Impacts of urban form on centralized and distributed water distribution networks

Abstract

With the aging of our national infrastructure system and the challenge of developing resilient and sustainable infrastructures for future, the interdependence of water/energy system within the natural and built environment is critical. It was not until recent that the impact of urban form on the efficiency of water/energy infrastructure gained the attention of infrastructure engineers. The impact of three urban forms- sprawling, monocentric and polycentric, on the centralized and distributed water distribution networks were studied based on a synthesized city. Pumping costs savings of 68%, 71.5% and 55.3% for sprawling, monocentric and polycentric urban forms, respectively, was observed for the distributed than centralized water networks to satisfy the same water demands. This study also highlights the importance of ideal siting of water treatment plant locations, city elevation and population density, while planning an urban water infrastructure.