Prioritising sewerage maintenance using inferred sewer age: a case study for Edinburgh
1Sustainable Water Management Research Group, School of the Built Environment, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, Scotland, UK. s.arthur@hw.ac.uk
Summary
This study used GIS and historical maps to estimate sewer pipe age, revealing that older pipes are more prone to failure. This helps prioritize infrastructure maintenance for critical water systems.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Engineering
- Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
- Asset Management
Background:
- Sewer systems are critical infrastructure requiring effective condition assessment.
- Accurate asset age data is often missing in existing sewer network registries.
- Deterioration and failure of sewer pipes pose significant environmental and economic risks.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a GIS-based sewer condition model for a Scottish catchment.
- To address the challenge of estimating the age of individual sewer pipe segments.
- To validate the use of inferred asset age as an indicator of pipe failure likelihood.
Main Methods:
- Integrated customer contact data and CCTV survey results into a GIS platform.
- Inferred sewer pipe age by overlaying the network with historical digital maps to correlate with surface development ages.
- Utilized GIS analysis to link inferred asset age to pipe condition and failure risk.
Main Results:
- Successfully constructed a GIS-based sewer condition model.
- Demonstrated that inferred asset age, derived from historical mapping, is a reliable proxy for actual pipe age.
- Highlighted a strong correlation between inferred older asset age and increased likelihood of pipe failure.
Conclusions:
- Inferred asset age is a viable and cost-effective method for prioritizing sewer maintenance.
- The developed GIS model provides valuable insights for proactive sewer network management.
- This approach can improve the longevity and reliability of aging underground infrastructure.
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