Optimal selection of number and location of pressure sensors in water distribution systems using geostatistical tools coupled with genetic algorithm

Abstract

Abstract This paper presents a novel methodology for designing an optimal pressure sensor to make average pressure field in water distribution systems (WDS) more accurate via geostatistical tools coupled with genetic algorithm (GA) under normal operating condition. In light of this, the objective function is introduced based on geostatistical technique as variance of residual of block ordinary kriging (BOK). In order to solve the problem of sensor placement, three different approaches, so-called, simplified, exhaustive, and random search optimization are considered. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first time whereby geostatistical tools are used to design a pressure monitoring network in the WDS. The proposed methodology is first tested and verified on a literature case study of Anytown WDS and then is applied to a real-world case study referred to as C-Town consisting of five district metered areas (DMAs). The proposed methodology has several advantages over existing more conventional approaches which will be demonstrated in this paper. The results indicate that this method outperforms the conventional paradigms in current use in terms of mathematical labor and the results are quite promising.