Issue #5: From Risk Ranking to Action
Risk Series
Ahmed Giwa | Mar 16, 2026
Risk Rankings Mean Nothing If They Don’t Change Behavior
By now we’ve established:
Risk is not a score.
Consequence is the multiplier.
But here’s where many utilities stall:
They build the ranking list and stop there.
A risk register that doesn’t influence O&M or capital planning is just a spreadsheet.
Risk only matters when it drives action.
The Most Common Breakdown
Utilities invest time to:
Score condition
Classify consequence
Rank assets
Then the list gets filed away while:
Cleaning routes stay calendar-based
CCTV plans stay reactive
Capital projects follow legacy assumptions
The ranking becomes informative not operational.
That’s the gap.
Risk Should Dictate Response
Not every high-risk pipe needs replacement.
Not every low-risk pipe needs attention.
The key is aligning response level to risk level.
A simple framework works:
🟢 Low Risk
Monitor.
Inspect on schedule.
No immediate intervention.
🟡 Moderate Risk
Adjust O&M strategy.
Increase cleaning frequency.
Schedule targeted CCTV.
🟠 High Risk
Investigate further.
Engineering review.
Temporary mitigation if needed.
🔴 Critical Risk
Capital planning priority.
Immediate rehab or structured intervention.
The goal is proportional response.
Avoid the Overreaction Trap
One of the most expensive mistakes in sewer management:
Assuming high risk automatically means full replacement.
Sometimes:
Root control solves it.
Point repair stabilizes it.
Cleaning frequency adjustment mitigates it.
Flow monitoring confirms or disproves assumptions.
Risk should guide the least intrusive solution that reduces exposure.
Not default to the most expensive one.
What This Looks Like in Practice
In one active collection system, recurring blockages were driving emergency responses.
Risk scoring elevated several corridors.
Instead of jumping directly to large-scale rehab, the response was phased:
Increase cleaning frequency.
Deploy targeted CCTV.
Analyze defect progression and failure patterns.
Prioritize only the segments where risk remained unacceptable.
The result:
Reduced emergency calls
Focused capital allocation
Better justification during budget review
Risk drove action.
Action drove results.
Aligning Field and Office
One hidden benefit of structured risk planning:
Field crews understand why priorities shift.
Instead of:
“Why are we cleaning this again?”
It becomes:
“This segment has high consequence exposure and recurring performance issues.”
Clarity improves execution.
Turning Risk into CIP Strategy
When risk rankings are tied directly to:
Budget planning
Capital improvement programs
Multi-year forecasting
Leadership sees defensible logic.
Not anecdotal urgency.
Not politics.
Logic.
That builds confidence at every level.
The Real Outcome
When risk informs action:
O&M becomes strategic
Capital becomes justified
Emergencies reduce
Resources stretch further
Risk is not theory.
It is operational discipline.
Next Issue
So far, we’ve discussed structured risk thinking.
But most utilities still treat risk as static updated only when CCTV is completed.
In Issue #6, we explore the next evolution:
Dynamic Risk and the Beginning of Predictive Sewer Management.
Because the future isn’t more data.
It’s smarter adaptation.