Wastewater Pipe Condition Rating Model Using K- Nearest Neighbors

Abstract: Risk-based assessment in pipe condition mainly focuses on prioritizing the most critical assets by evaluating the risk of pipe failure. This paper's goal is to classify a comprehensive pipe rating model which is obtained based on a series of pipe physical, external, and hydraulic characteristics that are identified for the proposed methodology. The traditional manual method of assessing sewage structural conditions takes a long time. By building an automated process using K-Nearest Neighbors (K-NN), this study presents an effective technique to automate the identification of the pipe defect rating using the pipe repair data. First, we performed the Shapiro Wilks Test for 1240 data from the Dept. of Engineering & Environmental Services, Shreveport, Louisiana Phase 3 with 12 variables to determine if factors could be incorporated in the final rating. We then developed a K-Nearest Neighbors model to classify the final rating from the statistically significant factors identified in Shapiro Wilks Test. This classification process allows recognizing the worst condition of wastewater pipes that need to be replaced immediately. This comprehensive model is built according to the industry-accepted and used guidelines to estimate the overall condition. Finally, for validation purposes, the proposed model is applied to a small portion of a US wastewater collection system in Shreveport, Louisiana. Keywords: Pipe rating, Shapiro Wilks Test, K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), Failure, Risk analysis