When the South Farmingdale Water District sought to enhance their existing water supply and distribution system management program, they turned to H2M to create a GIS to meet their needs. And when they decided that they would need on-the-go access to their data, they requested a mobile GIS solution.
The District’s new ArcGIS-based map contains over 40 layers, including road right-of-ways, street names, water mains, valves, fire hydrants, tax parcels, water plant sites, buildings, boundary lines, and land surface contours. Over 1,000 valve sketches were scanned and hyperlinked to the valve layer, providing the District with quick access to vital information in an emergency situation, such as a water main break. Updates to the GIS are able to be made as the distribution system changes and newer data becomes available.
H2M also developed a new mobile GIS system using tablet computers for the District. Setting up a secure ArcGIS.com cloud-based web map, the maps can be viewed on Apple iPads and other tablet computers. The free ArcGIS mobile app provides the same capabilities of their existing desktop GIS, such as the ability to identify features’ attributes, switch basemaps, measure lengths and areas, and access valve sketches and record maps quickly and effortlessly in the office and out in the field. The iPads also provide the ability to collect additional GIS data and photos, leveraging the tablet’s internal GPS to zoom directly to a specific location.
