Coupling Decision Support Systems For The Optimization of The Management of Water Distribution Networks

The analysis of the current situation of water distribution networks is based on all the alternatives that are technically feasible and implemented from the decision-maker's point of view. Taking the water distribution network of Tourville city as a case study, this paper combines a set of Decision Support Systems (DSS) including the Geographic Information Systems (GIS), multi-criteria analysis and hydraulic simulation models to establish a multi-criteria decision-making aid method for renovation and rehabilitation of water distribution networks. This combination creates an expert management system based on multi-criteria decision making that strengthens the optimization of the management of water distribution networks in terms of renovation and rehabilitation. After dividing the water distribution network into three emergency levels, it was concluded that 26% of the network is in urgent need of rehabilitation.

Determining the best strategy to reduce losses in Banias water network, based on the Analytical Hierarchy Process AHP: تحديد الاستراتيجية الأفضل لتخفيف الفواقد في شبكة مياه مدينة بانياس بالاعتماد على طريقة التحليل الهرمي Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP)

The study aims to choose the best strategy for reducing Water losses in Banias City Water Distribution network, that reaches a large percentage about 65%, based on the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). The strategies (alternatives), the main and secondary criteria necessary to reach the construction of the decision matrix and the development of the final strategies for the work of the Establishment in accordance with it, based on the opinions of experts in the Banias Water Establishment, in addition to references and previous studies in the field of research. The necessary questionnaire was prepared and then distributed to a group of experts (30 experts) of engineers and technicians working in Banias Water Establishment, and thus conducting comparison process between the main criteria, the sub- criteria, and the alternatives for the sub- criteria. The Expert Choice Software Which is based on AHP method, is used, and It automatically performs mathematical processes and calculates final relative weights to obtain the final decision matrix. The results showed that the strategy of dividing the network into district metered areas ranked first, with the highest rating of 27.8%, followed by the strategy of control and pressure management with 13.6%, while the strategy of replacing meters came last with 3.5%.

Impact of planning horizon on water distribution network design

The continuous expansion of Water Distribution Network (WDN) makes its design a dynamic process performed within many planning horizons. An appropriate planning horizon is important to save costs and avoid over-design. Typically, a master plan is practiced around every 20 years. The complexity of WDN and computational demands have prevented a full network study of the impact of planning horizon on system cost and efficiency. In this paper, a dynamic network model was employed to simulate the growth of WDN under different growth patterns (exponential and linear) and planning horizons to explore the optimum planning horizon under different interest rates. It is found that the choice of the optimum (i.e. least costly) planning horizon is sensitive to the interest rate. For both growth patterns, a shorter planning horizon is favored with higher annual interest rates while a longer planning horizon is favored with lower rates. With the same interest rate, exponential growth pattern generally favors a shorter planning horizon than linear growth pattern due to more excess capacity provided at the beginning of the study period. The optimum planning horizon is longer than 20 years when interest rate is lower than 3.0% for linear growth or 2.0% for exponential growth.

Minimum transport-driven algorithm for water distribution network partitioning

This paper presents a novel algorithm driven by the minimization of the transport function for the partitioning of water distribution networks (WDNs) into district metered areas (DMAs). The algorithm is based on the linear programming (LP) embedded inside a multi-objective genetic algorithm, which enables engineering criteria, such as the minimization of the boundary pipes and the maximization of the uniformity of DMAs, to be considered in the partitioning. Furthermore, the application of the algorithm on the dual network topology based on segments and valves guarantees that configurations of DMAs that respect the real positions of isolation valves for WDN partitioning are obtained. After being described on a small WDN, it is successfully validated on a large size WDN, proving better performance than other algorithms in the scientific literature for the generation of engineeringly appealing DMA configurations, with almost identical hydraulic performance to the unpartitioned WDN.