Future-Proofing Urban Water Supply: Antifragile Design for Flood Resilience

In the wake of increasing climate variability, urban areas worldwide are experiencing more frequent and severe flooding events, posing significant threats to water supply systems. This PhD project proposes developing strategies and technologies that expedite the recovery of water supply systems following flood events and strengthen their resilience against future disruptions [1]. The aim is to implement innovative solutions to enhance adaptability, integrate decentralisation, and rapidly restore safe, reliable water services.

The research will focus on the following key objectives:

• Rapid assessment and damage control: Develop cutting-edge tools and protocols for swift assessment of flood damage to water systems, employing advanced remote sensing technologies and on-the-ground mobile assessment teams [2].
• Water quality safety and monitoring: Design a real-time monitoring system equipped with IoT-based sensors to detect and report water contamination events rapidly [3]. This system will leverage AI-driven analytics to predict potential quality issues post-flooding.
• Antifragile system design: Create designs for water supply infrastructure that not only withstand floods but also adapt and improve following such events [4]. This includes incorporating flood-proof infrastructure designs, redundancies, decentralisation, and adaptive operational strategies.
• Practical implementation: Community feedback into the planning and implementation of flood recovery and resilience strategies. Utilise the Battle of “Postdisaster Response and Restoration” dataset [5] and real-world case-studies to inform and validate strategies.

Anticipated outcomes: (1) Enhanced robustness of water systems to maintain integrity during and after flood events. (2) Reduced service downtime through quick-recovery technologies post-disaster. (3) Public health protections by improving water quality monitoring and rapid response mechanisms to prevent waterborne diseases following floods. (4) Decentralisation into antifragile system designs, preventing cascade throughout the entire water supply network, promoting sustained functionality and quicker localised recovery. (5) Empowerment of local stakeholders to handle future water challenges.

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