Entropy-based water distribution network rehabilitation

A strategy for prioritizing decisions for the rehabilitation of a water distribution network is developed. The nodal and network entropy are respectively calculated based on the redundancy concepts and the maximum entropy flow distribution formulation. The network performance index decides whether rehabilitation is required or not. The nodal relative entropy values reflect the nodal performance. The contour plot based on the values determines a performance surface. At any time, this surface is used to locate low performance areas, which identify parts of the network that need rehabilitation priority. Using the nodal relative entropy and taking the pipe un-failure principle into consideration, the pipe performance indices are worked out. The indices measure the performance of the pipes, and provide a reference for ranking the different parts to be restored. The approach is demonstrated in an example network.