Water distribution network sectorisation using graph theory and many-objective optimisation

Abstract

The water distribution network (WDN) sectorisation problem is characterised by structural and hydraulic requirements that make existing graph partitioning techniques inadequate to find a good solution. Specifically, sector isolation and direct access to at least one source for each sector are not addressed. This study proposes a method to address structural requirements of water network sectorisation with minimum negative impact on the hydraulic requirements. This paper first elaborates the sectorisation problem and discusses the requirements of water network sectorisation. Then, it proposes a novel method, called WDN-PARTITION, which applies a new heuristic structural graph partitioning algorithm, combined with a many-objective optimisation procedure, to find near-optimal arrangements of nodes into sectors. The criteria of optimisation and their priorities can be specified for each case. The outcome of the method is a set of non-dominated sectorisation solutions, ranked lexicographically based on their values for the chosen criteria and their priorities, from which the final decision can be made by the domain experts. WDN-PARTITION has been implemented and integrated with a hydraulic network simulator. The simulation-based evaluation results demonstrate that WDN-PARTITION generally achieves its design objectives to partition a water network into isolated sectors with a minimal negative impact on the hydraulic performance criteria of the network.

Hydrograph peak-shaving using a graph-theoretic algorithm for placement of hydraulic control structures

“…• Studies of pressurized water distribution networks have investigated the related problems of valve placement [42,43], sensor placement [44], subnetwork vulnerability assessment [45], and network sectorization [46,47]. While these studies provide valuable insights into the ways that complex network theory can inform drinking water infrastructure design, water distribution networks are pressure-driven and cyclic, and are thus governed by different dynamics than natural drainage networks, which are mainly gravity-driven and dendritic.…”

A Novel Water Supply Network Sectorization Methodology Based on a Complete Economic Analysis, Including Uncertainties

“…Most of these studies have addressed the problem using graph theory and energy criteria [6][7][8] in combination with multi-agent systems [9,10], with heuristic optimization approaches [11][12][13] and, more recently, with concepts derived from social network theory [5,14,15].…”

Predicting Water Quality Impact After District Metered Area Implementation in a Full‐Scale Drinking Water Distribution System

“…Major criteria for DMA design include size, minimizing the number of sources (one if possible), bulk metering of inflow and outflow, permanent closing of boundary valves, and maintenance of good pipe records (Wu et al 2011). Several innovative techniques have been developed recently to optimize DMA design in terms of multiple objectives such as the containment of contamination for security, reliability, enhanced rehabilitation, and work planning (Hajebi et al 2016, Alvisi & Franchini 2014, Di Nardo et al 2014, Savić & Ferrari 2014, Diao et al 2012).…”

“…Water quality is one of the performance indicators required to consider when designing DMAs. Hajebi et al (2016) critically reviewed and enhanced a list of requirements for optimized DMA design divided into three categories: structural, hydraulic, and economic. Only two out of 19 requirements identified are directly relevant to water quality during normal distribution systems operations: limited water velocities in pipes and minimized WRT.…”