Research Areas

Achieving a sustainable water infrastructure requires effective utility management, which includes implementing environmental management systems and asset management, capacity development for smaller utilities, and selection of innovative and cost-effective technologies. To meet these challenges, the research areas of the Aging Water Infrastructure (AWI) Research Program:

• Reduced life-cycle costs for water infrastructure management
• Extended the service life of existing infrastructure
• Reduced sewer overflows, backups, and failures
• Reduced infiltration, inflow, and peak wet-weather flows into treatment plants
• Reduced high-risk water main breaks
• Improved condition assessment and decision making capabilities
• Reduced potable water leakage and intrusion potential
• Increased use of performance and cost data for decision support, and the adoption of asset management
• Increased adoption of innovative technologies

The AWI Research Program focuses on four primary research areas:

AWI Research Areas
	Condition Assessment – In order to assess the condition of a water distribution or wastewater collection system, reliable data and information must be gathered through observation, direct inspection, investigation, and indirect monitoring and reporting. An analysis of the data and information helps determine the structural, operational, and performance status of capital infrastructure assets. Condition assessment also includes failure analysis to determine the causes of infrastructure failures and to develop ways to prevent future breakdowns. Condition assessment enhances the ability of utilities to make technically sound judgments regarding asset management.
	System Rehabilitation – System rehabilitation is the application of infrastructure repair, renewal, and replacement technologies in order to reinstate functionality in a wastewater system or subsystem. The proper balance of the repair, renewal, and replacement depends on the condition assessment, the life-cycle costs of various rehabilitation options, and the related risk reductions.
	Advanced Concepts – The application of innovative infrastructure designs, management procedures, and operational approaches means advanced concepts must be cultivated. Advanced concepts go beyond asset management to include maximizing the benefits from low-impact development, water reuse, source water protection, and watershed management. Plus, integrating advanced concepts into established systems is especially challenging; for example, the innovative concept could be a retrofit solution, but compatibility with the in-place system is critical.
	Innovative Treatment Technologies – These technologies address the dynamic requirements for improved water quality and the growing demand for safe and reliable reclaimed wastewater and stormwater. For example, wet-weather flows at water treatment plants must be managed more effectively in order to reduce pathogen content. And there are new challenges relating to the capability of pharmaceuticals and personal care products to interfere with, and even inhibit, the wastewater treatment process. Controlling nitrogen and phosphorous is a growing priority There is accelerated demand for wastewater treatment technologies to be more energy efficient and to produce smaller volumes of residuals.