Optimizing Pipe Cleaning Strategies Significantly Reduces Global Energy Consumption, Carbon Emissions, and Water Usage

Global drinking water security depends critically on the effective maintenance of water supply systems. However, this task is beset by rising energy demands, expanding carbon emissions, and increasing water needs, with energy-carbon-water balanced pipe cleaning strategies largely unexplored. Here we developed a multi-level framework to evaluate the impacts of replacing the conventional pipe cleaning technique (unidirectional flushing, UF) with emerging air scouring (AS), ice pigging (IP), and their combination (AS + IP), on energy, carbon and water, at the individual-pipe, city, and national levels. At the individual-pipe level, IP can reduce energy consumption, carbon footprint and water consumption, by 68%, 88%, and 90%, respectively, compared to UF, with scale effects in large-diameter pipelines. A global pipeline classification framework integrating network density and regional factors was developed to optimize cleaning strategies. AS + IP strategy reduces energy by 2,458.02 GWh, carbon footprint by 16,766.44 tCO ₂ -equivalent, and water by 2.70×10 ⁹ m ³ in 3.80 million km of pipes. Pipe diameter is a critical factor in technological transition. A tailored 27-year transition cleaning strategy could save energy, carbon footprint and water by 14.81, 12.22 and 17.00 times, respectively. The significant yet overlooked potential to reduce energy consumption, carbon footprint and water consumption highlights major environmental and economic benefits of advanced global water infrastructure maintenance.