Water Infrastructure Assessment

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) manages an Asset Inventory Assessment (AIA) Grant program to encourage water and wastewater utilities to become more viable and more initiative-taking in the management and financing of their systems. Grants are limited to $150,000 from the Wastewater Reserve or the Drinking Water Reserve and may be used over a period of three years. A local match is required based on Local Government Unit indicators, such as percent population change and median household income, compared with the state benchmarks. Awarded grant funds may be used for asset inventory, condition assessment of critical assets, or components of critical assets.
In September 2021, SGWASA applied for and ultimately received approval for an AIA grant in the amount of $150,000 for use in the Water Distribution System. The AIA grant was funded from state ARPA money; thus, no local funding match is required. SGWASA worked with McGill Associates, SGWASA’s contracted consulting engineering firm to complete the application for submittal to NCDEQ for consideration and ultimately approval for an AIA Grant. SGWASA also worked with McGill Associates to develop a scope of services, which was submitted to NCDEQ for review in September 2022. McGill Associates has provided a task order to SGWASA to provide the services as submitted to NCDEQ. The scope of work in the AIA task includes the following:
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Water System Inventory Updates
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Water Plan Assessment and Master Planning
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Water Distribution System Analysis (hydraulic modeling)
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Water Audit
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Asset Management Plan and Updated CIP
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Updated Work Order System Recommendations
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Final Report