Network Analysis of Water Supply Pipeline Systems in Maiduguri Metropolitan Council

Water supply reliability in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State in North East Nigeria, has been severely compromised by infrastructure damage from insurgency activities and population displacement, creating a humanitarian crisis for approximately two million residents. This study applies network analysis and hydraulic modelling to the existing water distribution pipeline system serving the Maiduguri Metropolitan Council, with the objective of identifying critical pipe segments, system vulnerabilities, and optimal rehabilitation priorities. The pipe network is represented as a directed graph with 143 nodes and 198 edges, with attributes including pipe diameter, length, material type, and estimated remaining service life. Network centrality measures, specifically betweenness centrality, are computed for all pipe segments to identify those whose failure would most severely disrupt supply to downstream nodes. The EPANET hydraulic simulation software is used to model pressure heads and flow velocities under normal and failure scenarios. Critical segment analysis identifies 17 pipe sections whose individual failure reduces system-wide flow delivery by more than 25 percent. Rehabilitation prioritisation using a composite score combining betweenness centrality, remaining life, and population served ranks the top ten segments for urgent replacement. Estimated cost of the prioritised rehabilitation programme is 2.3 billion naira over three years. Keywords: network analysis, water supply, pipeline rehabilitation, Maiduguri, hydraulic modelling.