On the Complexities of the Design of Water Distribution Networks

Abstract

Water supply is one of the most recognizable and important public services contributing to quality of life. Water distribution networks (WDNs) are extremely complex assets. A number of complex tasks, such as design, planning, operation, maintenance, and management, are inherently associated with such networks. In this paper, we focus on the design of a WDN, which is a wide and open problem in hydraulic engineering. This problem is a large-scale combinatorial, nonlinear, nonconvex, multiobjective optimization problem, involving various types of decision variables and many complex implicit constraints. To handle this problem, we provide a synergetic association between swarm intelligence and multiagent systems where human interaction is also enabled. This results in a powerful collaborative system for finding solutions to such a complex hydraulic engineering problem. All the ingredients have been integrated into a software tool that has also been shown to efficiently solve problems from other engineering fields.

Injecting problem-dependent knowledge to improve evolutionary optimization search ability

“…Unlike most of the classical optimization algorithms, evolutionary algorithms enable the use of any form of quantitative (numerical) assessment of the desired objectives without conditioning the approach to the problem [9,10]. The flexibility introduced by EAs has allowed the use of virtually any objective function, even when evaluations require, as is the case of many real-world problems, running complex mathematical and/or procedural simulations of the systems under analysis.…”

Practical guidelines for a reliability-based design of building water supply systems

“…Among others, Tanyimboh et al (2003), Setiadi et al (2005), Wu et al (2008), Giustolisi et al (2008), andJoaquín et al (2012) used the HDA approach, to provide results that are more realistic when water distribution systems operate under subnormal pressure conditions. HDA takes into consideration the pressure dependency of nodal outflows, and in consequence, the results are more realistic.…”

“…Various objectives may be considered in the WDN optimal design problem such as cost of components, satisfaction of water demand and quality, adherence to hydraulic constraints, and resilience of the system during stressed conditions (Joaquín et al, 2012). Walski (2001) stressed the need for the development of new models, which address not only minimization of system cost but also maximization of its benefits.…”

Impacts of supply duration on the design and performance of intermittent water distribution systems in the West Bank

“…Technically, these problems can be mitigated or eliminated if the intermittent supply conditions are considered while designing the water distribution systems. Izquierdo, Montalvo, Perez-Garcia, and Matias (2012) assume that, in the practice of engineering decision making, politicians, economists, engineers and environmental specialists are involved in final decisions. Therefore, the design of a water distribution system involves finding acceptable trade-offs among a mixture of incompatible objectives, such as minimizing capital and operational costs, fulfilling water demands, adhering to hydraulic complexity and design constraints, and guaranteeing a certain degree of reliability (Goulter & Bouchart, 1990;Walski et al, 2003).…”