Theories and policies for the maintenance and renewal of water supply systems are required. The occurrence of water distribution pipe breakage and water leakage is influenced by pipe material, size and age as well as soil characteristics and transportation. The water leakage has to be discovered as soon as possible from the viewpoint of minimizing water loss. However, it costs more to increase inspections for water leakage. In this study, the model to determine the optimal inspection interval for water leakage of the water distribution network was examined. The optimal inspection interval was estimated to minimize the total cost of inspection, pipe repair and lost water. The developed model was applied to a water distribution area whose water main is 486 kilometres long. The area was divided into sub-area of 250 metres square. Those sub-areas were classified into 6 groups according to pipe break rate. The optimal inspection interval was obtained for each group and its validity examined by numerical simulation.

inspection and repair model, pipe break, pipe rehabilitation, water leakage, water supply network, digitalwatercollection, digitalwaterdata
This content is only available as a PDF.
© IWA Publishing 2001
You do not currently have access to this content.