Steven Folkman, Ammon Sorensen, Thomas Fronk
Papers # 2012 Barcelona
During 2011 Utah State University conducted a survey of utilities across the USA and Canada to obtain data on water main failures of municipal and private water supply systems. A total of 1,051 surveys were distributed and there were 188 respondents. The total length of pipe covered by the survey is 189,264 km (117,603 miles). The focus of this survey was to examine the number of failures utilities were experiencing and how those failures related to the pipe materials used. A goal of this survey was to look at which materials were performing best at the current time and to track how pipe age affects failure rates. The results show that PVC pipe failure rate being approximately one half that of ductile iron and one tenth that of cast iron. The survey also looks at other aspects including current pipe inventories that are in use, how inventories vary on a regional basis, operating parameters, failure modes, and which pipe materials are allowed at utilities.
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