Evaluating Water Quality Failure Potential in Water Distribution Systems: A Fuzzy-TOPSIS-OWA-based Methodology

M. Islam, Rehan Sadiq (), Manuel Rodriguez, Homayoun Najjaran, Alex Francisque and Mina Hoorfar
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Mohammad Ariful Islam Arif ()

Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), 2013, vol. 27, issue 7, 2195-2216

Abstract: The goal of a water distribution system (WDS) is to deliver safe water with desirable quality, quantity and continuity to the consumers. In some cases, a WDS fails to deliver safe water due to the compromise/ failure of water quality which may have devastating consequences. The frequency and consequence of a water quality failure (WQF) can be reduced if prognostic analysis and necessary remedial measures are taken on time. This study developed a prognostic model to predict WQF potential in a WDS. The study identifies important factors (parameters) which can directly and/or indirectly linked to WQFs. These factors are classified into two groups—the causes of WQF such as lack of free residual chlorine, or excess of total organic carbon, and the symptoms of WQF such as taste & odor, color which are in fact the effects of certain causes of WQF. The interrelationships among the symptoms and the causes have been established based on extensive literature review and elicited expert opinion. A fuzzy-TOPSIS-OWA-based model has been developed to identify the impacts of different influencing parameters on the overall WQF potential. The developed model has been implemented for a WDS in Quebec City (Canada). To study the impacts of uncertainties of the influencing factors, a Monte Carlo simulation-based sensitivity analysis has been carried out. It is anticipated that the developed model can help water utilities to understand the role of different factors on WQF. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013

Keywords: Water distribution system (WDS); Water quality failure (WQF) potential; Fuzzy sets; TOPSIS; OWA and Monte Carlo simulations (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11269-013-0283-6 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:waterr:v:27:y:2013:i:7:p:2195-2216

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/11269

DOI: 10.1007/s11269-013-0283-6

Access Statistics for this article

Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA) is currently edited by G. Tsakiris

More articles in Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA) from Springer, European Water Resources Association (EWRA)
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().