Simultaneous Multi-pipe Failure Impact on Reliability of Water Distribution Systems☆

Abstract Hydraulic reliability assessment of a water distribution system (WDS) can be performed at different states considering various combinations of pipe failures. Current reliability techniques are mostly restricted to lower sates of reliability considering just one pipe failure at a time. In this study, multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) approach is applied to rank a set of distribution layouts (alternatives) using various states of reliabilities (criteria). Results show that multi-state reliability assessment (MSRA) of a WDS may lead to completely different and more comprehensive results since considering various states of reliability at the same time.