Investigation and Evaluation of Urban Water Distribution System in Terms of Passive Defense Using Fuzzy DEMATEL Technique

Background and objective: Water supply networks are among the main and vital infrastructures of any city, therefore maintaining the safety of water supply facilities and considering necessary arrangements during encountering the critical conditions is among the main concerns of officials related to security issues of any country. For this purpose, investigation of these facilities in terms of passive defense could considerably reduce their risk against manmade hazards. In this research, first the principles of passive defense in relation to the field of urban water supply network were identified and their importance was determined, then the results were examined. Method: The present research is practical in nature, and in execution is a combination of descriptive-analytical methods based on the desk research. In addition to interviewing experts and specialists in this study area, the Fuzzy Decision Making Trial and Evaluation was employed in this research for calculations and identifying the impactability and impact of each factor. Findings: The findings of this investigation and the assessment of studied water supply network in this research using the Fuzzy DEMATEL method revealed the very high importance of continuous service (B9), repairability (B6), dispersion (B5), cover and deception (B8), camouflage and concealment (B7). Also concerning the urban water supply facilities, the human fatalities (B1), detectability (B4), and accessibility (B3) have a high importance. The Economic damage (B10) has a low importance and the extension factor (B2) has a negligible importance in examining the urban water supply facilities from the passive defense perspective. Conclusion: Regarding the importance of urban water supply topic in the cities, it could be stated that it is essential to have a thorough investigation of urban facilities in the urban sector considering all the principles of passive defense to maintain protection and security and to enhance urban sustainable development. Therefore all the urban water supply measures and indices in the cities were separately assessed.