Building the Capacity of Drinking Water Systems

Information on Check Up Program for Small Systems (CUPSS) Asset Management Tool

CUPSS Background

CUPSS is a free, easy-to-use, asset management tool for small drinking water and wastewater utilities. CUPSS provides a simple, comprehensive approach based on EPA's highly successful Simple Tools for Effective Performance (STEP) Guide series. Use CUPSS to help you develop:

  • A record of your assets,
  • A schedule of required tasks,
  • An understanding of your financial situation, and
  • A tailored asset management plan.

CUPSS was developed in response to a clear need from communities and trainers to package asset management materials in an easy-to-use way.

EPA's Office of Groundwater and Drinking Water (OGWDW) developed CUPSS with the help of a workgroup that included representatives from state agencies, technical assistance organizations, EPA Regional offices, and small wastewater and drinking water utilities.

CUPSS is:

•A comprehensive application that provides all the tools required to implement an asset management program and develop effective asset management plans.

Free: You can download CUPSS from this website.

A desktop application: CUPSS does not require an Internet connection to function. This allows for greater flexibility in how the program is used and helps keep your records secure.

Fully supported: EPA has developed a full suite of support documentation including the following:

  • Getting Started with CUPSS workbook
  • CUPSS User's Guide
  • Training material
  • Promotional material

In addition, the CUPSS application includes a comprehensive help guide to walk you through its setup and to help you work through each module.

How is CUPSS structured?

CUPSS leads users through a series of modules to collect information on a utility's assets, operation and maintenance activities, and financial status to produce a prioritized asset inventory, a set of financial reports and an asset management plan. Modules include the following:

Set Up
The first step in the CUPSS set up process is to identify a project team. CUPSS allows users to create team members, define roles, and enter contact information. Users have the ability modify their team at any time and to export the data into a Microsoft Excel file.

CUPSS Training
Helps the user understand CUPSS and the asset management process through clear, concise instructional materials. An introductory training video walks through the real-life process. The help section includes a keyword search and has a glossary section in addition to example forms and reports.

My Inventory
Allows users to identify and characterize their water system's assets. Users can modify a pre-populated set of assets or add new assets, which helps prioritize maintenance activities and better manage revenue for repair and replacement of assets.

My O&M (Operations and Maintenance)
Allows users to create and track current, future, and past operation and maintenance activities. The module records the status and history of each task, alerts users if the task status is past due, and alerts the user to reassess the asset condition if maintenance is not performed as scheduled.

My Finances
Helps users determine the full costs of doing business and calculate how much is needed for full recovery. This knowledge gives users the ability to discuss their needs within the context of a community budget.

The user can calculate the annual costs of asset rehabilitation and replacement by providing the current year's budget and the previous year’s financial statement (what was actually spent).

My Check Up
CUPSS generates two customizable reports: "My Asset Check Up" and "My Financial Check Up." The user can enter information to create targeted reports that will help them manage assets and plan for the future.

My CUPSS Plan
Assembles an asset management plan into a pre-defined template that has been pre-populated with the information and calculations entered by the user. CUPSS allows the user to export the developed plan as a Word document for modification and review.