Research roadmap for main breaks

The need for investments in water infrastructure has been greatly publicized by the US EPA, WaterRF, ASCE, and many researchers, yet interest from the general public remains limited unless communities have been adversely affected. One of the more devastating effects of an aging potable water system is water main breaks. Main breaks are also a primary indicator of the condition of a distribution system due to their impact on system integrity, pressure and other operational parameters (Friedman et al., 2010). Recent studies estimate that water utilities maintain more than 2 million miles of distribution system mains in the US (EPA, 2006). The US EPA reports that there are an estimated 240,000 main breaks/year (∼650/day) in the US (EPA, 2007) and other studies suggest that between 700 and 850 water main breaks occur each day in North America totaling more than $3B annually in repair costs (Water Main Break Clock, 2011). The significance of main breaks to water utilities includes several factors including but not limited to: (1) sudden and significant losses of water and pressure; (2) serious health or drinking water quality effects to customers; (3) other adverse effects to critical customers; and (4) major damage to the surroundings (Royer, 2005). This paper describes a WaterRF funded project and provides state-ofpractice in water main research and a recommended research roadmap to better understand main breaks.