The emergence and evolution of reliability theory for water distribution networks

摘要

Purpose - As a response to the growing operational and disruptive threats to water distribution networks(WDNs), researchers have developed a vast array of methods for the reliability analysis of WDNs. In order tofollow this growing number of methods, this paper reviews and documents in one place the historicaldevelopments in the reliability analysis of WDN.Design/methodology/approach - A systematic literature review (SLR) is carried out to summarize thestate-of-the-art research on reliability analysis of WDNs. In conducting this systemic literature review, theauthors adopted an iterative approach to define appropriate keywords, analyze and synthesize data andfinalizing the classification results.Findings - First, the hydraulic approach to reliability analysis is currently pervasive, and relatively littleacademic research has addressed the topological reliability analysis of WDNs. Second, in order to provide acomprehensive picture of the network reliability, a different approach that integrates topological and hydraulicattributes seems a more effective method. Third, the conventional reliability analysis methods are onlyeffective for demonstrating a snapshot of these networks at a given point in time. The availability of methodsthat enable researchers to evaluate the reliability in response to changes in its variables is still a majorchallenge.Originality/value - The present paper facilitates future research in the reliability analysis of WDNs byproviding a source of references for researchers and water utilities. Further, this article makes a contribution tothe literature by offering a roadmap for future reliability analysis of WDNs by reviewing the evolution of thecurrent reliability analysis methods throughout history.