Funding Infrastructure Renewal Plan for Water Distribution System

Canadian municipalities spend $12 to $15 billion annually on infrastructure but it never seems to be enough. Moreover, some municipal water systems in Canada were installed over 100 years ago. The challenge of funding infrastructure renewal is not really a financial challenge so much as it is a planning challenge. The developed funding renewal plan considers several factors and their effect on prioritizing candidate water mains. Considered factors are: Risk of miss-allocation in case of repair is not done due to insufficient funds on property damage, public safety, road traffic, and service’s disruption, Population served, Water quality, Pipe’s Physical properties (Material, Age, Diameter) , Pipe’s Operational properties (Water pressure, Break rate (BR) since installation and BR (last 5 years). The funding plan is developed using an integrated analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and Multi attribute utility theory (MAUT) based on 33 judgments of municipal experts across Canada in order to enhance its accuracy and efficiency. A prioritization fund index is developed, which numerically ranges from “0” to “10”, where the larger the number the higher the priority of the candidate is for fund allocation. Two cases have been implemented to demonstrate the capabilities of the developed renewal plan. Funding plan is relevant to researchers and practitioners (municipal engineers, consultants, and contractors) in order to support decision to prioritize a main for fund allocation.