Multi-criteria decision analysis in urban water asset management

Abstract

This paper presents a multi-criteria decision support methodology for selection and prioritization of rehabilitation intervention in urban water infrastructures considering performance, cost and risk and a long-term perspective. This methodology is divided into three main stages: problem identification, structuring and evaluation. Problem structuring, a crucial stage for the outcomes, includes identifying objectives, selecting scenarios within the analysis period, defining problem options and the problematic type. Problem evaluation includes the selection of assessment metrics, selection of the aggregation method, application of the method and sensitivity and robustness analysis and final recommendations. The methodology is applied to a real case study of a water distribution system, being the different stages presented in detail and obtained results discussed.