Water, Wastewater, Hydraulic & Forensic Engineering

Mode of Failure and Forensic Analysis

When a pipeline breaks, a lift station floods, a tank fails or a treatment process upsets, the first question is how it failed. John Shaw, PE provides mode of failure analysis for water and wastewater utility systems, drawing on 38 years of design, construction and hands-on operations.

Typical questions he works on

• What failed, in what sequence, and what caused it
• Whether the cause was design, materials or product suitability, construction, operation or maintenance
• Hydraulic behavior, including gravity and force main hydraulics, surge, and fire flow
• Whether alarms, SCADA and operating procedures worked as they should have

Systems he knows from the inside

Potable water, industrial and domestic wastewater, treatment plants, sewage collection, lift stations and force mains, booster and pressure regulating stations, transmission pipelines, storage reservoirs, and sludge treatment and disposal.

For attorneys and insurers

His work supports plaintiff and defense counsel and insurance companies, as a consulting expert first and as a testifying expert when the matter calls for it.

Call 530-550-1576 or email John@shaweng.com.

Consulting Civil Engineer including design, forensics, planning, construction, operations, and maintenance and management specific to the water and wastewater utility industry.