Chapter 9 Multi-Criteria Evaluation of Groundwater Ponds as Suppliers to Urban Water Distribution Systems

摘要

Freshwater for urban water supplies in growing cities is often secured through groundwater ponds. In the majority of Serbian cities, an increase in population creates a need for investments into new or reconstruction of existing distribution networks. We propose the use of two methods, the analytic hierarchy process and the consensus convergence model, as a group decision making framework for determining the importance of Novi Sad city ponds and deciding the optimal strategy of investing into the technical realization of infrastructure relying on the ponds. Three experts participated in the evaluation of three ponds using the following criteria set: capacity, water quality, cost of water, natural protection, recharging capabilities, technical accessibility, and environmental impact. Experts found the final result acceptable and the proposed methodology easy to understand and implement. They also agreed that the result can be used as a reliable basis for further economic analysis and feasibility studies.