Water distribution systems are among the most critical civil infrastructure and must be prepared to withstand or quickly recover from any disruptive incident. With increasing threats to drinking water systems, including natural disasters, water shortages, power outages, bioterrorism, and other emergencies, utilities need to evaluate and strengthen their overall resilience. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Sandia National Laboratories have developed the Water Network Tool for Resilience (WNTR) to quantify resilience of water distribution systems. This presentation includes results from real water utility case studies. The case studies use WNTR to evaluate the resilience of drinking water distribution systems to different disaster scenarios. The case studies are designed to demonstrate how WNTR can help with estimating the potential damages (e.g., number of broken pipes, number of people without water), evaluating different preparedness strategies (e.g., installing back-up generators), prioritizing response actions (e.g., which broken pipes to fix first, where to implement water conservation efforts), and identifying worse case scenarios. In addition to presenting results from each case study, the presentation will include lessons learned and future research needs to continue improving resilience analysis for water utilities.

Case Study Applications of Water Network Tool for Resilience (WNTR)

Created in 1999, the Environmental & Water Resources Institute (EWRI) is the recognized leader within ASCE for the integration of technical expertise and public policy in the planning, design, construction, and operation of environmentally sound and sustainable infrastructure impacting air, land and water resources.

[Paper Proceedings](https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784483466)