Framework for Risk-Based Decision Support on Infiltration and Inflow to Wastewater Systems
Journal article, 2021

Infiltration and inflow (I/I) to wastewater systems cause e.g., flooding, pollution, and the unnecessary use of the limited resources in society. Due to climate change and an increased need for the renewal of piping systems, making the right decisions on how to handle I/I is more important than ever. This paper presents a novel framework for risk-based decision support on I/I based on established theories on risk assessment and decision-making. The framework is presented on a general level and suggests that uncertainties are included in the decision-making process, together with criteria representing the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainability. Published models on I/I and decision support are evaluated based on criteria from the framework showing that (1) the models rarely include risk-based decision-making or uncertainties in the analyses and that (2) most models only include project-internal financial aspects, excluding social and environmental, as well as project-external aspects, of I/I and I/I measures. A need for further research to develop a more holistic decision support model for I/I is identified, and it is concluded that the application of the proposed framework can contribute to more sustainable decisions on how to handle I/I and provide transparency to the process.

I/I

decision support

wastewater

infiltration

risk assessment

inflow

Author

Anna Ohlin Saletti

Chalmers, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Geology and Geotechnics

City of Gothenburg

Lars Rosen

Chalmers, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Geology and Geotechnics

Andreas Lindhe

Chalmers, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Geology and Geotechnics

Water (Switzerland)

2073-4441 (ISSN) 20734441 (eISSN)

Vol. 13 17 2320

From hidden waste network to full access for smart decisions II

City of Gothenburg, 2019-09-02 -- .

The Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research (Mistra), 2019-09-02 -- .

The Swedish Water & Wastewater Association, 2019-09-02 -- .

Subject Categories

Water Engineering

Other Environmental Engineering

Environmental Management

Environmental Sciences

DOI

10.3390/w13172320

More information

Latest update

3/14/2024