Development of GIS based contamination risk assessment in water distribution systems

The study aims at developing a GIS based contamination Risk Assessment procedure in water distribution systems. Water distribution network analysis model EPANET 2.0 was integrated with ArcGIS 8.3 for the water quality analysis retrieving data from the GIS database. Water supply system of Zone VIII of Guntur, India was selected for the case study. The results of water quality simulation were displayed in the GIS interface and the areas affected were mapped with the spatial analyst tool of GIS. Data on number of household connections and standpipes affected by a particular event of contamination was also retrieved from the GIS database. The events resulting in high risk were identified from the GIS maps. This information helps in the decision making process of prioritizing the maintenance activities particularly, in case of limited fund availability. Since the resource availability for maintenance activities are limited in developing countries, prioritizing the activities using GIS helps to achieve maximum risk reduction.paper