Water main break data are essential for undertaking
informed infrastructure asset management. An
approach for constructing break and general network
data from multiple sources and relating and linking
such data is presented here. The approach incorporates
data from a number of sources and augments
the amount of data available while maintaining existing
data warehousing practices. Although it requires
effort and collaboration among a utility's information
technology and engineering staff, the approach is
flexible; uses commonly available software tools;
anticipates the evolution of data collection, verification,
and storage capabilities within the utility; and,
can be applied to other infrastructure assets. With the
results, utility managers can gain insight into current
and future performance of their distribution networks
and develop future asset management strategies. As
an example, the approach is applied to a portion of
the water distribution network of the District of
Maple Ridge, B.C., Canada. Includes 24 references, tables, figures.