The Importance of Rehabilitation Planning for the Waste Management in Water Supply Systems

Abstract

Water supply system rehabilitation is an activity of the utmost importance for waste management, given the new regulatory context: the Portuguese legislation concerning the public works launched in 2008 (New Code for Public Contracts – DL 18/2008). This legislation states that civil construction and demolition waste should be given a specific destination still in the early stages of development. The rehabilitation of water supply systems is a potentially large producer of waste that has to be adequately handled and transported to a final destination, which is established and implemented taking environmental issues into account. The application of an integrated methodology to rehabilitate the piping system allows a more economical and sustainable process to treat the resulting waste. The objective of the current research is to develop and implement a rehabilitation plan for water supply systems concerning waste management. The proposed methodology is organized in four levels and eight phases, starting in the macro-scale of the council level and ending in the detailed component of the system to rehabilitate (e.g., pipeline, storage tank, devices or equipment). This methodology is based on the calculation of performance indicators for water supply systems. This paper begins with an overview of waste management in the new regulatory context as well as with a presentation of the main concepts associated with water supply system rehabilitation. The methodology to develop a rehabilitation plan, main conclusions and recommendations for the implementation of the proposed plan are also presented. This is a relevant new research, at both scientific and technical level, which challenges the rehabilitation method of water supply systems that is currently carried out by many water utilities in Portugal. This methodology highlights the importance of having an integrated system of information to define a rehabilitation plan.