Development of comprehensive evaluation procedure for anti-seismic strategies: evaluating Kobe City's earthquake resistance improvement plan from the customer's viewpoint

In Japan, the ‘earthquake-resistant pipe ratio’ and the ‘amount of stored water for emergency’ have been used to evaluate the anti-earthquake performance of water supply facilities. In the past, however, those evaluations were made mainly from the viewpoint of the supplier, and evaluations from the customer's (citizen's) viewpoint have been insufficient. For simpler explanations to customers, the evaluation model based on ‘living conditions,’ related to emergency water use in the restoration period, has been established and a verification study has been conducted using an analysis model for evaluating the effect of various seismic upgrade measures adopted in Kobe City. Verification results show that the seismic improvement measures would produce a shorter restoration period compared with the time for the 1995 Great Hanshin–Awaji earthquake and that a greater amount of water would be available in the restoration period, leading to wider and more frequent use of water by citizens.