Calibration is a process of comparing model results with field data and making the appropriate adjustments so that both results agree. Calibration methods can involve formal optimization methods or manual methods in which the modeler informally examines alternative model parameters. The development of a calibration framework typically involves the following: (1) definition of the model variables, coefficients, and equations; (2) selection of an objective function to measure the quality of the calibration; (3) selection of the set of data to be used for the calibration process; and (4) selection of an optimization/manual scheme for altering the coefficient values in the direction of reducing the objective function. Hydraulic calibration usually involves the modification of system demands, fine-tuning the roughness values of pipes, altering pump operation characteristics, and adjusting other model attributes that affect simulation results, in particular those that have significant uncertainty associated with their values. From the previous steps, it is clear that model calibration is neither unique nor a straightforward technical task. The success of a calibration process depends on the modeler's experience and intuition, as well as on the mathematical model and procedures adopted for the calibration process. This paper provides a summary of the Battle of the Water Calibration Networks (BWCN), the goal of which was to objectively compare the solutions of different approaches to the calibration of water distribution systems through application to a real water distribution system. Fourteen teams from academia, water utilities, and private consultants participated. The BWCN outcomes were presented and assessed at the 12th Water Distribution Systems Analysis conference in Tucson, Arizona, in September 2010. This manuscript summarizes the BWCN exercise and suggests future research directions for the calibration of water distribution systems.
A water supply system is a complex network of pipes, canals and storage and treatment facilities that collects, treats, stores, and distributes water to consumers. Increasing population and its associated demands requires systems to be expanded and adapted over time to provide a sustainable water supply. Comprehensive design tools are needed to assist managers determine how to plan for future growth. In this study, a general large-scale water supply system model was developed to minimize the total system cost by integrating a mathematical supply system representation and applying an improved shuffled frog leaping algorithm optimization scheme (SFLA). The developed model was applied to two hypothetical water communities. The operational strategies and the capacities for the system components including water transport and treatment facilities are model decision variables. An explicit representation of energy consumption cost for the transporting water in the model assists in determining the efficacy of satellite wastewater treatment facilities. Although the water supply systems studied contained highly nonlinear terms in the formulation as well as several hundred decisions variables, the stochastic search algorithm, SFLA, successfully found solutions that satisfied all the constraints for the studied networks. Keywords Water supply system · Shuffled frog leaping algorithm · Decision support system · Decentralized treatment plants
Indices and SetsN a set of nodes in a network (sources, users, and treatment plants) A a set of arcs (i, j) from a node i to a node j in a network, ∀i, j ∈ N
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