Reliability-based optimization of water distribution networks

The water distribution system serves as a basic necessity for society. Due to its large size and involvement of various components, it is one of the most expensive civil infrastructures and thus demands optimization. Much work has been done for reducing the distribution system cost. However, with only one objective, the obtained solutions may not be practical to implement. Thus, improving cost along with the efficiency of the network is the demand of the hour. The present work introduces a unique parameter-less methodology for generating Pareto fronts without involving the concept of non-dominance. The methodology incorporates the Jaya optimization model for a bi-objective problem, one being the reduction in network cost and the other is improving the reliability index of the network. The efficiency of the proposed work is analyzed for three different benchmark problems. The Jaya technique is found to be very efficient and fast when compared with the other evolutionary technique applied for the same networks. The parameter-less nature of the Jaya technique smoothens the process to a very large extent as no synchronization of algorithm parameters is required.