Reduction of Physical Threats to Water Distribution Systems1

Abstract

The potential threats to U.S. water supply systems have changed fundamentally in the past 4 years. Prior to 2001, the major threats were natural causes, accidents, and some malicious behavior by a small group of individuals. Against these threats, water supply agencies have done a truly remarkable job of ensuring a safe, dependable supply. However, threats posed by an organized group of actors may represent a new and different challenge to the security of water supplies. A tool to assist in identifying possible attacks has been developed. Knowledge of these attack scenarios may help in designing countermeasures. The tool uses evolutionary computation as the optimization method, and EPANET as the system simulator. Examples of its use to identify effective physical attacks against a realistic but hypothetical pipe network and initial corresponding countermeasures are presented.