Calibration of urban water distribution networks and investigation of different placement scenarios of pressure relief valves: A case study in Western zone of Poldokhtar-Iran

Abstract

Abstract One of the most critical problems of water distribution networks (WDNs) in Iran is the lack of water pressure in the network and the lack of satisfaction from the customers. The present research investigated hydraulic modeling, calibration, and different placement scenarios of pressure relief valves (PRV) within the Poldakhter WDN (Western zone) to solve the problems above. According to the selected objective function and the range of changes in the roughness coefficient and consumption, the optimization was conducted using the genetic algorithm (GA) inside hydraulic software. Hydraulic simulation showed that the pressure head in 18% of nodes in the network is more than 45 meters, while it is less than 15 m in 51% of the nodes. The results from the five proposed scenarios show a significant improvement regarding the WDN's performance, and pressure heads lower than 15 m can be reached in less than one percent of the network.