Using Complex Network Analysis for Optimization of Water Distribution Networks

Journal Article (2020)
Author(s)

Robert Sitzenfrei (University of Innsbruck)

Qi Wang (Guangdong University of Technology)

Z. Kapelan (TU Delft - Sanitary Engineering, University of Exeter)

Dragan Savić (KWR Water Research Institute, University of Exeter)

Research Group
Sanitary Engineering
Copyright
© 2020 Robert Sitzenfrei, Qi Wang, Z. Kapelan, Dragan Savić
DOI related publication
https://doi.org/10.1029/2020WR027929
More Info
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Publication Year
2020
Language
English
Copyright
© 2020 Robert Sitzenfrei, Qi Wang, Z. Kapelan, Dragan Savić
Research Group
Sanitary Engineering
Issue number
8
Volume number
56
Pages (from-to)
1-17
Reuse Rights

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Abstract

The optimization of water networks supports the decision-making process by identifying the optimal trade-off between costs and performance (e.g., resilience and leakage). A major challenge in the domain of water distribution systems (WDSs) is the network (re)design. While the complex nature of WDS has already been explored with complex network analysis (CNA), literature is still lacking a CNA of optimal water networks. Based on a systematic CNA of Pareto-optimal solutions of different WDSs, several graph characteristics are identified, and a newly developed CNA design approach for WDSs is proposed. The results show that obtained designs are comparable with results found by evolutionary optimization, but the CNA approach is applicable for large networks (e.g., 150,000 pipes) with a substantially reduced computational effort (runtime reduction up to 5 orders of magnitude).