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R. G. Miller Engineers will soon begin work on providing a Geographic Information System for the Pecan Grove Municipal Utility District in Fort Bend County, serving as a sub-consultant to Odyssey Engineering Group, the District Engineer.

Pecan Grove MUD provides water and wastewater service for approximately 4,500 customers in the District, which is located east of FM 359 in the Extra Territorial Jurisdiction (ETJ) of Richmond, Texas. A large district, it is unusual in that it also includes a levee system.

Created in the 1970s by the Texas Water Commission (now the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, or TCEQ), the Pecan Grove District must contend with keeping track of aging infrastructure – as do many other districts in older residential developments.

Pecan Grove MUD’s infrastructure and facilities are operated by Environmental Development Partners – one of Houston’s premier utility operators.

Traditionally, operators use the original construction plans as their system of record, but that can be inefficient and inaccurate since paper plans can be misplaced or become out-of-date, creating a serious problem during an emergency.

“One of the first steps in addressing aging infrastructure is to establish an accurate database of the assets the district has,” said Duncan Flintoff, GIS Project Coordinator for RGME. “GIS becomes both the system of record and the system of engagement in the field.”

He adds that the database provides for easy tracking of infrastructure repair data on an easily accessible platform on mobile devices.

The Pecan Grove GIS project will include asset management for both waterline and sewer and storm management assets.

For more information on GIS technology from R. G. Miller Engineers, go to http://www.rgmiller.com/gis-services/ or contact Duncan Flintoff at dflintoff@rgmiller.com.