Credits, debits, new equipment, old equipment, repairs, upgrades...it's a lot to keep straight.
The Environmental Protection Agency has created a tool to help water systems keep all aspects of asset management straight. It's the Check Up Program for Small Systems (CUPSS).
This edition of eBulletin will give you a basic idea of what CUPSS is, how it works and how it can help your water system.
Serving up CUPSS
The CUPSS system was designed to bring together all aspects of asset management into one package that can be used by water system officials and decision makers. The EPA consulted several water-related officials in making the software, from state workers to water utility officials.
CUPSS is a software package that has a downloadable, detailed user manual to help water systems use the software to best help them. The CUPSS program also will include assistance through certified CUPSS trainers. Your local RCAP affiliate, for example, may have certified CUPSS trainers. You can check by getting more information on your local RCAP office through RCAP's Web site, listed below.
CUPSS is recommended for very small water systems, those with 1,000 connections or fewer, or 3,300 or fewer customers. However, the EPA says that larger systems would benefit from the software as well.
The software runs on a Windows-based operating system, from Windows 95 right up to Vista. You need a 1ghz processor, 512MB of memory on the computer and 256MB of space on the hard drive. The easiest way to find out if you have these is to right click on the My Computer icon and clicking on Properties. The General tab will tell you your processor speed and how much memory you have. To find out if you have the hard drive space, open My Computer and right-click on your hard drive, labeled “C:.” It will show you the amount of free and used space.
The best part about CUPSS may be the price — nothing. The software is free on CD, which can be ordered on the EPA site. Those with high-speed Internet connections may prefer to download the software. The software must be registered to be used. Those who want to download the software must register before downloading. Those who get the software on CD can register via the software.
Additional Resources
CUPPS Basic Information
http://www.epa.gov/safewater/cupss/basicinformation.html [1]
CUPPS Software
http://www.epa.gov/safewater/cupss/software.html [2]
Ready...Set...
Once the software is installed, the toughest part begins. Rather, the longest part. For the software to work properly, it has to have a lot of information. It’s also important that the information be as detailed and as accurate as possible, to ensure the best result from the software. The time adding that information will be time well invested, however. Once finished, the software will be able to help with maintenance schedules, bills and other time-consuming tasks.
The software starts by asking for operation and maintenance schedules, including daily, weekly, monthly and yearly tasks. For example, how often do you inspect well heads, or review emergency response plans, or calibrate the chemical pumps? The software lets you set a specific day to do these things, and allows you to easily change the date and frequency if you wish.
You must also choose your CUPSS team, which will consist not only of the water system's officials but also of the clerks, community members, elected officials and even representatives of neighboring districts. The idea is to have a team made up of those who can not only help make decisions about your water system but who also can help implement them.
The software doesn’t just ask for facts and figures. It also helps you create a schematic of your system and an inventory of its equipment. Small icons can be linked to show pumps, distribution lines, chemical systems, wells and other parts of your system and how they work together. The schematic can be created along with an inventory list. This is a handy way to show what parts you have, what parts you need and what parts you might have in surplus.
When creating the inventory, the software asks for the condition and age of each item. Is the item repaired often? Is it in need of repair or replacement? It will even let you print out your own inventory sheets so you can check on equipment in person and fill in the needed information. You also can add the cost and maintenance schedule for each inventory item, as well as who makes or supplies each part.
OK, so that’s a lot of information to put into the software. But once everything is in the program, you’ll see why it’s worth all the time and effort.
Seeing Is Believing
Once all the information is in the software, it really shows off its usefulness in many colorful ways.
As soon as you log into the software, you’ll see a calendar with all those tasks you added during the setup process. The calendar shows past-due tasks in red and pending ones in yellow.
The software also provides an organized inventory list, and it can pop up a colorful graphic called the Asset Risk Matrix. This matrix is a colorful graph with small squares representing the different assets. The squares dot large blocks of color showing areas of low, medium and high risk of failure. Placing your cursor over the square shows the asset that square represents. The matrix provides a quick look at how healthy your system is and how much needs to be fixed immediately.
The software also helps with treatment assignments by allowing you to keep track of chemicals, changes in measurements and even parts and labor costs. It even will allow you to print a standard work order form.
Some of the biggest help this software provides is with finances. The CUPSS program helps keep track of finances using the expenditures and revenues entered during setup. It also lets you add or edit finances throughout the year, in case prices rise or fall or new items need to be added. These finances cover everything from equipment replacement and chemicals to salaries and office supplies.
Once again, the visual aspect of this software comes into play. Using the financial information added, the software can provide a quick simple graph showing budget revenues and expenses for past years and the current year. You’ll be able to see instantly how well the money coming in is keeping up with the money going out.
Sure, you can look at a bunch of numbers now and see where you stand. But let’s face it, it’s often a lot easier to know a situation when you have a good, visual image of it. That’s what this software provides, a way for you to see exactly where you stand using easy-to-read charts and tools.
A Check Up and a Plan
Knowing where you are is a good thing. Knowing where you will be a few years from now is even better.
That’s what CUPSS provides using its Check Up and CUPSS Plan features.
The Financial Check Up Report tool lets you project your financial status for the next 10 years, either by using standard figures for inflation and annual growth or by projecting those figures on your own. The software will also take into account the expected equipment replacement and other capital improvements.
Once all the information is added, the software calculates your potential financial health and shows you in a color-coded chart whether you’ll be financially stable or in the red using the current projections. The Ratios window shows financial health for operations, sales, debts and expenses using green (healthy), yellow (caution) and red (serious concerns) dots. The Financial Projection Summary will chart your expected finances over the next decade, including bars showing whether a surplus or deficit is expected for each year. The tools can help you avoid financial troubles down the road by planning for added revenue when needed.
Finally, all that information, from the start of the setup to the end of the check up, can be compiled and used in the My CUPSS Plan. This tool will use the information to help you create an asset management plan to keep your water system healthy for years.
With the CUPSS Plan, users can set goals for the water system, from stemming the number of emergency repairs annually to reviewing and adjusting rates. The plan includes a mission statement, a level of service agreement and system growth projections. You can create plans, or “strategies,” for operations and maintenance, capital improvements and finances. All of this information is then contained in one report, the My CUPSS plan, which can be reviewed to determine just how well the system is doing in meeting its future goals.
If any of this is confusing, the software offers training videos teaching different aspects of asset management using the CUPSS system. More training is available online at the EPA CUPSS site, as well as a list of local and national training sessions.
So there you have it, a basic rundown of the CUPSS system. It may seem like a lot to do, but tools like this can really help small systems get and stay on track to maintain financial health and achieve the most important goal of all – keeping the customers happy.
Additional Resources
CUPSS additional training modules
http://www.epa.gov/cupss/training.html [3]