Optimal Cost Model for Water Systems Planning

The cost analysis of water systems planning determines if potential solutions provide a basis of comparison and selection between various alternatives for ranking different water development and management policies. Based upon this analysis, the sensitivity of the project outputs can be estimated and the decisions on the use of water resources and economic conditions can be predicted. In this paper, we present an optimization model to minimize the costs for obtaining water needs of different users. The proposed model takes into account the water needs of the users, hydraulics losses during water distribution and capacities of the supply sources, water pumps and water storages and costs to obtain water. Model constraints include demands, limitations in the capacity of the various water sources and legal and structural specifications that must be followed in terms of water allocation. For illustration purposes, the model is applied to a simple case study. However, since our model is generic it can be applied to any water system schemes.