Sustainability evaluation of pipe asset management strategies

Abstract

The consequences associated with pipe failures can be widespread impacting service, while potentially causing damage, affecting traffic, and contaminating water. Recently the visibility of pipe failures has increased with social media and 24-hour news coverage. In response, many utilities have adapted pipe asset management strategies to reduce failures. Also, many technologies have emerged that allow for a more proactive pipe asset management. As sustainability has become a focus for many organizations including utilities, the question becomes which pipe asset management strategy is most sustainable. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate three pipe asset management strategies for sustainability using Envision®. The strategies include: a reactive run-to-failure and then replace; a preemptive replacement prior to failure based on assumed condition; and a balanced approach of active condition assessment and action based on the known condition. Envision® will be used to evaluate each approach to determine its sustainability rating.