A methodology to determine optimal water distribution network work programs (WATERWORKS)

Project description

The supply of drinking water is one of the most essential services for the proper functioning of a city. To ensure that consumers have a supply of drinking water of impeccable quality and in sufficient quantity at all times, water utilities must plan intervention programs to renew old and deteriorated parts of the distribution system so that failures and service interruptions are avoided. These renewal works are expensive and have an impact on consumers and road traffic. This requires optimal planning.

This project was a collaborative effort between the Infrastructure Management research group of ETH Zurich and the Geneva water utility (Services Industriels de Genève (SIG)). SIG produces approximately 60 million m³ of potable water are produced each year and maintains a network composed of approximately 1’300 km of buried pipeline and 63 facilities, where water is treated, pumped, stored, or monitored. The aim of the collaboration was to develop an improved methodology for determining intervention programs for water distribution networks that considers all constituent elements and to implement the methodology in prototype software. This methodology is to direct investments on a 5-year horizon by specifically:

·        Incorporating the expert knowledge of utility workers as well as relevant operational and financial constraints.

·        Integrating recognized standards to promote objective and non-intuitive decision-making.

·        Considering all asset categories in order to provide a holistic vision of the network.