Failure Prevention in Large-Diameter Water Pipelines Using Reliability-Centered Maintenance
Authors: Geisbush James , Ariaratnam Samuel T. 
Published: December 2023

The consequences of failures from large-diameter water pipelines can be severe. Results can include significant property damage, adjacent damage to infrastructure such as roads and bridges resulting in transportation delays or shutdowns, adjacent structural damage to buildings resulting in loss of business, service disruption to a significant number of customers, loss of water, costly emergency repairs, and even loss of life. The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) in the United States found that flooding was the greatest concern due to its potential duration, the potential for broad geographic impact, and its role in crater creation. Public safety, property damage, social and economic consequences, and loss of water service and for how long is also of paramount concern. The American Water Works Association’s (AWWA) 2020 “State of the Water Industry” report states that the top issue facing the water industry since 2016 is aging infrastructure, with the second being financing for improvements. The industry needs to find novel ways of extending asset life and reducing maintenance expenditures. While there are many different assets that comprise the water/wastewater industry, pipelines are a major component and are often neglected because they are typically buried. Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM) is a process used to determine the most effective maintenance strategy for an asset, with the ultimate goal being to establish the required function of the asset considering the required reliability and availability at the lowest cost. The RCM philosophy considers Preventive Maintenance, Predictive Maintenance, Condition Based Monitoring, Reactive Maintenance, and Proactive Maintenance techniques in an integrated manner to increase the probability an asset will perform its designed function throughout its design life with minimal maintenance. RCM requires maintenance decisions be based on maintenance requirements supported by sound technical and economic justification. However, one industry where principles of RCM are in its infancy is the water/wastewater industry. This paper provides a case example and numeric modeling for use in RCM analyses for developing maintenance strategies for large-diameter water pipelines, particularly prestressed concrete pipelines, and proposes an approach for determining the most effective and efficient maintenance activities for large-diameter prestressed concrete water pipelines. The case study discussed in this paper analyzed wire breaks over time to predict when certain thresholds would be reached. The intent of this study is to predict when a specified threshold will be reached. From the RCM, a threshold was set to begin planning, budgeting, and scheduling maintenance activities when 55% of the wires in a frame or two adjoining frames are distressed or when 65% of the wires in non-adjacent frames are distressed. The results from the numeric model predict the 55% threshold may be reached in August 2025 for the most distressed pipe segment.