Optimization of Water Distribution Systems by Maximizing the Profit (Case Study: Homashahr)

Human societies nowadays undergo huge expenses to meet the water requirements aiming at maximizing the benefits and minimizing the costs. The goal of reduced costs can substantially be met by reduction in the cost of network pipes while satisfying the minimum pressure at nodes; i.e. 14 meters. This study is a multi-objective optimization function that will be constructed in a part of the water distribution network of the Homashahr city in Kerman province. In optimization of water distribution network, in addition to financial problems, other aspects should also be noted such as pressure and velocity of water in pipes which play key role in network design. In this study, the pressure was considered as a second objective function and the velocity was set as a boundary condition. When the objective function is defined only on the basis of cost, the network can face inadequate pressure in consumers’ connections. In this study “WaterGems” software is used for hydraulic simulation and also optimization process based on genetic algorithm. Based on the two objective functions defined in terms of cost reduction and improved network pressure, a scenario with suitable condition was derived. This scenario caused 15% reduction in total costs of the project.