A new Geographic Information System (GIS) app is improving Council’s knowledge of the water assets that lie below the ground throughout Napier. 

Napier City Council's Director of Infrastructure Services Jon Kingsford says many Napier residents will not need to think about Council water assets, which covers everything from wastewater pipes to the water tobys outside every property in the city until they have a problem with their water supply at home.

The new app will allow for quick location of asset information on properties in the future.

“Quickly and accurately locating assets beneath the surface and improving the quality of water asset information will benefit many people across Napier. If something goes wrong, they will want to know where their water toby valve is without delay.”

“Our water asset managers will also have more precise and reliable information to help with decision-making and management of our assets. Our field staff can use the app to prepare for any repair and maintenance work as efficiently as possible,” Kingsford said.

As some of the city's neighbourhoods were developed many decades ago and may not have been recorded in Council’s current asset register, the GIS app was developed by Council staff to make identifying and collating asset information quicker and easier.

"Historically, water asset information was updated using a paper-based system," he said. 

"Water teams can identify unregistered assets by looking at maps that show the existing water assets in Council’s asset register. If an asset is not showing on the map, a new asset can be created by dropping a pin on the map and entering information."

"For example, a toby valve would have its tap location and valve size entered. Or a boundary backflow device would have its unique serial number recorded. A picture says a thousand words, so the team is also encouraged to upload photographs." 

He says it will ultimately in a better service for Napier residents when they need water asset information about their property.

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