Water Management Infrastructure Research Articles

Case Study for Predicting Failures in Water Supply Networks Using Neural Networks

This study deals with the prediction of recurring failures in water supply networks, a complex and costly task, but essential for the effective maintenance of these vital infrastructures. Using historical failure data provided by Companhia de Água e Esgotos da Paraíba (CAGEPA), the research focuses on predicting the time until the next failure at specific points in the network. The authors divided the failures into two categories: Occurrences of New Faults (ONFs) and Recurrences of Faults (RFs). To perform the predictions, they used predictive models based on machine learning, more specifically on MLP (Multi-Layer Perceptron) neural networks. The investigation unveiled that through the analysis of historical failure data and the consideration of variables including altitude, number of failures on the same street, and days between failures, it is possible to achieve an accuracy greater than 80% in predicting failures within a 90-day interval. This demonstrates the feasibility of using fault history to predict future water supply outages with significant accuracy. These forecasts allow water utilities to plan and optimize their maintenance, minimizing inconvenience and losses. The article contributes significantly to the field of water infrastructure management by proposing the applicability of a data-driven approach in diverse urban settings and across various types of infrastructure networks, including those pertaining to energy or communication. These conclusions underscore the paramount importance of systematic data collection and analysis in both averting failures and optimizing the allocation of resources within water utilities.

Local and catchment-scale effects of water retention measures at Lake Velence

AbstractClimate change manifested its adverse impacts last year, with an extreme drought leading to a drastically low water level in Lake Velence, Hungary. Nature-based solutions have the potential to alleviate these impacts locally. While a few initiatives have been implemented in Hungary, widespread adoption of these solutions is expected to be a goal for the more distant future.This research focuses on one catchment at Lake Velence to evaluate decision-maker's readiness and urban water management infrastructure for broadly implementing nature-based solutions. Methods include delineating the stormwater system and creating a numerical model to evaluate rainfall-runoff processes and the possible impacts of nature-based retentions. Surveys among local mayors were conducted to assess their perception of existing water infrastructures and implementations of nature-based solutions. Its widespread use may become significant, but its effect on the lake's water level remains negligible.

Internet of Things (IoT) Enabled Water Distribution System for Smart Water Management

Water is a vital resource for life, and its management is a key issue nowadays the water demand is increasing due to global population growth and urbanization. Present technologies for water control are currently facing interoperability problems due to the lack of support for standardization in monitoring and controlling equipment. This problem affects various processes in water management, such as water consumption, water distribution, system identification, and equipment maintenance. Under these conditions, new technologies in the water management infrastructure have been required to enable the distribution of high-quality water to users safely and cost-effectively, from the perspective of efficiently using our world’s precious water resource. The Internet of Things (IoT) Based Smart Water Management System is a cutting-edge technology that integrates sensors, communication devices, and data analytics to efficiently monitor and manage water resources. This system enables real-time monitoring of water quality, consumption, and distribution, allowing for proactive maintenance and optimization of water usage. By leveraging IoT technology, this smart water management system offers improved accuracy, reliability, and cost-effectiveness in managing water resources. Based on standards, the system proposal is a smart water management system model combining Internet of Things technology with decision support systems. This system is more efficient in distribution monitoring and control approach for a water utility to reduce water loss. This approach will help utility operators to improve water management systems, especially by exploiting emerging technologies.

Making Waves: Towards data-centric water engineering

Artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to transform many scientific disciplines, with the potential to significantly accelerate scientific discovery. This perspective calls for the development of data-centric water engineering to tackle water challenges in a changing world. Building on the historical evolution of water engineering from empirical and theoretical paradigms to the current computational paradigm, we argue that a fourth paradigm, i.e., data-centric water engineering, is emerging driven by recent AI advances. Here we define a new framework for data-centric water engineering in which data are transformed into knowledge and insight through a data pipeline powered by AI technologies. It is proposed that data-centric water engineering embraces three principles – data-first, integration and decision making. We envision that the development of data-centric water engineering needs an interdisciplinary research community, a shift in mindset and culture in the academia and water industry, and an ethical and risk framework to guide the development and application of AI. We hope this paper could inspire research and development that will accelerate the paradigm shift towards data-centric water engineering in the water sector and fundamentally transform the planning and management of water infrastructure.

Quantitative evaluation of the urban water Cycle: Definition and use of the water cycle area ratio

This study introduces the concept of the water cycle area ratio designed for the critical evaluation and optimization of urban water management systems. The metric offers a quantitative criterion of water cycle robustness, correlating it with specific land use patterns and surface conditions. Factors such as evaporation, infiltration, runoff, and rainwater utilization are incorporated into this comprehensive assessment. Additionally, this study provides a detailed methodology for computing the ratio, encompassing considerations relevant to groundwater consumption and the deployment of water management infrastructure. The research accentuates the value of the water cycle area ratio as a pivotal index for the strategic planning of urban water management, as well as for mitigating the detrimental consequences of extreme climatic occurrences. Moreover, the study emphasizes the imperative for targeted infrastructural developments in areas with suboptimal water cycle area ratios to improve the resilience of the water cycle against floods, droughts, and heat island phenomena.

Rehydration of degraded wetlands: Understanding drivers of vegetation community trajectories

AbstractDegradation of wetland ecosystems results from loss of hydrologic connectivity, nutrient enrichment, and altered fire regimes, among other factors. It is uncertain how drivers of wetland ecosystem processes and wetland vegetation communities interact in reversing the ecological trajectory from degraded to restored conditions. We analyzed biogeochemical and vegetation data collected in wetlands of the Florida Everglades at the start of (2015) and during (2018 and 2021) the initial stages of rehydration. Our objectives were to analyze the allocation of carbon and nutrients among ecosystem compartments and correlated trajectories of vegetation community change following rehydration, to identify the drivers of change, including fire, and analyze macrophyte species‐specific responses to drivers. We expected to see changes in vegetation toward more hydric communities that would differ based on wetland baseline conditions and the magnitude of the hydrologic change. During the study period, both length of inundation and surface water depth increased throughout wetlands in the region, and four fires occurred, which affected 51% of the sampling locations. We observed biogeochemical shifts in the wetland landscape, driven by both hydrology and fire. Total phosphorus concentrations in soil and flocculent detrital material decreased, while soil carbon:phosphorus and nitrogen:phosphorus mass ratios increased at sites further away from water management infrastructure. Transitions in vegetation communities were driven by an increase in hydroperiods and by the distinct changes in nutrient concentrations or soil stoichiometric ratios in each subregion. The abundance of macrophyte species typical of short‐hydroperiod prairies strongly decreased, while dominant long‐hydroperiod species, such as Eleocharis cellulosa, expanded. Fire facilitated the expansion of thickly vegetated plumes of invasive Typha at sites close to the water inflow sources. Overall, restored hydrology shifted vegetation community composition toward higher abundance of long‐hydroperiod species within six years. In contrast, removal of invasive vegetation controlled by soil phosphorus concentrations will likely require long‐term and interactive restoration strategies.

Decomposition and Driving Factors of Total Factor Productivity of Food Crops in the Yellow River Basin, China

The urgency of enhancing agricultural productivity within the Yellow River Basin cannot be overstated, given its critical role in ensuring food security amidst the challenges posed by climate change, natural disasters, and the increasing demand for food crops. Utilizing panel data from nine provinces within the Yellow River Basin for the period 2001 to 2020, this study examines the temporal characteristics and spatial distribution of Total Factor Productivity (TFP) for key grain crops—namely wheat, corn, and soybean—through the application of the Malmquist index which can be decomposed through the DEA-Malmquist index methodology. The empirical results demonstrate that TFP growth rates for these crops have exhibited significant phase variations, with soybean recording the highest TFP growth rate in the basin. Additionally, this study underscores marked regional disparities in soybean productivity. TFP decomposition reveals that the primary drivers of TFP improvement across these crops are attributed to technical progress, with gains in overall technical efficiency largely due to scale efficiency enhancements, whereas pure technical efficiency has shown limited progress. Regional analysis indicates that Inner Mongolia leads in TFP growth for all crops, while Ningxia, Sichuan, and Shaanxi lag behind in wheat, corn, and soybean. Additionally, our analysis delineates natural disasters as a significant barrier to Total Factor Productivity (TFP), notably obstructing technological advancements in wheat cultivation. The investigation further reveals a positive relationship between regional per capita income and the growth of wheat TFP, in contrast to a negative relationship with the TFP growth of corn and soybeans. Moreover, investing in agriculture, forestry, water management, and road infrastructure supports the growth of wheat TFP, while urbanization levels pose constraints. Conclusively, an uptick in annual rural electricity usage, along with improved per capita postal and telecommunication services, exerts a favorable influence on TFP for corn and soybeans.

Impact of climate change on Kupang River flow and hydrological extremes in Greater Pekalongan, Indonesia

Located downstream the Kupang Catchment in Indonesia, Pekalongan faces significant land subsidence issues, leading to severe coastal flooding. This study aimed to assess the impact of climate change on future flow regimes and hydrological extremes to inform long-term water resources management strategies for the Kupang Catchment. Utilizing precipitation and air temperature data from general circulation models in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 6 (CMIP6) and employing bias correction techniques, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) hydrological model was employed to analyze climate-induced changes in hydrological fluxes, specifically streamflow. Results indicated a consistent increase in monthly streamflow during the wet season, with a substantial rise of 22.8%, alongside a slight decrease of 18.0% during the dry season. Moreover, both the frequency and severity of extremely low and high flows were projected to intensify by approximately 50% and 70%, respectively, for a 20-year return period, suggesting heightened flood and drought risks in the future. The observed declining trend in low flow, by up to 11%, indicated the potential for long-term groundwater depletion exacerbating the threat of land subsidence and coastal flooding, especially in areas with inadequate surface water management policies and infrastructure.

Imperfect detection and misidentification affect inferences from data informing water operation decisions

AbstractObjectiveManagers can modify river flow regimes using fish monitoring data to minimize impacts from water management infrastructure. For example, operation of the gate‐controlled Delta Cross Channel (DCC) in California can negatively affect the endangered Sacramento River winter‐run Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha. Although guidelines have been developed for DCC operations by using real‐time juvenile fish sampling count data, there is uncertainty about how environmental conditions influence fish occupancy and the extent to which those relationships are affected by sampling and identification error.MethodsWe evaluated the effect of environmental conditions, imperfect detection, and misidentification error on salmon occupancy by analyzing data using hierarchical multistate occupancy models. A total of 14,147 trawl tows and beach seine hauls were conducted on 1058 sampling days between October and December from 1996 to 2019. During these surveys, 2803 juvenile winter‐run Chinook Salmon were identified, and approximately 29% of the sampling days had at least one winter‐run juvenile detected.ResultThe probability of misidentifying an individual juvenile winter‐run Chinook Salmon in the field was estimated to be 0.056 based on fish identification examinations and genetic sampling. Occupancy varied considerably and was related to flow characteristics, water clarity, weather, time of year, and whether occupancy was detected during the previous sampling day. However, these relationships and their significance changed considerably when accounting for imperfect detection and the probability of misidentifying individual juvenile salmon. Detection was <0.3 under average sampling conditions during a single sample and was influenced by flow, water clarity, site, and volume sampled.ConclusionOur modeling results indicate that DCC gate closure decisions could occur on fewer days when imperfect detection and misidentification error are not accounted for. These findings demonstrate the need to account for identification and detection error while using monitoring data to assess factors influencing fish occupancy and inform future management decisions.

Social distancing, water demand changes, and quality of drinking water during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic changed daily routines for people around the globe due to the adoption of social distancing measures, such as working from home and restricted travel. Changes in daily routines created new water demand patterns, and the spatial redistribution of water demands in urban water distribution systems affected water quality. A range of factors can influence individual decisions to social distance, including demographics, risk perceptions, and prior experience with infectious disease. This research develops an agent-based modeling framework to simulate decisions to social distance, the effect of social distancing on water demands, and effects on the performance of water infrastructure and the quality of delivered drinking water. This framework couples a hydraulic model, a COVID-19 transmission model, and Bayesian belief network (BBN) driven decision-making models within an agent-based modeling framework. The model is applied for a virtual city, Micropolis, to explore the effects of social distancing decisions on water age. Results demonstrate an increase in average water age and changes to the expected flow directions in pipes under scenarios of increasing social distancing. Nodes near industrial areas experience higher degradation of water quality. This research provides a new framework to develop and evaluate water infrastructure management strategies during pandemics.

Success Factors in Managing Wastewater Infrastructure through Community Participation (Case Study: Wastewater Infrastructure in Residential Areas of Medan Deli Subdistrict, Medan)

Both central and local governments strive to implement sanitation programs, especially in the management of wastewater infrastructure, with a focus on community involvement from planning to maintenance. The Medan Deli Subdistrict, engaged in wastewater infrastructure management through community participation, faces challenges, including a decline in users and dysfunctional management groups. The limited community involvement also impacts the failure of management. The research was conducted in the Medan Deli Subdistrict using survey and exploration methods. The analysis of survey questionnaire data with the Relative Importance Index (RII) method identified five key success factors, used as research indicators to identify obstacles through structured interviews. The research results show that these factors involve the choice of technology, organization, and leadership, which have proven to have a significant impact. Additionally, service convenience, operator performance, and clean and healthy living habits also prove to be drivers of success in this management. In this context, it can be concluded that technical factors, especially the selection of technology and organization, dominate the success of wastewater management. The success of wastewater infrastructure development through community participation also heavily depends on institutional elements and social approaches. However, after identifying success elements, some analyzed obstacles include the process of selecting technology means that are not in line with the needs and preferences of the community, managers responsible for wastewater infrastructure management often relocating without replacement, hindering the administrative process of management, infrastructure maintenance requiring operators to routinely perform operational functions, and a community that is not fully committed to implementing clean water infrastructure management.

Looking beyond individual failures: A system-wide assessment of water infrastructure resilience to extreme events

Water infrastructure systems throughout the United States face compounding challenges due to aging infrastructure and increasingly extreme and more frequent weather events. Identifying vulnerabilities and assessing systems’ ability to withstand and recover from such events is a critical component of water infrastructure planning and management. Pipe failures and system structure can substantially impact water infrastructure resilience, but these two factors are often assessed separately. Here, we present a holistic assessment of system performance that considers pipe failures, active water storage, and system structure utilizing data collected during normal and emergency operating conditions. The four-step framework evaluates pipe failures spatially and temporally to assess overall system performance, as measured by active storage, and identifies targeted areas for improvements. Employing control charts, resilience curves, and spatial clustering analysis, our results simultaneously reveal an agreement between trends in pipe failures during normal and emergency operating conditions as well as unexpected discrepancies between pipe failures and system performance due to the water system structure. Our results offer insights to utilities seeking to assess system vulnerabilities to increase water infrastructure resilience to extreme events.

The Implementation of Resilience Engineering to Deal with Climate Change Impact

Climate change is a very interesting subject, because it has been compelling us to review our thinking, our development concepts, practices, paradigms, models, and so on from the view of the environment. In such introspections, we may identify the mistakes, weaknesses and unintended consequences of our development concepts, practices; and we may try to overcome those mistakes and will be conscious to avoid such shortcomings in the future. Land and water resources degradation are the major problems in the world. Poor land use practices and improper management systems have played a significant role in causing high soil erosion rates, sediment transport, and loss of agricultural nutrients. This causes various effects on resource bases like deforestation, expansion of residential areas, and agricultural land. The watershed is also facing high erosion due to the effects of intense rainfall of the watershed which aggravates the land cover change of the watershed. This continuous change in land cover has influenced the water balance of the watershed by changing the magnitude and pattern of the components of stream flow between surface runoff and groundwater flow in increasing the extent of the water management problem. In this study, the assessments of resilience engineering and its function as a framework for the environmental issues, such as resilience and management of water and public infrastructure has been done. After risk assessment, we obtained five risk levels and their corresponding resilience levels. The two can be regarded as negatively correlated. And at the same time, four corresponding adaptions are also proposed according to the resilience levels.

Flood and Food Security in the Benue Valley: Stylized Facts

The scientific consensus is that global climatic change is caused by human activities. Global climate variation has altered the pattern of annual rainfall in most parts of the world, resulting in annual flooding with devastating effects on humanity. With many rivers that crisscross the Nigerian landscape, the country has experienced a number of flood incidents along the river basins (valleys) with varying degrees of devastation. This paper, thus, focuses on the effects of flood on food security in the Benue Valley. The specific objectives of the study include: to examine the effects of flood on food supply; prices of agricultural output; and the level of public and private aids to flood victims within the study area. A sample of households and market leaders were interviewed for the purpose of data collection. Data was equally sourced from Non-governmental Organizations, State Emergency Management Agencies, and other written sources. The data was analyzed and presented using simple bar charts. Findings revealed that there is always a gross inadequacy of food supply during the years of devastating floods compared to years of normal annual rainfall. Prices of agricultural products increased by almost 200% and household income declined significantly during the flood disaster years. Findings also revealed that private organizations sometimes render more aids to flood victims than the public sector. To arrest the danger of annual devastating floods in the Benue Valley, the paper recommends better water infrastructure management strategies like the construction of more dams and dredging of River Benue.

Impact of Xiaolangdi Reservoir on the Evolution of Water Infiltration Influence Zones of the Secondary Perched Reach of the Lower Yellow River

Understanding the complex interplay between water management infrastructure and groundwater dynamics is crucial for sustainable resource utilization. This study investigates water infiltration dynamics in the secondary perched reach of the Yellow River after the operation of the Xiaolangdi Reservoir. The methodology included the application of the single-factor analysis of variance and water balance method, alongside a dual-structure, one-dimensional seepage model to simulate interactions within the system, while exploring characteristics of the groundwater flow system and the exploitation depth of below 100 m. Furthermore, we studied the influence zone range and alterations in river water infiltration in the secondary perched reach of the river following the operation of Xiaolangdi Reservoir. The results show that before the operation of the reservoir, the influence ranges of the north and south banks of the aboveground reach extended from 20.13 km to 20.48 km and 15.85 km to 16.13 km, respectively. Following the initiation of the reservoir, the river channel underwent scouring, leading to enhanced riverbed permeability. Additionally, the influence of long-term groundwater exploitation on both riverbanks extended the influence range of groundwater recharge within the secondary perched reach of the river. The influence zone of the north bank is now 23.41 km–26.74 km and the south bank 18.43 km–21.05 km. After years of shallow groundwater extraction, multiple groundwater depression cones emerged within the five major groundwater source areas on both sides of the river. Notably, deeper water levels (Zhengzhou to Kaifeng) have significantly decreased, with a drop of 42 m to 20 m to 15 m. This change in groundwater dynamics extended beyond the main channel of the river, creating a localized shallow groundwater field.

Simulation of distributed network elements in CAS MAXIMA and server online calculations in the educational process

Pressure pipelines are an important part of the water management infrastructure. Water supply networks pump the liquid to the consumer with the help of pumps (or supply it from a water tower) to specified points. The functioning of the entire urban infrastructure depends on the correct calculation and reliable operation of these areas. This paper shows the implementation of a computer calculation of one of the branched network options using numerical methods in the CAS MAXIMA computer algebra system, its graphic subsystem of symbolic mathematics, and the use of the author's online calculation program with a client-server implementation - https://www.k123.org.ua/jgIHjob1.html .
 The implementation of elements of computer calculations in the educational process allows the generation of an unlimited number of individual variants of initial data. The implementation of computer calculation requires the availability of automatic online generation of answers for each stage of iterative calculations. The task of generating online answers is the basis of the program development.
 An educational online platform is offered for researching the optimality of numerical, graphic and audio formats for setting the problem. The formats of the web form for entering output data have been studied. Online calculations reduce the time spent on typical monotonous operations. Additional possibilities of instant online calculations and visual graphic visualization of calculation results expand the possibilities of modeling individual elements of a branched network.
 The online program allows you to use computer calculations, expand the culture of using applied mathematical methods for engineering calculations, introduce algorithms and data structures, and solve the main task of training future engineers - to ensure a modern level of education and readiness to solve new problems.

Water infrastructure in Central Asia: legal and institutional frameworks

This article examines existing arrangements for the operation, maintenance and construction of water infrastructure of interstate use in Central Asia. The Central Asian countries take diverse approaches to joint management of key water infrastructure of interstate use, with some country owned facilities operated by regional organizations, some owned and operated by the country of location with operation and maintenance cost shared with another country and others owned, operated and funded by the country other than country of location. This diversity is due to the need to accommodate to new political, socio-economic and technical circumstances after gaining independence in 1992. The findings suggest that achievements on coordinated management of water infrastructure largely built in the Soviet time should be further strengthened in terms of better financial and technical mechanisms. It is also important to agree on region-specific provisions on prior notification procedures in cases of proposed use on transboundary rivers that might have a transboundary impact and on the joint and mutually beneficial construction of new facilities of interstate use.

A multi-criteria decision framework for circular wastewater systems in emerging megacities of the Global South

Lima faces increasing water stress due to demographic growth, climate change and outdated water management infrastructure. Moreover, its highly centralized wastewater management system is currently unable to recover water or other resources. Hence, the primary aim of this study is to identify suitable wastewater treatment alternatives for both eutrophication mitigation and indirect potable reuse (IPR). For eutrophication mitigation, we examined MLE, Bardenpho, Step-feed, HF-MBR, and FS-MBR. For IPR, we considered secondary treatment+UF + RO + AOP or MBR + RO + AOP. These alternatives form part of a WWTP network at a district level, aiding Lima's pursuit of a circular economy approach. This perspective allows reducing environmental impacts through resource recovery, making the system more resilient to disasters and future water shortages. The methods used to assess these scenarios were Life Cycle Assessment for the environmental dimension; Life Cycle Costing for the economic perspective; and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis to integrate both the quantitative tools aforementioned and qualitative criteria for social and techno-operational dimensions, which combined, strengthen the decision-making process. The decision-making steered towards Bardenpho for eutrophication abatement when environmental and economic criteria were prioritized or when the four criteria were equally weighted, while HF-MBR was the preferred option when techno-operational and social aspects were emphasized. In this scenario, global warming (GW) impacts ranged from 0.23 to 0.27 kg CO2eq, eutrophication mitigation varied from 6.44 to 7.29 g PO4− equivalent, and costs ranged between 0.12 and 0.17 €/m3. Conversely, HF-MBR + RO + AOP showed the best performance when IPR was sought from the outset. In the IPR scenario, GW impacts were significantly higher, at 0.46–0.51 kg CO2eq, eutrophication abatement was above 98 % and costs increased to ca. 0.44 €/m3.

Strategic Decision-Making in Sustainable Water Management Using Demand Analysis and the Water Evaluation and Planning Model

Water infrastructure management relies on information, communication strategies, and affordable technologies. This paper used demand analysis and modeling to guide strategic decision-making in sustainable water management for the urban cluster in Tlemcen, Algeria. To achieve this, the water supply and demand of the study area were assessed over the past three decades. The Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) system was employed considering different future scenarios to help decision-makers consider the best choices for sustainable urban water resources management. The results showed that the average water production and distribution efficiency was only 46% due to the high network loss. Therefore, urgent action should be considered to increase the efficiency of the distribution network. Moreover, the outcome showed severe unmet demand in 2050, which can be managed by improving the water networks, increasing conventional water production, and reducing personal water consumption. In cooperation with key stakeholders, new scenarios can be analyzed to develop efficient water management policies and to implement sustainable water allocation approaches.

Ecosystem services and sustainable peace in Afghanistan: Gaps in national policy and its security implications

AbstractWhile previous studies underscore the importance of climate‐sensitive approaches to peacebuilding, the relationship between ecosystem services and peace and security, especially at the local level, has been insufficiently studied. We argue that ecosystem services are often neglected by national‐level actors and insufficiently integrated into peacebuilding interventions and project design. In fact, policy discourse at highly aggregate levels of analysis silences local, community understandings of ecosystem services and its potential for contributing to sustainable peace. For example, despite investment in community development in Afghanistan via the Citizens' Charter Afghanistan Project, there is scant reference to ‘ecosystem services’ on which Afghans are so reliant, much less any policy planning informed by it and directed at addressing climate and environmental risks. Drawing on evidence from Kabul and Herat provinces in Afghanistan, we illuminate the intersections among insecurity, environmental sustainability and ecosystem services. Specifically, we examine water‐related services in Chest‐e Sharif district in Herat province and demonstrate how the lack of water availability and (mis)management of water infrastructure contribute to local communities' sense of precarity and government neglect. The findings inform our policy recommendations which are intended to address these gaps.