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WHITE PAPER ON IMPROVEMENT OF STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY MONITORING FOR DRINKING WATER MAINS
Citation:
ROYER, M. D. WHITE PAPER ON IMPROVEMENT OF STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY MONITORING FOR DRINKING WATER MAINS. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-05/038 (NTIS PB2005-109931), 2005.
Impact/Purpose:
to present information
Description:
This white paper explores the improvement of water main structural integrity monitoring (SIM) capability as an approach for reducing (1) high risk drinking water main breaks and (2) inefficient maintenance scheduling. Inadequate SIM capability for water mains can cause repair, rehabilitation, or replacement (R3) to be scheduled either late or early. Late R3 can allow serious deterioration, main breaks, and their associated consequences to occur. Early R3 is inefficient, which adversely affects system maintenance priorities and economics. Existing SIM technologies inadequately characterize various combinations of pipe materials, configurations, and failure modes. Fortunately, substantial research to improve SIM is underway or planned, but mostly for high risk, non-drinking water applications. A systematic effort by EPA and other Federal agencies, in cooperation with relevant stakeholders, is recommended to identify, prioritize, and capitalize on opportunities to accelerate SIM capability improvement. Acceleration of SIM improvement research is especially important at this time, since: (1) for the next 30+ years a steep rise in R3 decision-making is projected for our aging water mains; (2) multiple technology transfer, collaboration, and leveraging opportunities exist, and (3) SIM capability improvement takes time.