In this study, we analyzed how the revenue water ratio(RWR) is affected by changes in conditions of the water supply area, such as the ratio of aging pipes, maintenance conditions, and revenue water. As a result of analyzing the impact of pipe aging and maintenance conditions on the RWR, it was confirmed that the RWR could be decreased if the pipe replacement project to improve the aging pipe ratio was not carried out and proper maintenance costs were not secured. It was also confirmed that an increase in the revenue water could be operated to facilitate the achievement of the project’s target RWR. In contrast, a decrease in the revenue water due to a population reduction could affect the failure of the target RWR. In addition to analyzing the causes of variation in the RWR, the calculation of estimated project costs was considered by using leakage reduction instead of RWR from recent RWR improvement project cost data. From this analysis, it was reviewed whether the project costs planned to achieve the target RWR of the RWR improvement project in A city were appropriate. In conclusion, the RWR could be affected by variations in the ratio of aging pipes, maintenance conditions, and revenue water, and it was reasonable to consider not only the construction input but also the input related to RWR improvement, such as leakage reduction, when calculating the project cost.

The water consumption data of individual consumers must be analyzed and forecast to establish an effective water demand management plan. A k-mean cluster model that can monitor water use characteristics based on hourly water consumption data measured using automated meter reading devices and demographic factors is developed in this study. In addition, the quantification model that can estimate the daily water consumption is developed. K-mean cluster analysis based on the four clusters shows that the average silhouette coefficient is 0.63, also the silhouette coefficients of each cluster exceed 0.60, thereby verifying the high reliability of the cluster analysis. Furthermore, the clusters are clearly classified based on water usage and water usage patterns. The correlation coefficients of four quantification models for estimating water consumption exceed 0.74, confirming that the models can accurately simulate the investigated demographic data. The statistical significance of the models is considered reasonable, hence, they are applicable to the actual field. Because the use of automated smart water meters has become increasingly popular in recent year, water consumption has been metered remotely in many areas. The proposed methodology and the results obtained in this study are expected to facilitate improvements in the usability of smart water meters in the future.

The water supply facilities of Korea have achieved a rapid growth, along with the other social infrastructures consisting a city, due to the phenomenon of urbanization according to economic development. Meanwhile, the level of water supply service demanded by consumer is also steadily getting higher in keeping with economic growth. However, as an adverse effect of rapid growth, the quantity of aged water supply pipes are increasing rapidly, Bursts caused by pipe aging brought about an enormous economic loss of about 6,161 billion won as of 2019. These problems are not only worsening water supply management, also increasing the regional gap in water supply services. The purpose of this study is to classify hazard evaluation indicators and to rank the water distribution network hazard by cluster using the TOPSIS method. In conclusion, in this study, the entropy-based multi-criteria decision-making methods was applied to rank the hazard management of the water distribution network, and the hazard management ranking for each cluster according to the water supply conditions of the county-level municipalities was determined according to the evaluation indicators of water outage, water leakage, and pipe aging. As such, the hazard ranking method proposed in this study can consider various factors that can impede the tap water supply service in the water distribution network from a macroscopic point of view, and it can be reflected in evaluating the degree of hazard management of the water distribution network from a preventive point of view. Also, it can be utilized in the implementation of the maintenance plan and water distribution network management project considering the equity of water supply service and the stability of service supply.

In this study, a model to optimize residual chlorine concentrations in a water supply system was developed using a multi-objective genetic algorithm. Moreover, to quantify the effects of optimized residual chlorine concentration management and to consider customer service requirements, this study developed indices to quantify the spatial and temporal distributions of residual chlorine concentration. Based on the results, the most economical operational method to manage booster chlorination was derived, which would supply water that satisfies the service level required by consumers, as well as the cost-effectiveness and operation requirements relevant to the service providers. A simulation model was then created based on an actual water supply system (i.e., the Multi-regional Water Supply W in Korea). Simulated optimizations were successful, evidencing that it is possible to meet the residual chlorine concentration demanded by consumers at a low cost.

This research proposes an optimal flushing operation technique in an effort to prevent secondary water pollutions and accidents in aged pipes, and to improve the cleaning effect of unidirectional flushing. Water flow directions were analyzed using EPANET 2.0, while flushing and air scouring experiments in forward and reverse directions were performed in the field. In 42 experiments, average residual chlorine concentration and turbidity were improved after cleaning compared to before cleaning. It was found that even when the same cleaning method was used, further improvement of cleaning effect was possible by applying air injection and reverse direction cleaning techniques. By means of one-way ANOVA(Analysis of variance), it was also possible to statistically verify the need of actively utilizing air injection and reverse direction cleaning. Based on correlation between turbidity and TSS, the total amount of suspended solids removal was estimated for 874 flushing operations and 194 air scouring operations. The result showed that air scouring used more discharge water than flushing by an average of 4.9 m3 yet with larger amounts of suspended solids removal by an average of 145.9 g. The result of analysis on turbidity values from 887 flushing operations showed low cleaning effect of unidirectional flushing for the pipes with diameters over 300 mm. In addition, the turbidity values measured during cleaning showed an increasing tendency as pipe age increased. The methodology and results of this research are expected to contribute to the efficient maintenance and improvement of water quality in water distribution networks. Follow-up research involving the measurement of water quality at regular time intervals during cleaning would allow a more accurate comparison of discharge water quality characteristics and cleaning effects between different cleaning methods. To this end, it is considered necessary to develop a standardized manual that can be used in the field and to provide relevant trainings.

Water supply/intake pumps operation use 70~80% of power costs in water treatment plants. In the water treatment plant, seasonal and hourly differential electricity rates are applied, so proper pump scheduling can yield power cost savings. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to develop an optimal water supply pump scheduling scheme. An optimal operation method of water supply pumps by using genetic algorithm was developed. Also, a method to minimize power cost for water supply pump operation based on pump performance derived from the thermodynamic pump efficiency measurement method was proposed. Water level constraints to provide sufficient disinfection performance in a clearwell and reservoirs were calibrated. In addition, continuous operation time constraints were calibrated to prevent frequent pump switching. As a result of optimization, savings ratios during 7 days in winter and summer were 4.5% and 5.1%, respectively. In this study, the method for optimal water pump operation was developed to secure disinfection performance in the clearwell and to save power cost. It is expected that it will be used as a more advanced optimal water pump operation method through further studies such as water demand forecasting and efficiency according to pump combination.

This study aimed to develop a method to optimize residual chlorine concentrations in the process of providing water supply. To this end, this study developed a model capable of optimizing the chlorine input into the clearwell in the purification plant and the optimal installation location of rechlorination facilities, and chlorine input. This study applied genetic algorithms finding the optimal point with appropriate residual chlorine concentrations and deriving a cost-optimal solution. The developed model was applied to SN purification plant supply area. As a result, it was possible to meet the target residual chlorine concentration with the minimum cost. Also, the optimal operation method in target area according to the water temperature and volume of supply was suggested. On the basis of the results, this study derived the most economical operational method of coping with water pollution in the process of providing water supply and satisfying the service level required by consumers in the aspects of cost effectiveness. It is considered possible to appropriately respond to increasing service level required by consumers in the future and to use the study results to establish an operational management plan in a short-term perspective.

For the asset management of a water pipe network, it would be necessary to understand the extent of the maintenance cost required for the water pipe network for the future. This study would develop a method to draw the optimum cost required for the maintenance of the water pipe network in waterworks facilities to maintain the aim revenue water ratio and to achieve the target revenue water ratio, considering the water service providers’ waterworks condition and revenue water ratio comprehensively. This study conducted a survey with 96 water service providers as of the early 2015 and developed models to estimate the optimum maintenance cost of the water pipe network, considering the characteristics of the water service providers. Since the correlation coefficient of all the developed models was higher than 0.95, it turned out that it had significant reliability, which was statistically significant. As a result of applying the developed models to the actual water service providers, it was drawn that increasing revenue water ratio to more than a certain level can reduce the maintenance cost of the water pipe network by a great deal. In other words, it is judged that it would be the most efficient to secure the reliability of waterworks management by increasing the short-term revenue water ratio to more than a certain level and gradually increase the revenue water ratio from the long-term perspective. It is expected that the proposed methodology proposed in this study and the results of the study will be used as a basic research for planning the maintenance of water pipe network or establishing a plan for waterworks facilities asset management.