CANFIELD — Aging infrastructure has led to frequent waterline breaks in the city.

A new geographic information system (GIS) mapping program will be available for city employees after nearly two years of research with RCAP, Rural Community Assistance Program, which also built the program to fit Canfield’s needs.

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has required an asset management program of public water systems.

Sanitary sewer lines, stormwater lines, water valves and hydrants are included on the map.

The program was presented to Canfield City Council on Wednesday by Dave Garretson with RCAP, which is a nonprofit that serves Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin.

Data has been collected over the last 18 months, said city manager Wade Calhoun.

Now when needed during a water line break or update, crews with the public works department can find the line more easily. Stormwater is included with catch basins, culverts and manholes on the map.

Information on the lines was collected, and can continue to be updated as crews discover issues or perform work.

As mandated by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, the city can also keep track of when hydrants are flushed, depth of sanitary sewers, and anything “you want to have at your disposal for your department to do anything and everything in the city,” the program will allow for efficient work to be completed, Calhoun said.

As time goes on, the program can be “scaled up” to include street lights, signs and cemeteries. “The possibilities are sort of endless on how involved we want to get with GIS,” Calhoun said.

With a grant funding half from Appalachian Regional Commission, cost for the program was $61,650. The city paid the remainder, including $8,000 in in-kind labor and material donations, Calhoun said.

Building plans for the utility system were entered into the mapping software. The utility staff located lines and marked them with flags or paint, Garretson said.

He then took all the data collected and began building the program, meeting with public works supervisor John Rapp and his team, to review information.

If information needs updated — for example if public works excavates and sees something different than what is on the map — amendments can be made, Garretson said.

He also explained to council that the EPA mandates any work with fire hydrants to be recorded. That information can now be logged digitally into the new system, which will now allow Rapp to print off a spreadsheet should the EPA request it.

“The guys have the ability to get into the system, either before they’re going to perform some work or during… And from there, if they get out there and find a 6-inch” pipe, that information can immediately be updated, Garretson said.

It’s a working document that will never die and can be updated as employees discover or monitor water issues, Rapp said. Nearby water mains and hydrants of private entities will also be included, for example, for fairgrounds or schools.

Lines and hydrants in those areas are labeled as private, Garretson said, so city employees know where lines are.