Manuel Velazquez, Senior Utility Operator, with Bryan Stewart standing behind him. Photos courtesy of Santa Margarita Water District.
As data becomes increasingly accessible, wastewater treatment facilities can analyze large amounts of information to identify patterns, trends, and correlations. This results in improved predictions and proactive decision-making. Such analyses may include optimizing treatment processes, forecasting equipment failures, or enhancing resource allocation. Having a staff member who can evaluate and assess this information is a significant asset for a district like Santa Margarita Water District (SMWD).
Bryan Stewart graduated from college in 2001 with a degree in accounting and spent years auditing and analyzing financial statements. In 2021, he learned about a job at SMWD that would allow him to apply his analytical skills in operations and further develop them into an exciting career move.
“Bryan has made a measurable impact across the District by contributing to various initiatives,” said Daniel Peterson, Regulatory and Logistics Manager at SMWD. “He specializes in complex financial, operational, and administrative analysis, focusing on wastewater-related data management and process optimization.”
Although Stewart did not seek an accounting degree to enter the wastewater sector, he recognizes the strong links between accounting and wastewater analysis. In his role as a wastewater management analyst, he analyzes and interprets data concerning wastewater treatment and disposal. Wastewater analysts collaborate with policymakers to develop and implement wastewater management strategies, providing critical data that informs key agency decisions.
SMWD encompasses eight distinct communities, including the cities of Mission Viejo and Rancho Santa Margarita, alongside the communities of Coto de Caza, Las Flores, Ladera Ranch, Rancho Mission Viejo, and Talega in San Clemente. Its collection system features 660 miles of piping and 21 lift stations. Any treated water that is not utilized for recycled urban irrigation—such as on sidewalks, golf courses, and highway sides, as well as for groundwater replenishment or aquifer replenishment—is released into the ocean.
“An important part of my job is to gather and organize data into a NASSCO (National Association of Sewer Service Companies) rating,” Stewart said. “I then submit it to a committee made up of SMWD’s lead personnel in collections and engineering, who identify the immediate risks that need to be repaired.”
Before Stewart joined SMWD, the District lacked staff members who could perform the analysis he conducts. One of the most time-consuming tasks he undertook upon arriving at SMWD was creating a GIS map that incorporated all the communities within the SMWD’s umbrella and integrating them into one cohesive map.
“When I started here, all of the GIS maps were different and caused an issue with the CCTV program. Staff had to manually type in all the information about the pipes and 20 different data points. The process included getting information from different grid books that were 200 pages and weighed 30 pounds,” he said. “It was all very old school.”
Stewart said his first step was to integrate the systems so the District could see the maps in the CCTV programming. This not only increased efficiency, but the data was now 100% accurate.
“The project took weeks of eight-hour days. There are a total of 17,500 manholes in the SMWD system, so that is a lot to cover,” he said.
Stewart is the only one who has this data at the District level, as licenses are expensive. However, he ensures that the GIS environment is shared with the entire organization, allowing everyone to access the information. The project was completed in 2023, and they are now able to incorporate the data into the SMWD’s master plan for the next fiscal year.
“Bryan worked with the GIS division to develop a dashboard to allow staff and management to better monitor inspection progress. Since then, Bryan has been the lead in investigating the inclusion of artificial intelligence models into the video inspection workflow,” Peterson said. “Additionally, Bryan has been the primary driver in improvements related to the District’s power management.”
Peterson stated that due to the hilly terrain of the District, annual power costs amount to more than $8 million in expenses.
For those interested in transitioning from collections to administrative data analysis, Stewart recommends obtaining a NASSCO certification and learning data programs, such as Microsoft Excel.
“One of the programs I use has 1,000 lines in Excel,” he said. “You will be filtering through a large amount of data.”
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