Integrated Risk Assessment of Water Distribution Systems: A Decision Support Framework for Pipe Vulnerability and Contamination Hazard

Integrated Risk Assessment of Water Distribution Systems: A Decision Support Framework for Pipe Vulnerability and Contamination Hazard | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Integrated Risk Assessment of Water Distribution Systems: A Decision Support Framework for Pipe Vulnerability and Contamination Hazard Asheesh Sharma, Madni Gazal Khan Lodhi, Vigna Purohit, Sravanthi Mopati, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8786519/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 4 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Aging water distribution systems are increasingly exposed to pipe failures and contamination risks, particularly in cities characterized by intermittent water supply and limited infrastructure records. Existing decision support systems address structural deterioration and water quality risks independently, limiting their effectiveness for integrated asset management in data-constrained settings. To address this gap, this study develops RISK-PiNET, an integrated decision support framework for pipe-level risk assessment and replacement planning in urban water distribution networks. The framework consists of three interconnected modules: Pipe Condition Assessment (PCA) for evaluating structural vulnerability, Hazard Assessment (HA) for estimating contamination ingress potential, and Risk Assessment (RA) for integrating vulnerability and hazard to derive composite risk scores. The applicability of RISK-PiNET is demonstrated through a case study of an urban water distribution network in India. Validation against geotagged consumer complaints and targeted field inspections shows agreements of 81.2% and 62.5%, respectively. The results demonstrate the capability of RISK-PiNET to identify high-risk pipes and support cost-aware replacement planning in data-constrained urban water supply systems. Water distribution system pipe vulnerability RISK-PiNET pipe risk assessment contamination risk pipe replacement planning Full Text Supplementary Files Highlights.docx SI.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviewers invited by journal 20 Feb, 2026 Editor invited by journal 17 Feb, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 06 Feb, 2026 First submitted to journal 04 Feb, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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