Technical Papers
Mar 24, 2017

Enhancing the Performance of a Multiobjective Evolutionary Algorithm for Sanitary Sewer Overflow Reduction

Publication: Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 143, Issue 7

Abstract

The application of multiobjective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs) to sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) optimization problems typically requires multiple runs of a simulation model and can be very computationally expensive. There is a need for simulation-optimization models that use fewer functional evaluations of the hydraulic model to identify near optimal solutions. In this study, two conflicting objectives were analyzed: maximizing SSO reduction and minimizing rehabilitation cost. This paper introduces a novel MOEA, the enhanced nondominated sorting evolution strategy (eNSES) that uses a specialized operator to guide the algorithm toward known SSOs locations. This strategy is being tested in an existing network in the eastern San Antonio Water System network. It has been compared with NSGA-II and NSES based on hypervolume and the overall nondominated vector generation ratio (ONVGR). The results show that eNSES improves the convergence rate by approximately 70% over the tested alternative algorithms, performing as well as NSGA-II and outperforming NSES in terms of the hypervolume by nearly 10%. In terms of the ONVGR, eNSES performed similarly to NSES but outperformed NSGA-II by 42%.

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Acknowledgments

This project was funded by the San Antonio Water System (SAWS) under the inter-local agreement Development of an Optimization Framework for Sanitary Sewer Overflow Reduction, Contract No. CDM-14-040-MR. Special thanks to the Wastewater Master Planning team of the San Antonio Water System. Financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture/National Institute of Food and Agriculture (Award Number: 2014-38422-22088) to support students’ experiential learning is also gratefully acknowledged.

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Go to Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 143Issue 7July 2017

History

Received: Jun 24, 2016
Accepted: Jan 13, 2017
Published ahead of print: Mar 24, 2017
Published online: Mar 25, 2017
Published in print: Jul 1, 2017
Discussion open until: Aug 25, 2017

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Authors

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Ph.D. Candidate, Environmental Science and Engineering Program, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Texas at San Antonio, One UTSA Blvd., San Antonio, TX 78249 (corresponding author). ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1411-4768. E-mail: [email protected]
Marcio Giacomoni, A.M.ASCE [email protected]
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Texas at San Antonio, One UTSA Blvd., San Antonio, TX 78249. E-mail: [email protected]

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