Water Distribution Systems: Security, Resilience, Water Loss Management and Sustainability
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Water Management".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 July 2026 | Viewed by 47
Special Issue Editors
Interests: conception, formulation and development of pioneering; efficient, robust and practical computational solution methods for sustainable management of water infrastructure and environmental systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: development and application of robust and efficient simulation and optimisation methods to solve complex and challenging water and environmental systems problems
Interests: development and application of heuristic and meta-heuristic techniques to the problems of water networks related to analysis, design, scheduling; location of different facilities like boosters, sensor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The preeminent tenet of sustainable development is intergenerational equity, and it follows logically that the goal of sustainably managing water distribution systems unavoidably calls for the scrupulous and rigorous balancing of costs and other conflicting aims, considering the beneficiaries and other stakeholders. Alongside affordability and cost efficiency, water conservation, supply continuity and reliability, water quality safety, proactive asset management, etc., are all crucial criteria for success. Whilst fulfilling these criteria is extremely taxing, the complexity is compounded further by current pressing global challenges such as climate change, population growth, migration and urbanization. According to the UN, an estimated 68% of the world's population will live in urban areas by 2050, rising to 86% in more developed regions. Therefore, some of the urgent issues that need to be addressed include water supply shortages, increasing and competing water demands, excessive water loss, ageing infrastructure and minimal infrastructure investment funding.
Water distribution systems (WDSs) are integral to the viability and sustainability of the populations they serve, and this Special Issue seeks to address WDSs from multiple perspectives as they relate to long-term sustainability. Examples include hydraulic capacity reliability; infrastructure resilience; cyber-physical security; contaminant intrusion and water quality security; water loss management; asset condition monitoring and management; digitalization plus operational and infrastructure data quality; and intermittent water supply system planning, design and operation. Contributions can encompass new methods, critical discussions, thought pieces or reviews of the latest developments and trends. Importantly, contributions from various disciplines and methodological approaches are encouraged.
Dr. Tiku Tanyimboh
Dr. Alemtsehay Seyoum
Prof. Dr. Rajesh Gupta
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- physical and cyber security
- infrastructure resilience
- water loss management
- water quality risks
- hydraulic capacity reliability
- asset management and planning
- whole-life costing
- performance monitoring and regulatory compliance
- operational modelling support
- mains replacement design and optimization
- intermittent supply concerns
- data management
- real-time monitoring and control
- demand uncertainty and forecasting
- demand management
- water charges and tariffs
- UN SDG6
- stakeholder engagement
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