Isolation Valve Placement Strategy for Resilience Improvement of Water Distribution Systems
Publication: Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 149, Issue 9
Abstract
This study proposes a novel optimal isolation valve placement method for water distribution networks (WDNs) using dynamic programming. The proposed method automatically finds the best places to install isolation valves that lead to minimal pipe isolation risk for the system. It works by gradually removing the least impact valves from a valve redundant system until the desired number of valves is met. The proposed method works for both new systems and established systems. Simulation on a real-life WDN in the East Bay, the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area, shows that the system configured by the proposed method outperforms the existing valve configuration. Results show that many widely used empirical valve placement rules (e.g., N, N-1 rules) can be successfully interpreted and reproduced using the proposed method. It helps water utilities balance the number of valves to install (cost) and system reliability (benefit).
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code used during the study were provided by a third party. Direct requests for these materials may be made to the provider as indicated in the Acknowledgements.
Acknowledgments
The data used in this research was provided by East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD). We thank Max Fefer, Bill Maggiore, and Carlton Chan from EBMUD for helping us identifying study goals, acquiring data, and reviewing the general approach and findings for this research.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 149 • Issue 9 • September 2023
Copyright
© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 2, 2022
Accepted: Apr 20, 2023
Published online: Jun 22, 2023
Published in print: Sep 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Nov 22, 2023
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Automation and robotics
- Bays
- Coastal engineering
- Coasts, oceans, ports, and waterways engineering
- Computer programming
- Computing in civil engineering
- Engineering fundamentals
- Equipment and machinery
- Hydrologic engineering
- Hydrologic properties
- Hydrology
- Infrastructure
- Pipeline systems
- Pipes
- System reliability
- Systems engineering
- Systems management
- Valves
- Water and water resources
- Water balance
- Water management
- Water supply
- Water supply systems
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