scholarly journals A Simplified Method for Rapid Estimation of Emergency Water Supply Needs after Earthquakes

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (19) ◽  
pp. 2635
Author(s):  
Joseph Toland ◽  
Anne Wein
Keyword(s):  
Water Supply ◽  
San Francisco ◽  
Potable Water ◽  
San Francisco Bay ◽  
Rapid Assessment ◽  
Water Utility ◽  
Water Service ◽  
Earthquake Scenario ◽  
Simplified Method

Researchers are investigating the problem of estimating households with potable water service outages soon after an earthquake. Most of these modeling approaches are computationally intensive, have large proprietary data collection requirements or lack precision, making them unfeasible for rapid assessment, prioritization, and allocation of emergency water resources in large, complex disasters. This study proposes a new simplified analytical method—performed without proprietary water pipeline data—to estimate water supply needs after earthquakes, and a case study of its application in the HayWired earthquake scenario. In the HayWired scenario—a moment magnitude (Mw) 7.0 Hayward Fault earthquake in the San Francisco Bay Area, California (USA)—an analysis of potable water supply in two water utility districts was performed using the University of Colorado Water Network (CUWNet) model. In the case study, application of the simplified method extends these estimates of household water service outage to the nine counties adjacent to the San Francisco Bay, aggregated by a ~250 m2 (nine-arcsecond) grid. The study estimates about 1.38 million households (3.7 million residents) out of 7.6 million residents (2017, ambient, nighttime population) with potable water service outage soon after the earthquake—about an 8% increase from the HayWired scenario estimates.

Energy Benchmarking of Water and Wastewater Treatment, Distribution and Collection: A Case Study of Austin Water Utility

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill B. Kjellsson ◽  
David Greene ◽  
Raj Bhattarai ◽  
Michael E. Webber
Keyword(s):  
Water Distribution ◽  
Energy Intensity ◽  
Potable Water ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Operating Cost ◽  
Electric Energy ◽  
Water And Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Water Utility ◽  
Water And Wastewater

Nationally, 4% of electricity usage goes towards moving and treating water and wastewater. The energy intensity of the water and wastewater utility sector is affected by many factors including water source, water quality, and the distance and elevation that water must be transported. Furthermore, energy accounts for 10% or more of a utility’s total operating cost, suggesting that energy savings can account for significant cost savings. Better knowledge of where and when energy is used could support strategic energy interventions and reveal opportunities for efficiency. Accordingly, this investigation quantifies energy intensity by process and type, including electricity and natural gas, and explores the time-varying nature of electric energy consumption for potable water distribution using the Austin Water Utility (AWU) in Austin, Texas as a case study. This research found that most of energy consumed by the AWU is for pumping throughout the distribution network (57%) and at lift stations (10%) while potable water treatment accounts for the least (5%). Though the focus is site specific, the methodology shown herein can be applied to other utilities with sufficient data.

scholarly journals Optimization Dubins Path of Multiple UAVs for Post-Earthquake Rapid-Assessment

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 1388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moning Zhu ◽  
Xuehua Zhang ◽  
He Luo ◽  
Guoqiang Wang ◽  
Binbin Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Rapid Assessment ◽  
Real Data ◽  
Jiuzhaigou Earthquake ◽  
Routing Problem ◽  
Earthquake Scenario ◽  
Curvature Constraint ◽  
Team Orienteering ◽  
Relief Operations ◽  
Source Of Information

In the last decade, with the wide application of UAVs in post-earthquake relief operations, the images and videos of affected areas obtained by UAVs immediately after a seismic event have become an important source of information for post-earthquake rapid assessment, which is crucial for initiating effective emergency response operations. In this study, we first consider the kinematic constraints of UAV and the Dubins curve is introduced to fit the shortest flyable path for each UAV that meets the maximum curvature constraint. Second, based on the actual requirements of post-earthquake rapid assessment, heterogeneous UAVs, multi-depot launching, and targets allowed access to multiple times, the paper proposes a multi-UAV rapid-assessment routing problem (MURARP). The MURARP is modeled as the multi-depot revisit-allowed Dubins TOP with variable profit (MD-RDTOP-VP) which is a variant of the team orienteering problem (TOP). Third, a hybrid genetic simulated annealing (HGSA) algorithm is developed to solve the problem. The result of numerical experiments shows that the HGSA algorithm can quickly plan flyable paths for heterogeneous UAVs to maximize the expected profit. Finally, a case study based on real data of the 2017 Jiuzhaigou earthquake in China shows how the method can be applied in a post-earthquake scenario.

Geochemical methods for inferring seasonal occupation of an estuarine shellmound: a case study from San Francisco Bay

2011 ◽  
Vol 38 (9) ◽  
pp. 2301-2312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Schweikhardt ◽  
B. Lynn Ingram ◽  
K. Lightfoot ◽  
E. Luby
Keyword(s):  
San Francisco ◽  
San Francisco Bay
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