Disaster Resilience Framework

Section 9

Water and Wastewater Systems

Presenter: Don Ballantyne

NIST Disaster Resilience Fellow
Introduction - Interdependencies

• Power – pumping

• Transportation – staff, supplies, emergency 

response

• Communication – SCADA, Radio/Cellular

• Buildings – Offices, Customers

• Petroleum - generators
All components operable to deliver water

• Supply

• Transmission

• Treatment

• Pumping

• Storage

• Distribution

Water Infrastructure
• Supply

• Groundwater – wells

• Flood - contamination

• Earthquake – casing, connecting pipe, power 

supply

• Surface Water – snow melt, runoff

• Spills, flood – contamination- Elk River West 

Virginia MCHM impacting supply for 300,000 people

• Wild fires – sediment

• Landslides

Water Infrastructure
• Transmission

• Landslide

• Earthquake – liquefaction

• Treatment

• Earthquake – Loma 

Prieta 1989, Northridge 1994

• Flooding – Des Moines 1991 

Water Infrastructure
• Pumping 

• Flood inundation

• Earthquake

• Storage

• Hurricane -

• Earthquake - buckling

Water Infrastructure

Photo credit: FEMA

Photo credit: David 

Goldbloom-Helzner
• Distribution

• Flood – Jamestown CO

• Earthquake –

Kobe Japan

Water Infrastructure

Photo credit: David 

Goldbloom-Helzner
Only collection needs to be operable to address 

public health

• Collection

• Conveyance

• Pumping

• Treatment

• Discharge

Wastewater Infrastructure
• Collection, Conveyance

• Flooding, inundation

• Earthquake liquefaction causes flotation

• Pumping

• Flooding, inundation

• Earthquake - flotation

• Treatment 

• Flooding

• Earthquake

Wastewater Infrastructure
Example Performance Goals - 

Expected

0 1 1 - 3 1 - 4 8 - 12 4 4 - 24

Source

Raw or source water and terminal reservoirs 90%

Raw water conveyance (pump stations and piping to WTP) 90% X

Potable water at supply (WTP, wells, impoundment) 30% 60% 90% X

Water for fire suppression at key supply points 90% X

Transmission (including Booster Stations)

Backbone transmission facilities (pipelines, pump stations, and tanks) 90% X

Control Systems

SCADA or other control systems 30% 60% 90% X

Distribution

Critical Facilities 

Wholesale Users (other communities, rural water districts) 60% 90%

Hospitals, EOC, Police Station, Fire Stations 60% 90% X

Emergency Housing

Emergency Shelters 60% 90% X

Housing/Neighborhoods

Drink water available at community distribution centers 60% 90%

Water for fire suppression at fire hydrants 90% X

Functional Category: Cluster

Overall Recovery Time for Hazard and Level Listed

Expected Hazard Level

Short-Term - Days Intermediate - Wks Long-Term - Mos
• Federal – little direction for extreme events

• State – primacy for Federal programs

• Codes and Standards

• International Building Code – structures

• ASCE-7 Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and 

Other Structures

• AWWA, ACI – tanks

• No pipeline codes or standards

• Guidelines

Water and Wastewater 

Infrastructure –

Regulatory Environment
• Great Flood of 1993 – Des Moines WTP 

inundated, 

• 12 days non-potable, 19 days potable

• Northridge 1994, Kobe 1995 – both had 

1,000+ pipeline failures

• Northridge 12 days full service; Kobe 60 days

• Christchurch NZ and Tohoku Japan 2011

• Both had outages greater than 40 days

Water and Wastewater 

Infrastructure –

Historic Recovery Levels
• Tier 1 – high level, workshop setting

• Tier 2 – published scenarios (USGS) HAZUS-MH 

(FEMA), ALA (American Lifelines Alliance)

• Tier 3 – detailed assessments

• AWWA J100 – Standard for Risk and Resilience 

Management of Water and Wastewater Systems

Water and Wastewater 

Infrastructure – Quantify 

Expected Performance
• Feedback on “Framework”

• Recovery - the weakest link?

• Water versus wastewater importance

• Community interaction – who takes the lead

– Cities, counties, 

– Private - public

• Economic impacts – FEMA, other

Water and Wastewater 

Infrastructure –

Workshop Questions