Decision support system for metabolism-based transition to urban water systems of tomorrow

Abstract

A decision support system (DSS) tool for the assessment of intervention strategies in an urban water system (UWS) with an integral simulation model called “WaterMet2” is presented. Lists of intervention options and Performance Indicators (PI) are exposed by the DSS for the user to define intervention strategies and metrics for their comparison. The quantitative and risk-based metrics are calculated by WaterMet2 and risk modules while the qualitative metrics may be quantified by external tools feeding into the DSS. Finally, a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) approach is employed in the DSS to compare the defined intervention strategies and rank them with respect to a pre-specified weighting scheme for different scenarios. This mechanism provides a useful tool for decision makers to compare different strategies for the planning of UWS with respect to multiple scenarios. The suggested DSS is demonstrated through the application to a northern European real-life case study.