Forget 25-Year Master Plans: It's Time To Rethink Capital Planning For Pump And Lift Stations

In Part 2 of the Get Pumped Up series, explore the hidden flaw in traditional infrastructure planning: it’s too slow for today’s dynamic conditions. Most utilities still rely on 5–10 year (or longer) master plans—but pump and lift stations don’t wait a decade to start underperforming. Demand patterns shift, regulations evolve, and costs rise. Meanwhile, outdated equipment continues to drain budgets and erode system resilience.

Enter Living Capital Planning—a real-time, data-driven approach that links operational performance directly to design and capital decisions. By integrating SCADA data with tools like Autodesk Info360 and Transcend’s generative design platform, utilities can monitor pump efficiency, model better alternatives in minutes, and reprioritize investments based on actual need—not just long-term assumptions.

Design becomes a planning input, not a follow-up step. Feasibility, cost, and performance are all evaluated before a project hits the backlog, enabling faster, smarter decisions and reducing costly delays.

With operational data and rapid design tools at your fingertips, there’s no reason to wait six months—or six years—to fix what you already know is broken.