Quantification and Measurement of Level of Service of Water Distribution Networks Z. Khan 1 , O. Moselhi 2 and T. Zayed 3 1 Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Concordia University, Montreal, PQ, Canada; (Corresponding Author) Email: zu_khan@encs.concordia.ca 2 Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Concordia University, Montreal, PQ, Canada; Email: moselhi@encs.concordia.ca 3 Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Concordia University, Montreal, PQ, Canada; Email: zayed@encs.concordia.ca Keywords: Analytical Hierarchy Process, Asset Management, Level of Service, Performance Indicator Abstract Determination and quantification of levels of service in municipal context assist in performing quality-cost trade-off analysis for its services. This trade-off depends on the willingness of a community to pay for municipal services as well as on the condition of municipal assets. This paper presents a simple and generic methodology to develop a level of service model for water distribution networks. In order to develop this Analytical Hierarchy based model, in all nine operational level performance measures are identified. These account for reliability, capacity, and health and safety concerns related to a water network. A hypothetical case study is designed to exemplify the proposed method. Output of the model is in terms of service percentile which is an integrated representation of asset performance to meet user’s requirements. This model can assist asset managers in quantifying the improvements required in asset performance and in making more informed decision towards sustainable asset management. Introduction The Canadian “InfraGuide” (2004) defines asset management as: “The combination of management, financial, economic, engineering, operational and other practices applied to physical assets with the objective of providing the required levels of service in the most cost-effective manner”. Best practices for municipal asset management require municipalities/communities to clearly define and state their respective goals that reflect their expectations (e.g. levels of service). Establishment of levels of service (LoS) is a fact-based, rational, transparent, reproducible and systematic process that not only assists in planning, but also in tracking and monitoring assets’ performance against those initially set by the communities. 1463 Pipelines 2009: Infrastructure's Hidden Assets © 2009 ASCE Downloaded 14 Sep 2011 to 132.205.7.55. Redistribution subject to ASCE license or copyright. Visit http://www.ascelibrary.org