Urban water infrastructure - complex yet simple

Sponsor: FWF - The Austrian Science Fund

Project team: Robert SITZENFREI, Sina HESARKAZZAZI, Mohsen HAJIBABAEI

Project duration: 09/2018 - 09/2021

Brief description:

Urban water management deals with all water-related processes in cities and is a cornerstone of social well-being. The water infrastructure is traditionally integrated into the urban fabric in the form of pipe networks, distributes drinking water and collects rainwater and wastewater. Together with the city itself, the urban water infrastructure has grown into organic and complex systems over the last few decades. In nature and also in many technical systems, such networks are described using graph-theoretical relationships and bring simplicity to complex structures.

One of the aims of this project is to use principles and graph-theoretical concepts and algorithms to describe evolved water infrastructure systems. This should help to maintain the high standard in industrialised countries and also to implement it efficiently in developing countries. If sufficient information and data on the water networks are available, hydraulic network models are suitable for assessment and optimisation. Another cornerstone of u r simple is to compile the necessary information for such assessment goals or to reconstruct missing information. The innovative concept of "uncertainties in the network structure" for the assessment and supplementation of such infrastructure data is to be developed and established in this work.

Urban water management structures have life expectancies of 100 years and more. Therefore, the current structures are also strongly characterised by historical installations and decisions. In the same way, current decisions and installations will have a long-term influence on future performance. It is therefore particularly important to understand how the current structures came about historically. However, reliable information on this is usually rare and difficult to collect. The suitability of the concept of "uncertainties in the network structure" and data reconstruction will be expanded and analysed to answer this question. The hypothesis is that available data sources, such as historical orthophotos, can be used to reconstruct the historical expansion status of the water infrastructure and thus provide added value in terms of cost and resource efficiency, rehabilitation planning and future planning for the current structures. Therefore, influencing factors for robust, resilient and flexible strategies will be identified in order to maintain the high standard of water infrastructure.

Articles in journals and conferences

  • Sitzenfrei, R.: (2021): Using complex network analysis for water quality assessment in large water distribution systems. In: Water Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2021.117359
  • Sitzenfrei, R.; Wang, Q.; Kapelan, Z.; Savic, D.: (2020): Using complex network analysis for optimisation of water distribution networks. In: Water Resources Research, 56. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020WR027929
  • Hajibabaei, M.; Hesarkazzazi, S.; Lima, M.S,S.; Gschösser, F.; Sitzenfrei, R. (2020): Environmental assessment of construction and renovation of water distribution networks considering uncertainty analysis. In: Urban Water Journal, (published online); DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1573062X.2020.1783326
  • Hesarkazzazi, S.; Hajibabaei, M.; Reyes-Silva, J.D.; Krebs, P. Sitzenfrei, R. (2020): Assessing Redundancy in Stormwater Structures under Hydraulic Design. In: Water 2020, 12(4) 1003; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/w12041003
  • Reyes-Silva, J.D.; Zischg, J.; Klinkhamer, C.; Rao, P.S.C; Sitzenfrei, R.; Krebs, P. (2020): Centrality and Shortest Path Length measures for the functional analysis of Urban Drainage Networks. In Applied Network Science. 5:1 https://doi.org/10.1007/s41109-019-0247-8
  • Diao, Kegong & Sitzenfrei, Robert & Rauch, Wolfgang. (2019). The Impacts of Spatially Variable Demand Patterns on Water Distribution System Design and Operation. Water. 11. 567. https://doi.org/10.3390/w11030567
  • Hajibabaei, Mohsen & Hesarkazzazi, Sina & Gschösser, Florian & Sitzenfrei, Robert. (2019). Identifying the least amount of data for reliable life cycle assessment of water distribution networks. Conference Paper from 17th International Computing & Control for the Water Industry Conference, At Exeter, United Kingdom
  • Hajibabaei, Mohsen & Nazif, Sara & Sitzenfrei, Robert. (2019). Improving the Performance of Water Distribution Networks Based on the Value Index in the System Dynamics Framework. Water. 11. 2445. https://doi.org/10.3390/w11122445
  • Hesarkazzazi, Sina & Hajibabaei, Mohsen & Sitzenfrei, Robert. (2019). Functional Properties of Stormwater Systems Based on Graph Theory. Conference Paper from 17th International Computing & Control for the Water Industry Conference, At Exeter, United Kingdom
  • Jia, Ning & Sitzenfrei, Robert & Rauch, & Liang, & Liu, Fencheng. (2019). Effects of Urban Forms on Separate Drainage Systems: A Virtual City Perspective. Water. 11. 758. https://doi.org/10.3390/w11040758
  • Sitzenfrei, Robert & Oberascher, Martin & Zischg, Jonatan. (2019). Identification of network patterns in optimal water distribution systems based on complex network analysis. Conference Paper from World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2019. 473-483. https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784482353.045
  • Zischg, Jonatan & Klinkhamer, Christopher & Zhan, Xianyuan & Rao, P. & Sitzenfrei, Robert. (2019). A Century of Topological Coevolution of Complex Infrastructure Networks in an Alpine City. Complexity. 2019. 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/2096749
  • Zischg, Jonatan & Reyes-Silva, Julian & Klinkhamer, Christopher & Krueger, Elisabeth & Krebs, Peter & Rao, P. & Sitzenfrei, Robert. (2019). Complex Network Analysis of Water Distribution Systems in Their Dual Representation Using Isolation Valve Information. Conference Paper from World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2019. 484-497. https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784482353.046
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