Asset Management

AWWA Policy Statement on Asset Management

AWWA promotes the importance, value, and effectiveness of utility asset management. When managing assets, utilities should adopt a proactive and sustainable approach, addressing the economic, social, public health, and environmental needs of the communities they serve.  This ensures value in service delivery today while preserving the ability to meet future needs. Managing assets requires a full life-cycle approach, from effective planning and design through optimized operation, maintenance, rehabilitation, replacement, and asset disposal.

Effective management includes both asset and non-asset focused solutions to meet stakeholder objectives. When the cost-effective performance of an asset cannot be assured, using prescribed maintenance and reasonable assumptions of the risk of failure, consideration should be given to rehabilitating or replacing the asset, or applying a non-asset focused solution.

Embedding asset management principles into the utility’s decision-making process promotes a culture of collaboration and helps develop long-term, continually improving, resilient, integrated water management strategies to achieve defined levels of service that are cost-effective, safe, and reliable at an acceptable level of risk.  Allocating appropriate resources and leveraging scalable, modern innovations enables a utility to operate within constraints while adhering to these principles.

Practices specified in this policy statement are consistent with all other pertinent AWWA policy statements.

Adopted by the Board of Directors June 15, 2003, and revised on January 21, 2007.  Revised by the Board of Directors January 20, 2013. Revised January 16, 2016. Revised April 19, 2019. Revised October 13, 2025.