Case study: geographical information system (GIS) for a water utility company

This paper attempts to look at the practical implementation of a geographical information system (GIS) for a water utility company in a developing country. The aim is to exchange ideas and provide JBMSB's experience of actual implementation of a working GIS, starting from the choice of GIS, database structure, data capture, data integrity, and the follow up maintenance required to ensure a full working GIS that can be used as a tool for management. It is unfortunate that many GISs, after implementation, simply stop growing, with no further development or new applications being added to the system. Eventually the GIS can become a showpiece only, with an out of date database, and used by the company/department to boast "they also possess a GIS".