Asset management has garnered considerable attention in the public works arena inrecent years. The following paper will present to the reader a brief definitionof asset management as it relates to municipal infrastructure and specifically,water distribution systems. The reader will be presented with how theGovernmental Accounting Standards Board Statement No. 34 will affect public worksofficials and the infrastructure they manage. Six key questions will be presentedregarding asset management with suggestions from the author on how to gather theinformation necessary to answer those questions. The author will present waysthat a municipality can determine the actual condition of its water distributionsystem, by field testing, and the benefits of that testing to public worksofficials. The paper addresses ways that a municipality can determine the actualcondition of its water infrastructure assets, specifically the elements of thedistribution system, by field testing. Regular and systematic field testing offacilities will yield important information for all aspects of the assetevaluation and management process. Use of these data by computer software such ashydraulic models and Geographic Information System (GIS) programs is alsodiscussed. By gaining an increasing knowledge of actual infrastructure conditionsthe asset manager will have a better ability to construct a management plan forthe future, including where to spend money on maintenance or new investment tosustain or improve these conditions.
