Optimal Valve Control in Water‐Distribution Networks

Abstract

The paper concerns the problem of minimization or leakage in water‐distributed networks. It has been reported that leakage from some networks may account for a significant amount of the water put into supply. For some aging urban networks, rates of up to 50% have been quoted, with average rates of 25% being quite typical. These high rates of leakage represent a significant economic loss. An algorithm for the determination of flow control valve settings to minimize leakage is presented. The nonlinear network equations describing nodal heads and pipe‐flows are augmented by terms that explicitly account for pressure‐dependent leakage and by terms that model the effect of valve actions. Successive linearization of these equations using the linear‐theory method allows a linear program that minimizes leakage to be formulated and solved. The performance of the method is demonstrated by application to an example network.