Failure Experience Improvement System (FEIS) for water supply systems

Abstract

The Failure Experience Improvement System (FEIS) is a software tool that was developed in order to contribute to a minimization of hazardous events and failures within water supply systems and thus to achieve increased water safety. Based on the analysis of failure systems by applying Social Network Analysis (SNA) to the water supply infrastructure, the FEIS enables water utilities to identify causes and effects of failure events and to locate vulnerable points in their infrastructure. Failure events and the relations between them are the basis for the FEIS database. This database draws upon information on failure events which have occurred in practice at water utilities in Austria and on a literature review and survey of guidelines. The FEIS, which is accessed online, is currently used by six Austrian water utilities for development and test purposes. It provides both graphical visualization of the failure network and analytical indicators to evaluate failure events. In this way, it supports the utilities in identifying corrective actions in order to minimize the probability of failure occurrence and to limit the damage to the system once a failure has occurred. © IWA Publishing 2012.