A Short-Term Planning Framework for the Operation of Tanker-Based Water Distribution Systems in Urban Areas

Abstract

Tanker-based distribution systems have been prevalent in developing countries to supply clean and pure water in different regions. To efficiently operate such tanker service systems, a large fleet of tanker trucks are required to transport water among several water sources, water treatment plants and consumers spanning across the regions. This requires tighter coordination between water suppliers, treatment plant operations, and user groups to use available water resources in a sustainable manner, along with the assurance of water quality and timely delivery. This paper proposes a novel formulation to assist decision-making for optimizing tanker-based water distribution systems and treatment operations, with an overall objective of minimizing the total operating cost such that all of the constraints related to the water demand, supply operations, and environmental and social aspects are honored while supplying water to a maximum number of users. The problem is formulated and solved as a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) optimization framework and captures all of the nuances related to (i) water availability limitations and quality constraints from different sources, (ii) maintaining water quality as it transports via tankers, (iii) water demands for various end-use purposes, and (iv) transportation across a water supply chain. The proposed novel framework is applied to a realistic urban model to find the optimal tanker delivery schedule, ensuring appropriate treatment and timely delivery of water. The results of the case study conducted on a representative-scale problem also elucidate several aspects of treatment plant operation and consumer demand fulfillment for the efficient planning and management of tanker-based water distribution systems.

A Critical Review of the Global Use and Context of Trucked Water as a Potable Water Supply

“…As a result, households receiving trucked water also must store water and maintain its quality. Several studies , have examined water quality in household storage units served by trucked water, and household storage has well-established links to introduction of contamination. However, in trucked water systems, little is known about how delivered water is managed after a customer receives the water.…”

An Operational Scheduling Framework for Tanker-Based Water Distribution Systems under Uncertainty

“…A two-stage stochastic MILP formulation with recourse action is developed in this section for addressing the operational scheduling of tanker-based water distribution systems underwater demand and tanker travel time uncertainty. The deterministic model for tanker water supply scheduling is presented by Maheshwari et al . Here, a further extension of the model to the stochastic case, a detailed mathematical formulation of the equivalent MILP optimization problem is described next, and a nomenclature list is provided in the appendix with this paper.…”

“…20 On the other hand, water pumped from groundwater sources is first treated in WTPs so as to treat to the required quality levels. 17 The RW is treated using several membrane-based advanced wastewater treatment technologies in WTPs (e.g., ultra/nanofiltration, reverse osmosis, etc.) to reduce high levels of total suspended solids and total dissolved salts in RW.…”

“…In this direction, Maheshwari et al developed a short-term planning formulation for the optimal operation of tanker-based water distribution systems. The study presented a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) optimization formulation minimizing the total operating cost and estimating the optimal water treatment and tanker water distribution plan considering various constraints related to (i) treatment facilities operation, (ii) different consumer type and their demand fulfillment for different water quality products, and (iii) tanker availability.…”

“…15 Many of these studies report challenges in relation to the poor water quality, informal settlements of vendors, inadequate service features, and high price of water charged to consumers for delivery. 16,17 Furthermore, Zozmann et al 6 conducted a detailed survey of the tanker water market in the city of Jordan and developed a simulation model to estimate tanker water consumption behavior (demand pattern) of commercial consumers. They also analyzed the influence of spatial factors such as water source location and pipe network supply duration on commercial demand fulfillment.…”