Development of Synthesis Reports on Drinking Water and Wastewater Pipeline Condition Assessment Technologies and Methodologies

摘要

Drinking water infrastructure and sanitation infrastructure are critical to the economic,environmental, and social health of our civilization. WATERiD (Water Infrastructure Database)is an online database created primarily for the use of utility managers and municipality decisionmakers that struggle with obtaining easy access to comprehensive information about availablepipeline condition assessment technologies and the experiences of other utilities in dealing withneeds created by aging infrastructure. The development of WATERiD is funded and supportedby the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) and the U.S. Environmental ProtectionAgency (EPA). Population of WATERiD included not only an extensive literature review andinterviews with technology vendors, but also production of approximately 50 case studies basedon interviews with experienced national and international utilities. This work was compiled toproduce synthesis reports for the use of utility managers and personnel.Two synthesis reports, one on the condition assessment of drinking water pipelines and one onthe condition assessment of wastewater pipelines, were developed to help drinking water andwastewater utilities select the most appropriate pipeline condition assessment technologies fortheir circumstances (such as size of utility, geographical location, pipeline characteristics, etc.)and budget. An understanding of the available condition assessment technologies for pipelines,the current practices regarding pipeline condition assessment technologies, and the lessonslearned and tips for success offered by experienced utilities will help utility managers and otherdecision makers to carry out pipeline condition assessment under their specific circumstanceswhile minimizing time and cost. A standard data structure for collection of pipeline conditionassessment project data is proposed in the synthesis reports. Use of the proposed data structureswill help in further discovery of trends regarding current pipeline condition assessment practices.Knowledge on the part of the nation’s utility managers will lead to improved public health,environmental health, and economic health and will lead to greater compliance with statutes andregulations that govern the quality of our nation’s water. The guidance manual will provide astarting point for future development.