City works to create infrastructure map

By Carrie A. Mizell

A representative from the Florida Rural Water Association was in Trenton last week showing city officials how to utilize the latest technology to map out water and sewer lines within the city.

Dyana Stewart, Source Water Specialist for Florida Rural Water Association,
and Michael Perez, employee of City of Trenton.

Dyana Stewart of the Florida Rural Water Association trained city staff members Michael Perez and Taylor Brown to use a hand-held GPS device to create a map of the city’s water and sewer infrastructure. With a hand-held GPS and ground penetrating radar, Stewart, Perez and Brown took to the streets of Trenton covering everything west of US 129 and north of Lancaster Street on Tuesday and Wednesday. The group also covered all the properties on NE 11th and 12th Avenues in Pine Estates.
According to Trenton City Manager Taylor Brown, the GPS units are used to identify the exact locations of infrastructure features, such as fire hydrants, water meters, manhole covers, clean-outs, pipe valves, lift stations and even pot holes in a roadway.
“The project will take several months to complete, but will result in the ability to have a digital map of the entire water and sewer system and all its components,” Brown explained.
Once collected, all of the information currently being recorded by the GPS device will be downloaded into a GeoDatabase. The database will serve as an information storage location, from which the electronic map of the town’s water and sewer infrastructure will be created. All data fields within the database will be able to be manipulated as changes are made to the water and sewer infrastructure. This will allow city staff to identify and record areas of water lines that need replacement, thereby helping prioritize future improvements to the water system.