Simulation-Optimization Model for Intermediate Reuse of Agriculture Drainage Water in Egypt

Abstract

The scarcity of water resources in Egypt has triggered the need for using different types of low-quality water. Agricultural drainage water (ADW) is considered as a strategic reserve for coping with increasing fresh water demands. In this paper, an organized and general methodology for determining the optimum reuse discharges is presented. The physical properties of a drainage network are modeled by using a developed simulation water quality model. The genetic algorithm technique is used as an optimization tool for finding the optimum ADW reuse quantities at specific points of withdrawal. The simulation-optimization process was applied twice during the summer and winter seasons. The results show that the reuse quantities represent 75.50 and 87.12% of the available ADW in the study area for summer and winter, respectively, representing 40.57 and 43.52% of seasonal canal delivery. The use of the simulation-optimization model is suitable for decision support leading to near-optimum reuse selection of ADW for irrigation.