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Water Distribution System Risk Tool for Investment Planning (WaterRF Report 4332)
Citation:
Grigg, N., D. Fontane, AND J. Van Zyl. Water Distribution System Risk Tool for Investment Planning (WaterRF Report 4332). Water Research Foundation, Denver, CO, 2013.
Impact/Purpose:
Impact/Purpose Statement The objective of the project is to help water utilities integrate the risk of failure (i.e., likelihood of failure x consequences of failure) into their decision making about water main asset management. The Pipe Risk Screening Tool (PRST) and associated user guidance were developed to assist utilities to assess the risk posed by pipes in their systems. The risk posed by the various pipes is estimated, analyzed, and documented with the tool. The results are useful as input for setting capital investment priorities. The spreadsheet tool and the data and examples are focused on water transmission and distribution pipes. The report partially addresses a need expressed in USEPA’s aging water infrastructure research plan for better decision-support tools for renewal (defined as major repair, rehabilitation, or replacement) of water transmission and distribution systems. Due to aging and deteriorating water conveyance systems, US water utilities are entering a “replacement era” that will require sharply increased and more effective decision making. This will ensure that limited resources are most effectively applied to conveyance system renewal in order to ensure that water quality, quantity, reliability, and safety are not compromised.
Description:
Product Description/Abstract The product consists of the Pipe Risk Screening Tool (PRST), and a report on the development and use of the tool. The PRST is a software-based screening aid to identify and rank candidate pipes for actions that range from active monitoring (including condition assessment) to replacement. It is intended for use by technical staff members who prepare and manage lists of pipelines that are candidates for renewal. The PRST has two basic functions. The first function is to manage data on an inventory of pipes-at-risk or any group of pipes on which a utility would like to focus. The second function is to prioritize pipes for renewal or analysis based on estimated indices of likelihood and consequences of failure. The tool can be used to prioritize water distribution and transmission pipes for renewal on the basis of a risk index, which considers likelihood and consequences of failure. It is designed so users can modify not only the value of the indices but also the method to estimate these indices. The tool can be used to prioritize all the pipe segments in the inventory or to prioritize only subsets of the inventory with selected characteristics. After the pipe segments are prioritized, the user may choose to perform a more detailed analysis on some pipelines.
