Algorithm for Assessment of Water Distribution System’s Readiness: Planning for Disasters
Publication: Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 135, Issue 4
Abstract
Water distribution systems are one of the most important infrastructures in urban areas. The objective of every urban water distribution system is to deliver enough water of acceptable quality with adequate pressure to different demand points. There are many interruptions and occasional disasters that impact the performance of the water distribution system, some of which could be quite devastating. The most common disasters are main breaks that may cause considerable water losses and bring up the system to partial or complete shutdown. Evaluation of the state of the system’s readiness helps managers make better decisions to prevent disasters and respond better to emergencies. In this paper, the state of the system’s readiness in dealing with disasters has been quantified using a hybrid index called the system readiness index. This index is developed based on the combined effects of three system performance indexes, namely reliability, resiliency, and vulnerability. They are combined through hydraulic characteristics of the network at some critical nodes of the water distribution system, using a neural network model. Different failure scenarios are defined to evaluate the system performance and to analyze the systems interruption. A Bayesian approach for updating the probability of failure is used to incorporate the new information on the state of the system. The proposed algorithm is applied to a part of the water distribution system of the Tehran metropolitan area in Iran. The results show the significant value of the proposed algorithm in helping the decision maker to improve the system’s performance and develop contingency plans when faced with disasters.
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Acknowledgments
This paper is dedicated to Dr. G. V. Loganathan who was killed in the Virginia tech shootings on April 19, 2007. His memory and relentless service to the water profession will be remembered. The assistance of engineers and managers of Tehran Water and Waste Company and also Mr. Tavakolifar, the research assistant at the University of Tehran in collecting data and in system configurations, are hereby acknowledged.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 135 • Issue 4 • July 2009
Pages: 244 - 252
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Feb 22, 2008
Accepted: Nov 5, 2008
Published online: Jun 15, 2009
Published in print: Jul 2009
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