The rehabilitation of potable water mains in the UK is a multi-billion pound industry yet the remaining structural properties of the vast majority of the underground network are not widely understood. This paper sets out the preliminary findings derived from examining some of the water company records relating to bursts. The paper concludes that robust pipeline information can be usefully employed in generating optimal solutions that address the three fundamental problem areas: physical integrity, water quality and hydraulic capacity. A generic solution "tree" is proposed from which companies can quickly derive a simplified, company specific, decision tree. Recommendations are made as to the data to be gathered whenever the buried pipe network is exposed.
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