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Characterizing Microbial Quality of Water Supply
Published in Edwin E. Geldreich, Microbial Quality of Water Supply in Distribution Systems, 2020
Every distribution system is a growing, aging entity that must be carefully managed to maintain the integrity of the pipe network for delivery of a safe water supply. Many public water utilities have a long-term commitment to expand the distribution system to keep pace with continuing suburban growth. These projected plans not only include miles of new pipeline, but also water supply reservoirs in new areas of accelerated population growth to sustain supply under pressure. Urban renewal and highway construction projects may also provide opportunities for reconfiguration of portions of the distribution system. Corrosion, unstable soil, pipe faulting, land subsidence, construction/demolition vibrations, and extremely low ambient temperature often cause line breaks and necessitate water main rehabilitation.
Addressing the infrastructure decay rate in US cities
Published in Paolo Gardoni, Routledge Handbook of Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure, 2018
Mark Reiner, Jennifer E. Cross
According to an American Water Works Association (AWWA) report, water utilities in the United States install water mains with a material and service lifespan (design life) of 75–100 years (AWWA 2010). Yet, these utilities are averaging a pipe replacement rate of 0.5 percent per year (i.e., an estimated 200-year replacement cycle – more than double the useful life of the pipes). However, there are utilities with even longer replacement cycles, even a well-managed and progressive utility, such as Denver Water. Their sophisticated asset management system promotes a “remaining useful life” over the suggested AWWA design life. In fact, the decay rate can easily be calculated from the information published on their website: The water distribution system contains more than 3,000 miles of water mains, and Denver Water crews install or replace an average of 60,000 feet of pipe a year.18
Predictive analytics for water main breaks using spatiotemporal data
Published in Urban Water Journal, 2021
Babak Aslani, Shima Mohebbi, Hana Axthelm
Infrastructure physical features such as pipe diameter, age, length, and material are one contributing factor to water main breaks. Environmental factors like soil factors, precipitation, and seasonal climate variations also play a key role in the occurrence of failures in the water network. Operational features such as hydraulic pressure and water velocity are other critical players in the WDNs affecting the functionality of pipes. However, only some of these factors, such as pipe age, diameter, and temperature, are measurable and available for the establishment of predictive models (Kabir et al. (2015);Shirzad and Safari (2019)).
Stresses in cast iron water mains subjected to non-uniform bedding and localised concentrated forces
Published in International Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, 2018
Kasuni Liyanage, Ashutosh Sutra Dhar
Pipelines used in water transportation systems, known as water mains, are important infrastructure used to carry potable water to city dwellers. The breakage of pipelines may result in disruption of water service, loss of water and damage to other infrastructure (e.g. roads and building foundations) by the escaping water. A number of water main breakages are reported every year across the municipalities.
Determinants of real water losses in the Australian drinking water sector
Published in Urban Water Journal, 2019
Population density (population per km of water mains) (pop_den) is a widely used explanatory variable and is hypothesised to have a positive effect on real water loss (Van Den Berg 2015). In other words, the denser the water distribution network is, the higher the water loss will be. It should also be noted that population density is largely beyond the control of water utilities as they are obliged to provide their services as long as residents live within the assigned geographical bounds of the water utility. It is also important in terms of the ability to harness economies of scale in water operations. We included water main breaks (number of breaks per 100 km of water mains) (wm_breaks), which captures the impact of direct disruptions to the network on real water losses. Water main breaks can occur due to several reasons including, the age of the network, the level and frequency of maintenance carried out and soil condition in the area. To ascertain the effect of real water loss on revenue, we included a variable (rev_tuw) that measures the revenue ($) per ML of water delivered. We anticipate a negative association between these two variables. Some Australian water utilities cover vast geographical areas and we included the length of water mains as an explanatory variable. We hypothesise that the longer the length of water mains, the higher the real water losses will be. Infrastructure Leakage Index (ILI) is a composite metric that is used internationally to gauge several aspects of the network such as the system pressure, the distance between the water meter and service connection (Van Den Berg 2015).We hypothesise ILI to have a positive association with real water losses. Finally, we included the operational cost ($) per property (opex) to see the effect of real water losses on operating expenditure. We anticipate a positive association between opex and real water loss. The explanatory variables chosen for the study cover most of the key influential parameters of real water loss. The estimated final panel regression equation is as follows: