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Picture for Break Reduction/Life Extension for Municipal Water Pipelines
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Break Reduction/Life Extension for Municipal Water Pipelines

Product Number: 51324-20658-SG
Author: Erin Nelson; Ed Richey
Publication Date: 2024
$40.00
A 2018 study by Utah State University indicated that the condition of North America’s water infrastructure is in a state of steady decline. That research determined that the water main break rate increased 27% for the 6-year period between 2012-2018, with over 80% of the cast iron pipelines currently in service being over 50 years old. Referenced statistics indicate there has been an average of 14 leaks per 100 miles of operating pipeline, and that each mile of pipeline serves approximately 300 consumers. Further increases in the water main leak rate represent a major disruption in reliable water supply to a large population. Excluding third-party damage, metal loss because of corrosion is the most common cause of premature failure and leakage of buried pipelines. Corrosion is a predictable process, whereas third-party damage is random in nature. Methodologies have been developed over the past few decades to identify anomalies and areas susceptible to active corrosion on underground pipelines. Using the data from these analytics, it is possible to implement local corrosion control to rapidly decrease the water main break rate. A methodology has been developed and applied to drive this process in a systematic approach. Break Reduction/Life Extension (BRLE) is a proactive engineering program developed to: · Reduce the number of future breaks on water system piping · Extend the operational life of existing water system piping Using a combination of factors, such as pipeline age, materials type and break history, with the data gathered in the field, it is possible to identify activities to initiate measures to reduce the water main break rate. This paper will present details on the BRLE methodology and provide data from case studies to demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach.