doi:10.3850/978-981-08-7920-4_S1-F03-cd
Pipe Inefficiency at a Water Utility
Stacy Adachi and Amarjit Singh
University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA.
ABSTRACT
Data envelopment analysis (DEA) was used to determine the relative efficiency of cast iron,
ductile iron, PVC, and concrete cylinder pipes in comparison to the composite pipe system at
the Honolulu Board of Water Supply. The only input measure was the material and installation
cost; output measures consisted of pipe length,maintenance cost, and quality control measures,
including reliability and availability at the system and individual levels. The analysis was run
for different outputmeasures such as combinations of systemand individual levels, availability,
and reliability. The results of the DEA showed conclusively that concrete cylinder pipes are
relatively inefficient compared to the composite pipe system. Consequently, it is recommended
that the utility not install any new concrete cylinder pipes, and plan to replace concrete cylinder
pipes with corresponding ductile iron and PVC piping.
Keywords: Data envelopment analysis, Quality control, Reliability, Availability.
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