Abstract

Many EU cities are experiencing increasing problems with their water pipeline infrastructure. The cost of replacing these old, worn-out systems, if left to deteriorate beyond repair, is astronomical and clearly beyond the resources of many communities. Replacement, however, is not the only choice as many of these systems can be rehabilitated at 30 to 70 percent of the cost of replacement. Accordingly, resources are now increasingly being allocated to address pipeline rehabilitation management issues. Due to the emphasis on sustainable management, risk-based approaches for the rehabilitation management of the water supply network need to be developed. Rehabilitation decisions should be based, interalia, on inspection and evaluation of the pipeline conditions. Yet, utilities cannot locate a number of their old pipes and current inspection technologies typically do not provide the needed detailed information on pipeline damage. 
The objectives of this book are to describe the research work carried out in the framework of WATERPIPE project aiming:

• To develop a novel, high-resolution imaging ground penetrating radar for the detection of pipes, leaks and damages and the imaging of the damaged region and evaluate it at a test site
• To produce an integrated system that will contain the equipment in "1" and a Decision Support System (DSS) for the rehabilitation management of the underground water pipelines that will use input from the inspections to assess, probabilistically, the time-dependent leakage and structural reliability of the pipelines and a risk-based methodology for rehabilitation decisions that considers the overall risk, including financial, social and environmental criteria
• To field test the equipment and the DSS