ABSTRACT
Distribution assets represent two third of the capital of water companies in the Netherlands. To preserve the economic value of these assets, it is essential to develop appropriate and effective maintenance and replace ment activities. The geographical circumstances of mains have a strong relation to these activities. For example, characteristics of the underground influence die main condition and mains are considered more crit ical as they supply sensitive customers or are located in the vicinity of vital objects (roads, dikes, etc). The geographical characteristics become more explicit with the availability of geographical information sys tems (GIS). As water companies have digitalised their underground assets, analyses based on geographical information come into perspective.
