Collier County Utility Network Modernization

Modernizing Water and Sewer Asset Management

Collier County, Florida, partnered with Woolpert to upgrade its utility GIS from Esri’s legacy Geometric Network to the modern, high-performance Esri Utility Network. This initiative improved workflows, enhanced data integrity, and empowered county staff with advanced analytical tools for real-time network decision-making. This transition represents more than a technical upgrade — it introduces a rules-driven governance engine that strengthens data integrity and long-term reliability. With the new network in place, Collier County’s water and sewer systems are now supported by a scalable framework built to evolve with their Esri GIS and Trimble EAMS environments.

Client

Collier County

Location

Collier County, Florida, United States

Devices and fittings

242,573

Miles of pipe

2,925 miles

Service area

264 square miles

Customers

~85,000

Project Approach

The 16-week engagement followed an iterative, collaborative approach in which both technical models and county workflows matured together. The project addressed planning, development cycles, deployment, and final acceptance for both water and sewer utility networks. Key activities included:

  1. Planning and preparations: Stakeholder alignment, kickoff, and training for a strong technical foundation and shared project vision.
  2. Water utility network development: One of two parallel workstreams, this effort centered on cyclical data review, schema refinement, migration, and validation to meet operational needs.
  3. Sewer utility network development: Developed simultaneously with the water network, this effort focused on data integrity, accurate system modeling, and operational consistency.
  4. Deployment and hands-on support: Final refinements, production deployment, and guided support for tracing, subnetwork management, and QA/QC.

A Stronger GIS for Collier County

Through this modernization effort, Collier County now has:

  • A production-ready utility network environment with improved performance and dataset reliability.
  • Streamlined editing and operational workflows.
  • Robust tools for real-time analysis and decision support.
  • Field crews able to run utility network traces on a tablet with the same performance as office‑based operations.
  • Digital‑twin readiness supported by a modern geospatial foundation.