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Condition Assessment Technologies for Water Transmission and Distribution Systems
Citation:
Liu, Z., Y. Kleiner, B. Rajani, L. Wang, AND W. Condit. Condition Assessment Technologies for Water Transmission and Distribution Systems. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-12/017, 2012.
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the public.
Description:
As part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Aging Water Infrastructure Research Program, this research was conducted to identify and characterize the state of the technology for structural condition assessment of drinking water transmission and distribution systems. The broad definition of structural condition assessment of water mains encompasses physical modeling of the pipe in the soil, understanding of pipe failure modes, empirical/statistical modeling of historical failures, inspection of a pipe to discern distress indicators, interpretation of distress indicators into pipe condition rating and modeling deterioration to forecast future failures and pipe residual life. Any asset management program must start with a thorough review of available historical data about pipe performance and failure. Once the necessary data is gathered, deterioration models can go a long way in providing insight into the condition of these assets. A well-defined and cost-effective inspection program that complements the historic data can then be used to fill in gaps that remain. This report provides a comprehensive inventory of both condition assessment technologies and decision support systems applied to water mains and identifies capability gaps that need to be addressed. A comprehensive list is provided of existing non-destructive evaluation technologies and techniques that are currently used for buried pipes or that have the potential of being adapted to pipe inspection. Scientific principles, advantages, and limitations of each technique are described. A review is also provided of physical models, statistical/empirical models, and decision support software tools available to facilitate water main renewal decisions.