Smart and Integrated Management Methods for Sustainable Water Distribution Systems

供水系统(WDS)向加拿大各地数百万人输送必要的清洁水。然而，这项关键服务的安全和高效提供受到基础设施老化以及城市增长和气候变化推动的日益增长的需求的威胁。当前的WDS生命周期决策仍然是以孤立的方式进行的，这会导致效率低下、成本上升、基础设施恶化和更频繁的故障。该计划的总体目标是促进对WDS的理解和生命周期管理决策的影响，并开发用于智能WDS管理的模型、方法和指南，以提高其可持续性和弹性。这将通过三个主要目标来实现：(1)加深对运行和维护(O&M)对管道劣化的影响的了解；(2)开发综合的管道维护、更新和设计优化方法；(3)开发考虑WDS劣化和性能的泵运行优化方法。拟议的研究将建立在申请人对管道劣化的研究基础上，该研究已产生了关于劣化驱动因素和新的机器学习模型的研究结果。这项研究将涉及数据分析、水力建模、机器学习和优化之间的平衡。首先，将开发新的管道劣化模型，该模型考虑了管道保护实践和动态WDS压力。利用这些模型，将开发出新的综合管道维护、更新和设计优化方法。最后，将比较WDS在实时运营和日常运营下的性能，并将开发高级运营优化模型来考虑生命周期成本和性能。劣化模型和优化方法将为建立开源的WDSS集成决策支持平台奠定基础。拟议的计划还将通过几个指导方针、经验公式、框架、启发式和建议来推进WDS管理领域。它还将培训下一代公用事业管理人员、基础设施规划者和资产管理人员，使他们掌握建立关键水利基础设施模型的先进方法，并开发以生命周期为导向的解决方案，以便对其进行有效管理。这些能力对于管理加拿大面临气候变化和基础设施老化的城市的水利基础设施至关重要。

Water distribution systems (WDSs) convey essential clean water to millions of people across Canada. However, the safe and efficient delivery of this crucial service is jeopardized by aging infrastructure and increasing demands driven by urban growth and climate change. Current WDS lifecycle decisions are still being made in a siloed fashion, which leads to inefficiencies, higher costs, greater infrastructure deterioration, and more frequent failures. The overarching goal of this program is to advance the understanding of WDSs and the impact of lifecycle management decisions, as well as develop models, methods, and guidelines for smart WDS management, that improve their sustainability and resilience. This will be achieved through three main objectives: (1) Advance the understanding of the impacts of operations and maintenance (O&M) on pipe deterioration; (2) Develop integrated pipe maintenance, renewal and design optimization methods; and (3) Develop pump operation optimization methods that consider WDS deterioration and performance. The proposed research will build upon the applicant's research on pipe deterioration, which has generated findings on deterioration driving factors and new machine learning models. The research will involve a balance between data analysis, hydraulic modelling, machine learning, and optimization. First, novel pipe deterioration models will be developed, that account for pipe protection practices and dynamic WDS pressures. Using these models, new integrated pipe maintenance, renewal and design optimization methods will be developed. Lastly, WDS performance under real-time and daily operations will be compared and an advanced operation optimization model will be developed to account for lifecycle costs and performance. The deterioration models and optimization methods will form the foundation for an open-source integrated decision support platform for WDSs. The proposed program will also advance the area of WDS management through several guidelines, empirical equations, frameworks, heuristics, and recommendations. It will also train the next generation of utility managers, infrastructure planners and asset managers in advanced methods for modelling critical water infrastructure and developing lifecycle driven solutions for their efficient management. These abilities are crucial for managing the water infrastructure in Canadian cities that are faced with climate change and aging infrastructure.