Optimal deployment of pressure reduction valves for leakage minimization in urban water distribution systems

Leakage is frequently observed within water distribution systems, due to ageing of pipes and incorrect assembling of joints. It is well known that excessive pressure throughout the distribution system can enhance this phenomenon: in order to reduce its effects, Throttle Control Valves (TCV) as well as Pressure Reduction Valves (PRV) can be used. The number of valves is usually pre-assigned, for a given amount of economic resources, whereas their positioning and setting have be chosen. The choice must take into account the links where the valves have to be located, their positioning within each link, as well as the pressure head needed at each node to ensure the delivering of desired amount of water. In this paper, a Genetic Algorithm (GA) is used to optimize the deployment of fixed numbers of control valves, in order to minimize the value assumed by a conveniently defined Fitness Function (FF) without affecting the hydraulic reliability of the network.