CASE STUDY
A need for GIS: Mapping water mains and servicing a growing demand for Aquamain
A need for GIS: Mapping water mains and servicing a growing demand for Aquamain
We often take for granted the amount of Health and Safety checks that have been carried out by the time we move into a new house with gas, electricity and water all connected when we switch on the TV or turn on the tap. One of the companies behind that work and adhering carefully to these protocols is Aquamain who work closely with developers in the South West and Midlands.
Aquamain provide new water mains and service pipe installations on new build developer schemes. They then provide the as laid plans to the developer. Developers are required to provide as laid drawings to the water company so that the records are in place to find the pipes should there be any problem, such as a leak, in the future.
Finding ways to save time and money whilst maintaining a high level service can be a challenge in an ever competitive industry. Locating the pipes first time saves time, manpower and money so the team at Aquamain realised that they needed to integrate an effective GIS solution into their workflow in order to survey laid water mains on housing development sites.
We recommended and completed a demonstration of Mobile Mapper 50 with GeoGrafi-M. We also recommended training on the new software and hardware in order to maximise the benefits from their new purchase. GIS Manager Nick Murray said: “This proved an excellent tool to map the as laid water mains on the development sites. The training went very well and helped us get to grips with the new equipment. The software MGISS installed was very well thought out, it was tailored to our needs and completely fool proof to eliminate human error.”
The GIS solution has been a success with all at Aquamain who also purchased an annual technical support package from us and receive unlimited tech support on their new hardware and software. “I found the customer service and aftercare from MGISS excellent! Although we do not yet have a statistic for how much time and money have saved, as the time taken to upgrade our process has been longer than initially expected, we will certainly save both time and money after a very short time. The difference to the quality and accuracy of our drawings and the ability to demonstrate the quality of our work to our customers is invaluable.”