An Expanded Methodology for Imprinting the Condition of an Urban Water Distribution Network

The work presented herein suggests an expanded methodology for imprinting the condition of an urban water distribution network (WDN). Even though the majority of past research efforts related to WDNs deals with water mains, only a small part of the research studies has considered house connections in the analysis and very few researchers have examined how the failure of pipe fittings affect the network performance. Rehabilitation actions in a WDN related to any part of it, whether it is a pipe or a fitting, have a direct effect on the condition of the whole system. Moreover, in the overall cost of repairing a leakage, the cost of the failed unit is very small compared to the cost of the work to detect, localize and restore the problem. Thus, the effect of the fittings in the network's rehabilitation cost is equally as important as that of the pipelines. Therefore, the inclusion in the mathematical analysis of data pertaining to not only water mains but also to failure incidents for the individual fittings and house connections of the network, enhances any utilized mathematical model simulating the overall WDN condition, bringing such condition appraisals closer to reflecting the actual condition of the network.