Popis: |
The management of network infrastructure in the context of water sector sustainability poses a significant challenge due to the increasing demand for fresh water, rapid infrastructure deterioration, and rising global water shortages. This paper presents a practical method to address these challenges by partitioning water distribution networks (WDNs) into district metered areas (DMAs) during critical hydraulic conditions to ensure adequate water supply, appropriate pressure and flow rates, and improved customer satisfaction. The proposed method employs efficient graph theoretic algorithms and a multi-objective optimization approach to reduce computational effort and determine the optimal dynamic layout of DMAs based on flow meters and gate valves, while minimizing variable installation costs and regulating water loss monitoring and management. The method ensures that only the number of flowmeters and gate valves may require modification, rather than the DMA layout, as hydraulic criteria may frequently change for a network due to various reasons. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated through successful implementation on six complex WDNs consisting of hundreds of pipes and nodes. |