  This paper explores a variety of strategies for understanding the formation,
structure, efficiency and vulnerability of water distribution networks. Water
supply systems are studied as spatially organized networks for which the
practical applications of abstract evaluation methods are critically evaluated.
Empirical data from benchmark networks are used to study the interplay between
network structure and operational efficiency, reliability and robustness.
Structural measurements are undertaken to quantify properties such as
redundancy and optimal-connectivity, herein proposed as constraints in network
design optimization problems. The role of the supply-demand structure towards
system efficiency is studied and an assessment of the vulnerability to failures
based on the disconnection of nodes from the source(s) is undertaken. The
absence of conventional degree-based hubs (observed through uncorrelated
non-heterogeneous sparse topologies) prompts an alternative approach to
studying structural vulnerability based on the identification of network
cut-sets and optimal connectivity invariants. A discussion on the scope,
limitations and possible future directions of this research is provided.
