Abstract
The water deficiency, in turn, resulting from system failures is usually expressed by the volume of water that has not been supplied Δ V (m3). Being a random variable in the process of water distribution system (WDS) operation, this parameter has been studied by examining the reliability of a selected WDS based on its field reliability tests. Within the framework of the study reported here, the simultaneous occurrence of water deficiency cases was analysed and the probabilistic model of water deficiency was formulated. It was shown that singular failures of WDS (k=1) have a critical impact on the scale of water deficiency. The developed probabilistic model describes the probability of not exceeding a certain water deficiency level. The model can be helpful in determining the service standards in terms of the quantities of water supplied to the consumers.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to express his sincere gratitude to the Management of Water Supply and Sewerage Company in Lublin for their favourable attitude towards the research and to the personnel of the system operation service for their assistance in collection of data used in the reliability tests. The author is also grateful to reviewers for their constructive comments.