Triple top line-based identification of sustainable water distribution system conservation targets and pipe replacement timing

ABSTRACT

This paper introduces a simulation-based sustainable life of pipe (SLP) determination for a water distribution system (WDS) using a triple top line (TTL) sustainability index (SI). SLP is the pipe replacement time maximizing SI. The approach is applied to the U-City system, a hypothetical urban WDS. Two case studies were conducted: (1) SLP to identify a conservation goal and (2) optimal SLP analysis using revised harmony search (ReHS) to discover replacement timing. The results show conservation targeting a 1% annual rate of demand growth maximizes the SI. And after optimizing the SLP, earlier pipe replacement and higher benefits result from the maximum SI approach compared to the least cost approach. In conclusion, the demonstrations show that using the TTL-based SI can guide demand management and pipe replacement strategies to maximize a comprehensive set of sustainability benefits.

KEYWORDS:

• Water supply planning
• hydraulic modeling
• water networks
• sustainability index
• asset management
• pipe replacement optimization

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Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.