Capacity Management Operations and Maintenance (CMOM)

Introduction

A Capacity, Management, Operation and Maintenance (CMOM) program is required to be developed and implemented as a part of the City’s current Waste Water Treatment Operating Permits issued by the State of Missouri for each of the City’s Waste Water Treatment Facilities (WWTF).

CMOM is an integrated and adaptive planning approach to the management of collection systems. CMOM provides a comprehensive framework to the collection system owner to plan and execute work proactively and effectively. The core goal embraced through the implementation of CMOM is to cost-effectively protect public health and the environment.

Fundamental CMOM Programs Elements

The framework for CMOM implementation in the City of Saint Charles is based upon eight fundamental elements. Each element must be assessed, communicated, and addressed in the implementation of CMOM for collection system management. The City’s eight fundamental CMOM elements are:

Legal Authority – Provides and clearly delineates the agency’s authority to implement necessary collection system management and control activities to protect infrastructure and facilities from Sanitary Sewer Overflow (SSO) and excessive flows.

• The City currently has ordinances in place to meet the current requirements.

Financial Capacity – Provides sustainable and equitable wastewater rate structures and accounting practices to fund needed programs (including staffing, training, equipment, and materials); assess and track costs; and support budget development and long term financial planning.

Periodic Review – Ongoing performance assessment and adjustment is an essential and necessary feature of CMOM. This ongoing review and adaptation allows CMOM to stay effective in the face of continually changing system conditions.

Sewer System Inspection, Maintenance and Repair/Rehab Program (including flow monitoring) – Provides real-time understanding of the collection system’s condition and performance, implements proactive maintenance activities, allows resource prioritization and scheduling, and identifies necessary rehabilitation projects.

• The City has programs in place that are currently being documented and modified as they are integrated into the asset management system (ESRI).

Source Control (including industrial pretreatment; fats oils and grease; and private laterals) – Provides the policies and programs needed to control what comes into the collection system, protects collection system assets from blockage and corrosion, prevents SSOs, eliminates sources of rainfall derived infiltration and inflow (RDII) in the collection system.

• The City has a program in place that is managed by Woodard and Curran (W&C). Due to a recent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) review, this program is expected to have some updates within the next year.

Capacity Assessment, Evaluation, and Assurance – Provides data management, assessment and modeling to provide an accurate understanding of collection system responses under the full range of projected operating conditions to identify current and future capacity limitations, and to support infrastructure planning efforts.

• The City has the Mississippi trunk mains modeled.  The Missouri trunk mains modeling is planned as a Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) project and additional system modeling will be ongoing as funds and staff are available.

Emergency Response and Public Notification – SSO emergency response plans are required under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit and state and federal rules. These plans are also necessary to protect the public health. Such plans should include protocols and identify resource alternatives necessary to quickly and effectively respond to, control, report, and mitigate an SSO event.

• The City has a draft Sewer Overflow Response Plan (SORP) that is to be updated yearly as part of the Sanitary Sewer Management Plan (SSMP).

Long-term Asset Management and Planning – Long-term asset management is a component of CMOM that organizes management of capital infrastructure system components to minimize the total costs (both capital and annual operations and maintenance costs) while ensuring system performance requirements are met. In the case of CMOM, the system performance requirements must satisfy the regulatory requirements at all times and meet customer service expectations.

• Planning is ongoing in the City to evaluate future system requirements and adapt asset management as necessary.

These fundamental elements form the basis of the City’s Sanitary Sewer Management Plan.