Abstract

Condition assessment of aging assets and infrastructure is a growing concern in North America. The Canadian Water and Wastewater Association (CWWA) estimated that a $28 billion investment is needed for municipal water systems in Canada from 1997 to 2012. The condition of 43% of water supply systems in Canada is unacceptable. A systematic condition assessment is a pre-requisite of an effective asset and infrastructure management practice. The present study focuses on analyzing the principal factors that affect infrastructure condition, data requirement, and how the condition of a targeted element can be assessed. The main objectives of this research are to develop condition assessment models for selected existing elements of Drinking Water Treatment Plant (DWTP) and develop condition rating scales and a web-based tool. The condition of five DWTP elements are studied in this research: settling tank, filtration tank, chlorination tank, raw water pump and clean water pump. Condition rating (CR) models are designed using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Multi Attribute Utility Theory (MAUT) approaches. Evaluation results show that the top ranked category for tanks is 'Physical (design and construction stage)' with a relative importance of 32% and for pumps is 'Operational' with an importance of 34%. The preference level of each parameter is being measured on a numerical scale of 0-10. Twenty five practical case studies are used to validate the developed models, which show robust results. Condition rating scales are developed for tanks and pumps and verified by municipal experts. A web-based condition rating tool is developed and coded with AHP.NET