Location and Setting of Valves in Water Distribution Networks Using a Harmony Search Approach

In this paper, pressure management through pressure-reducing valves (PRVs) is discussed with particular reference to metaheuristic optimization techniques, which have proven to be very effective in producing good results with reduced use of computational resources. In particular, the application of the harmony search (HS) method to the strategic location and setting of a prefixed number of PRVs is proposed and discussed. A single-objective optimization problem that aims at the leakage reduction through the minimization of the water pressures is defined. A double harmonic component is adopted for taking into account both the location and setting of each PRV. The hydraulic constraints handled by simulation software are considered as well. Two examples from literature are analyzed to allow comparisons. Good results compared to reduced computational time are obtained. (C) 2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.