Team

Water distribution networks are a part of critical infrastructure that is vital for the functioning of cities and for the lives of its inhabitants. In many cities, water distribution networks have been among the first existing infrastructures and are, therefore, in a worn state. Together with the rising rates of urbanization and climate change increasingly causing water shortages, water distribution networks are facing new hazards.

To account for these hazards, water distribution networks can be assessed for their resilience. My thesis will provide an insight into how water networks can be optimized with regard to their resilience and how resilience relates to uncertainty the water networks face, whether under the consideration of the availability of their critical components (pumps, valves, pipes, tanks, etc.) or of the changing demand (increasing due to rapid urbanization, rising temperatures etc.). Interdependencies between the water network and other urban networks, such as the power and communication network, will be considered as well. I will aim to bind in the uncertainty quantification know-how from engineering sciences such as mechanical engineering.

I will review existing resilience metrics and identify in what ways it is possible to include uncertainty quantification in them, ideally leading to the development of a novel approach towards resilience assessment.