Performance of Integrated Municipal Water System during Drought

Abstract

Drought poses a serious risk to the performance of an integrated municipal water system (MWS), subjecting it to the combined effect of increased demands and decreased supplies. In this study, the performance of an integrated MWS is investigated under two failure scenarios: (1) Available supply less than the required demand; and (2) system capacity less than the demand rate. The reliability bounds approach is used to estimate the overall reliability of integrated MWSs. The use of the reliability bounds to estimate the integrated MWS reliability is a powerful technique for water systems involving multiple failure modes. This analysis provides a set of guidelines for MWS managers to improve system performance. This study finds that pressure requirements of MWSs are frequently the binding constraints on reliability during drought. This conclusion suggests more attention be paid to pressure‐reduction schemes in managing drought impacts.