Condition assessment and rehabilitation of deteriorated buried pressure water pipes using MPEP

Abstract

Assessing the levels of deterioration of buried pipelines is a significant asset management problem for most water utilities. The lack of asset condition information, particularly for old reticulation mains, compounds this problem, forcing utilities to adopt a reactive maintenance approach for their ageing assets. We propose a simple framework to evaluate the condition of buried pipelines that works with limited or incomplete data. Water utilities typically keep records of different combinations of pipe and backfill information. Therefore, we use a three-step, modular approach compatible with a wide range of datasets to predict the level of deterioration for an old water main. The three steps are organized by the most common groups of input data available to utilities, with the option to use any combination of steps and to skip up to two steps, depending on data availability. These methods can be used for metallic (ferrous) or Asbestos Cement (AC) pipelines, and algorithms have been developed for condition assessment using the given inputs. The condition of the pipeline is computed as a “condition grade”, which can be subsequently used for categorising or prioritising pipelines for replacement or rehabilitation processes. The users can then directly examine the composite lined pipe to determine either the liner thickness or service life required. The algorithms presented here have been incorporated into the Monash Pipe Evaluation Platform (MPEP), a web-based platform (https://mpep.wsaa.asn.au/) developed in the CRC-P Smart Linings Project to assist utilities and practitioners to select suitable trenchless rehabilitation techniques for a pipeline.

Techniques