Optimal Storage Control in a Combined Sewer System

A control algorithm for automated operational management of detention storage in a combined sewer system is applied to a version of the proposed San Francisco Master Plan for Wastewater Management. The system is modeled with control objectives and physical system constraints expressed as a large-scale linear programming problem. The algorithm presented transforms the large-scale control problem into a multilevel series of smaller subproblems that are amenable to computer solution in real time. Results of several examples are presented which indicate that optimal or nearly optimal solutions to the large-scale problem can be obtained in real time, and that the resulting system performance is significantly better than that which could be achieved with unregulated detention storage.