Criticality Assessment of Pipes in Water Distribution Networks Based on the Minimum Pressure Criterion

A new criticality indicator for Water Distribution Networks (WDNs) is presented. The new indicator is based on the minimum pressure (MP) model, which relies on the assumption that air can enter the pipes, e.g., when failure occurs in water scarcity scenarios, and maintain a minimum pressure equal to zero in the whole network. The proposed indicator properly integrates topological features, provided by structural hole theory, with the hydraulic constraints provided by the WDN steady-state solution, with a particular focus on pipes where occurring free surface flow leads to a serious reduction in the quality of the network service. The new indicator leads to a new criterion for the prioritized maintenance of pipes in existing networks, as well as for the design and planning of new ones, which is different from the one derived from other popular indicators. Three real-life WDNs are selected as test cases.