM NUMBER Customer served 2,000,000 Number of Service Calls 40,000 Number of Leaks 50,000 New Meter added 42,000 Meter repairs 35,000 Number of Utility locate request 5,000 Average Number of pipe added in feet 5000 Table 2: Number of Features Within the County ITEM NUMBER Water line in Miles 15,000 Number of Meters 22,000 Number of Hydrants 16,000 Number of Valves 37,000 Number of Pump Stations 90 Number of Tanks 20 The data mapping got is not based on a coordinate system. The attribute information is in the form of labels and sketches. Water mains, valves and hydrant drawings were mapped through use of field sketches. d) Geodatabase Design Geodatabase design began with determining the feature classes as required (Chang, 2010). The feature dataset figure and attribute field tables were constructed. Planimetric data like streets, roads, buildings, etc was obtained from Nairobi County planning department. Aerial photography available was used to obtain spatial reference. Figure 1 and figure 2, shows the layout of feature classes dataset and entity relationship diagram for the water system. Figure 1: Feature Dataset Design Figure 2: ER Diagram In the following section ate Table 3 and Table 4 which are part of several tables used in the design to describe the feature classes and attributes (Chang, 2010). Figure 3 Main Feature Class Design: Feature Class: Mains Description: The network of pipes in which the water supply is delivered. Data Source: County of Nairobi Field Description Objectid DateCreate Material Diameter Globalid Shape Comment Shape.len Internal feature number Date of creation Material of the pipe Diameter (inches) size of pipe Universal unique identifier for data replication Internal geometry type Field user comments about pipe Length of pipe segment Figure 4: Pump Station Feature Class Design Feature Class: Pump Stations Description: used to pump water from different locations. Data Source: County of Nairobi Field Description Objectid Location Elevation Pressure_zone Pump_Count Average_flow Peak_flow Globalid North East Shape Internal feature number General location description of pump station Elevation of pump station Pressure zone of station Number of pumps at station Average flow at station Peak flow at station Universal unique identifier for data Northcoordinate location East coordinate location Internal geometry type e) Spatial analysis For Spatial attribute analysis, regression analysis employed shows that the quantity of water used in the County decreases as the water price increases (Fotheringham & Rogerson, 2013). f) Benefits and impacts of the GIS application The GIS application will provide Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company with the ability to easily locate, query, and analyze many different datasets in real time. Maintenance staff will be able to access the data anytime from handheld devices hence increasing efficiency in service delivery. From Michael Porter’s Five Forces framework, it is found that the strongest competitive force determine the profitability of any organization. These include; i) Threat of entry Any new entrants always bring new capacity to an industry gaining the market share and resources. As a benefit, the introduction of the Water Management GIS system brings in a new capacity expanding the market size. ii) Powerful suppliers & buyers Suppliers influence prices in the industry (Grundy, 2006). Water and Sewerage Company in Nairobi County will be able to overcome such influence from rivals through use of the GIS system. iii) Threat of Substitute Services As trends shift in favor of more effective friendly approach to service delivery in water industry, the demand for GIS based management systems in service industry will be higher (Porter, 2008). Since the water company will be having the GIS application, threat of substitute services will be least of its concern. iv) Rivalry among Existing Competitors Organizations all over the world tend to re-position for marketplace relevance and competitiveness (Grundy, 2006). The competition is usually on introducing new products or services. Most organization are not only keen on new products or services but also on how to sustain the services (Porter, 2008). References Chang, K. T. (2010). Introduction to geographic information systems. New York: McGraw-Hill. Fotheringham, S., & Rogerson, P. (Eds.). (2013). Spatial analysis and GIS. CRC Press. Greene, R. P., & Pick, J. B. (2011). Exploring the urban community: A GIS approach. Pearson Prentice Hall. Grundy, T. (2006). Rethinking and reinventing Michael Porters five forces model. Strategic Change, 15(5), 213-229. Krivoruchko, K. (2011). Spatial statistical data analysis for GIS users. Redlands, CA, USA: Esri Press. Magretta, J. (2012). Understanding Michael Porter: The essential guide to competition and strategy. Harvard Porter, M. E. (2008). The five competitive forces that shape strategy. Harvard business review, 86(1), 25-40. Preston, V. I. (2013). Factors Influencing Choice of Rental Houses Among Middle Class Residents of Nairobi County Kenya (Doctoral dissertation). Read More