The East Bay Municipal Utility District (the District) supplies water treatment
for twenty communities in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties in California.
Approximately 1.1 million people are served by the District's water system. The
water distribution system includes five water treatment plants, over 150 pumping
plants, over 160 storage reservoirs and over 3,950 miles of distribution
pipelines. These pipelines range in size from 2 inches to 96 inches and are
comprised of a number of materials including steel, polyvinyl chloride (PVC),
cast iron (CI), asbestos-cement (AC), and ductile iron (DI). Some of the pipe in
the system is over 90 years old and the median age is 31 years. The system
experienced two significant growth periods, one in the 20s and 30s and the next
in the 50s and 60s. Pipe installed during the first period was predominately CI,
without lining and coating. The AC and CI pipelines make up the highest
percentages of pipe material in the system at 29% and 38% respectively and
represent some of the oldest pipe. The DI pipe is responsible for 80% of the
leaks. The District was concerned that the DI pipe will start displaying a
failure frequency that is a function of its age. This paper will explain the
methodology the District has developed to determine how much pipe it needs to
replace to keep annual leak rates constant and the methods used to decide which
pipelines should be replaced each year. Includes figures.
| Edition : | Vol. - No. |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 750 KB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 10 |
| Published : | 01/01/2000 |
