View article

Wastewater systems provide vital services to communities. They should function without interruption. However, following an earthquake they can fail to function due to damage caused by ground shaking and more importantly, ground failure. Failure of wastewater systems not only causes difficulties for the residents and critical users, it can compromise public health and can adversely impact the receiving environment. To minimise these consequences, wastewater systems need to be repaired as quickly as possible after an event. The generated sewage needs to be managed while the system is being restored. This paper outlines a framework to address wastewater resilience based on its robustness, rapidity, and contingency measures. A case study is presented discussing the application of this framework to the wastewater system operated by Wellington Water in New Zealand. The framework is based on …