MWH Soft Expands H2ONET with Revolutionary Valve Criticality Modeling Extension

Powerful New Tool Delivers Comprehensive Infrastructure Vulnerability Assessment Capabilities to AutoCAD Users

Broomfield, Colorado USA, December 27, 2006 — In its ongoing quest to equip the global drinking water industry with the world’s most comprehensive and innovative modeling solutions, MWH Soft today announced the worldwide release of H2ONET Valve Criticality Modeling (VCM). The new H2ONET Suite extension gives users expanded power and flexibility in identifying all vulnerabilities affecting their water distribution system reliability, estimating the extent and potential consequences of infrastructure failure on customer service levels, optimizing the allocation of rehabilitation and maintenance resources, and improving knowledge of system operation.

The valve criticality assessment process identifies which valves most crucially affect the scale of impact of potential system failures. H2ONET VCM automatically carries out a comprehensive assessment of the hydraulic impact of valve operations on customer service levels when valves are shut or fail to shut during planned or emergency work. Pinpointing such critical valves requires an understanding of the risk (probability and consequence) should the valve fail to shut. Consequence is measured in terms of the numbers of properties (and customers) that would be disconnected or experience unacceptable levels of service (e.g., low pressure or loss of supply).
This information is critical in focusing future expenditures (maintenance and replacement) on the valves most critical to maintaining the serviceability of these key infrastructure assets.

The H2ONET software suite ranks as the fastest, most practical, comprehensive and accurate CAD-based water distribution engineering solution ever created. Unlike competing products, its innovative network modeling technology addresses every facet of utility infrastructure management, optimization and protection - delivering the highest rate of return in the industry.

Built atop AutoCAD (Autodesk, San Rafael, CA), the world’s leading CAD platform, H2ONET delivers breakthrough performance in integrated real-time network modeling, GIS data exchange, spatial database query and analysis across multiple data types, as well as the sophisticated mapping required for complete infrastructure (asset) management and business planning. Its pioneering functionality and state-of-the-art computational algorithms allow engineering professionals to directly access CAD and GIS datasets; extract pertinent modeling information; and automatically construct, skeletonize, load, calibrate, analyze, design, operate and optimize any network model - saving time and money across the enterprise.

The resulting high-performance modeling sets new levels of scalability, reliability, functionality and flexibility within the powerful AutoCAD environment. Using these advanced tools, utilities can easily simulate and evaluate various conditions, pinpoint system deficiencies, and determine the most cost-effective physical and operational improvements to maximize efficiency, achieve optimum performance and regulatory compliance, meet new security challenges, and enable more reliable operations.

“Our goal is to make every engineer, planner, operator and designer into an expert modeler without taking specialized training or learning complicated, expensive software,” said Paul F. Boulos, Ph.D, President and COO of MWH Soft. “H2ONET Suite is designed to give our customers a clearly defined opportunity to seize the competitive advantage by spending less time on busywork and more on delivering reliable, cost-effective infrastructure improvement solutions faster. It represents the field’s biggest stride yet toward sophisticated modeling and optimization software that’s easy for everyone to use and economical enough to deploy widely in any organization - and it’s increasingly becoming an indispensable tool for utilities throughout the world.”

Pricing and Availability
The new H2ONET VCM Suite extension is now available worldwide by subscription to the Platinum Program. Subscription members can immediately download the new extension free of charge directly from www.mwhsoft.com. The MWH Soft Subscription Program is a friendly customer support and software maintenance program that ensures the longevity and usefulness of MWH Soft products. It gives subscribers instant access to new functionality as it is developed, along with automatic software updates and upgrades. MWH Soft product extensions are available only through the Platinum Program. For the latest information on the MWH Soft Subscription Program, visit www.mwhsoft.com or contact your local MWH Soft Certified Representative.

About MWH Soft
MWH Soft is a leading global provider of technical and infrastructure software and professional solutions designed to meet the technological needs of utilities, government industries, and engineering organizations worldwide. Its clients include the majority of the largest North American cities and ENR top design firms. The multifaceted, state-of-the-art CAD and GIS enabled products created by MWH Soft empower thousands of engineers across the globe to competitively manage, design, build, operate, maintain and secure highly efficient and reliable infrastructure systems. For more information, call MWH Soft at (626) 568-6868, or visit www.mwhsoft.com.

Contact Information

J. Erick Heath, PE

Vice President of Sales and Professional Services

MWH Soft

Contact via E-mail