Inflow & InfiltrationAdvanced 26 min read

Inflow & Infiltration: CMOM Programs & Regulatory Drivers for I&I Reduction

How I&I reduction fits into a utility's Capacity, Management, Operation, and Maintenance (CMOM) program, and the regulatory forces — NPDES permits, SSO reporting requirements, and consent decrees — that push utilities to fund and sustain I&I programs.

Finding, measuring, and even rehabilitating I&I sources is only sustainable if it happens inside a larger management framework — otherwise a utility ends up chasing the same problems over and over as pipes age and new defects develop. That framework is called CMOM, and understanding how it works, and why regulators care about it, is core Class 4 knowledge.

What Is a CMOM Program?

CMOM stands for Capacity, Management, Operation, and Maintenance. It is not a single document or a specific technology — it is a management approach that a collection system owner or operator uses to systematically manage, operate, and maintain its sewer system in order to reduce, and where possible eliminate, sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) and basement backups. The U.S. EPA published its *Guide for Evaluating Capacity, Management, Operation, and Maintenance (CMOM) Programs at Sanitary Sewer Co

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