Son La: Applying BIM for drainage and wastewater treatment

Successful pilot of BIM model in Son La city

Recently, Son La has successfully implemented the digital transformation in accordance with Resolution No. 17-NQ/TU dated August 31, 2021 of the Standing Committee of the Son La Provincial Party Committee on the digital transformation phase 2021-2025, with a vision towards 2030. Among them, the Son La city drainage and wastewater treatment system is an important urban technical infrastructure and environmental treatment facility of the province, belonging to the priority group for digital transformation and currently applying the BIM (Building Information Modeling) pilot model. Up to now, the project has established a Common Data Environment (CDE) on the BIM platform for the Son La city drainage and wastewater treatment system, contributing to the resolution of administrative procedures in construction investment projects of state management agencies in the province of Son La.

The Son La city drainage and wastewater treatment system project is invested with ODA funds the Federal Republic of Germany and the Swiss Confederation. Currently, the management and operation of the system are being expanded to collect wastewater, making a significant contribution to the city's environmental protection efforts. However, the newly invested system, with pipes running along roads, alleys, and underground, makes it difficult and complex to grasp the actual situation of the entire system. When incidents occur, it takes a lot of time and effort to identify the causes and come up with solutions. Therefore, it is necessary to study the application of BIM in the project management and operation of the Son La Provincial ODA Project Management Board, in order to timely manage the operation of the city's wastewater treatment system and facilitate administrative procedure reform in construction investment management in the future.

Testing operation of BIM model at Son La City wastewater treatment plant

In 2022, the Provincial People's Committee approved the Technology and Consulting Joint Stock Company (CIC) as the leading unit to implement the project "Application of information technology in building BIM models for the management of drainage and wastewater treatment projects in Son La city". Mr. Dao Manh Chien - Deputy Director of the OAD Project Management Board is the project leader with the goal of establishing a Common Data Environment (CDE) using BIM technology to manage documents through each stage; creating a collaborative environment among participating units and piloting the application of BIM in the management, operation, and maintenance of the Son La city drainage and wastewater treatment system.

CIC is the leading unit in implementing the project "Application of information technology in building BIM models for the management of drainage and wastewater treatment projects in Son La city".

Mr. Nguyen Hoang Ha, CEO of CIC Company, said: "BIM is a technology that can be applied to various types of projects and throughout the lifecycle of a project. For the current project in Son La, it is being applied to the management and operation of the wastewater treatment plant as well as the entire system of pumping stations and wastewater pipelines, helping the project management board have an overview of the entire plant system and pipeline system. At the same time, it facilitates smooth operation and provides clear and complete information for maintenance and repair work. On the Internet, BIM technology enables fast and accurate data access."

After the survey and evaluation process, Mr. Dao Manh Chien, the project leader, together with the research team, selected the operating unit to test the BIM model at the wastewater treatment plant under the management board of ODA projects and directly operated by the Urban Services and Environment Joint Stock Company in Son La. The plant covers a total area of 37,965m2 in Ban Tong, Chien Xom commune, Son La city, with the function of collecting and treating wastewater to ensure the environment for the city area.

Mr. Dao Manh Chien, Deputy Director of the OAD Project Management Board and the project leader, along with the staff and technicians at the plant, are checking the environmental monitoring indicators.

Establishing a Common Data Environment (CDESLa) on the BIM platform

The urban wastewater collection and treatment system in Son La city is invested in a modern separate drainage system (separate the rainwater and surface water drainage system), flowing naturally according to the terrain conditions and supported by 5 pumping stations. All wastewater is collected and brought to the wastewater treatment plant in Tong village, Chieng Xom commune for treatment using the biological method (AO), and the wastewater is cleaned according to the national technical standard QCVN 40:2011/BTNMT - Industrial wastewater technical standard of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. Up to now, the wastewater collection and treatment plant has a capacity of about 6,857 m³/day and night (peak capacity of 10,355 m³/day and night), meeting 100% of the urban wastewater treatment needs of Son La city. However, due to the sudden increase in wastewater flow during the rainy season, causing overload at some locations, it has been difficult for the operation and treatment of wastewater. To minimize the impact of wastewater on the environment and ensure the quality of treatment using biological technology, measures need to be taken to reduce the wastewater volume and improve the quality of waste to be treated.

The research group has established a Common Data Environment for Sustainable Design and Construction (CDESLa) on the BIM platform to manage design documents during operation and software development. The database is developed based on the integration of multiple languages such as HTML, CSS, Javascript, PHP, SQL, on the Cloud platform. It supports interaction with the 3D model as well as connected documents and related issues. Through the central control system (SCADA) the automatic server, it can monitor COD, TSS, PH, DO, NH4 indexes and the inflow and outflow of water. The operation department can easily control the activities of the wastewater treatment plant, 5 pumping stations, a network of pipelines 1, 2, 3 longer than 63km, and long-pressure pipes...

From research and evaluation, it can be seen that BIM technology, when implemented on the CDESLa common data environment, facilitates the quick and convenient submission, exchange, storage, and exploitation of design information. From here, administrative procedure reform in construction investment management becomes simpler and ensures absolute accuracy.

Mr. Dao Manh Chien - Deputy Director of the OAD Project Management Board, Head of the evaluation topic: "I have noticed that the initial application of BIM has achieved some initial effectiveness as follows: Firstly, it provides an overall view of the design documents for operation management, serving to visually and clearly grasp the system; Secondly, it detects design errors during the construction investment operation process; Thirdly, it provides comprehensive design information to address environmental incidents; Fourthly, it monitors and evaluates the environmental monitoring data as well as the operation of activities outside the site."

Mr. Dao Manh Chien - Deputy Director of the OAD Project Management Board, Head of the guidance topic: instructing the staff of the city's wastewater treatment plant to operate the BIM technology application software

Mr. Bui Xuan Binh, Director of the Son La City Wastewater Treatment Plant, said that in the past, officials and technicians used to spend a lot of time managing project documents because all the information and data were stored in physical files, notebooks, or regular Word and Excel files. Therefore, searching and retrieving information was not accurate and fast. With guidance CIC Company and the ODA Project Management Board, they were provided with login acs for the common database software CDE. This software is designed with an intuitive interface, easy to use, and high security to manage the system, operations, and documents, allowing people to search for documents by filtering files, ensuring accuracy in a short period of time.

Although applying BIM technology for project management has high automation and quick data updates, minimizing errors in construction information, there are still some limitations in applying BIM in the province. These include limited IT skills of the workforce, technology investment costs, software upgrades, and training time for the workforce.

To facilitate easy access and proficient use of the software, CIC Company has organized, guided, and provided training on information technology and software usage processes through both direct and indirect methods for staff and technicians in the factory. Additionally, they exchange and address any difficulties or challenges enered during the software usage.

After more than a year of implementing the BIM construction information model on the city's wastewater treatment plant, this technology has initially met the requirements for managing and operating the city's wastewater treatment system, serving as an important foundation for expanding the BIM model to other urban technical infrastructure projects in Son La province. When establishing a Common Data Environment (CDE) in Son La province, it will contribute to the state management of administrative procedures at level 4 and serve the electronic government model in the construction sector. It is also in line with the objectives and guiding principles of the Son La Provincial People's Committee regarding digital transformation in local economic and social development.

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