Conjunctive use of engineering and optimization in water distribution system design

Water Distribution Systems (WDSs) design and operation are usually done on a case-by-case basis. Numerous models have been proposed in the literature to solve specific problems in this field. The implementation of these models to any real-world WDS optimization problem is left to the discretion of designers who lack the necessary tools that will guide them in the decision-making process for a given WDS design project. Practitioners are not always very familiar with optimization applied to water network design. This results in a quasi-exclusive use of engineering judgment when dealing with this issue. In order to support a decision process in this field, the present article suggests a step-by-step approach to solve the multi-objective design problem by using both engineering and optimization. A genetic algorithm is proposed as the optimization tool and the targeted objectives are: 1) to minimize the total cost (capital and operation), 2) to minimize the residence time of the water within the system and 3) to maximize a network reliability metric. The results of the case study show that preliminary analysis can significantly reduce decision variables and computational burden. Therefore, the approach will help network design practitioners to reduce optimization problems to a more manageable size.

Uncontrolled Keywords

• Decision-Making
• Genetic Algorithm
• Multi-Objective
• Optimization
• Water Distribution Systems