Multiobjective Optimization of Control Valve Installation

and DMA Creation for Reducing Leakage in

Water Distribution Networks
Enrico Creaco 1 and Hatem Haidar 2

Abstract: This paper presents a novel methodology for optimizing simultaneously the installation of control valves and the creation
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of district metered areas (DMAs) in water distribution networks (WDNs). This methodology was developed through the multiobjective
approach, by considering, as decisional variables, the sites for control valve installation and isolation valve closure. The proposed algorithm
is based on the hybrid combination of three algorithms, a multiobjective genetic algorithm, which is entrusted with valve site search, and two
embedded algorithms, the first based on iterated linear programming (LP) and the second based on graph theory, aimed at searching for the
optimal settings of control valves and at partitioning the WDN into DMAs, respectively. The hybrid algorithm attempts to find optimal
solutions in the trade-off between the following objective functions to be optimized simultaneously: total installation cost, daily leakage
volume, and demand uniformity across DMAs. The applications to a small Lebanese WDN proved that the methodology can find, especially
for high values of the total installation cost, effective control valve installations, and isolation valve closures in terms of leakage abatement
while obtaining a uniform distribution of demands across DMAs. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)WR.1943-5452.0001114. © 2019 American Society
of Civil Engineers.
Author keywords: Multiobjective optimization; Genetic algorithms; Linear programming; Water distribution; Leakage; Pressure;
Control valve; District metered area (DMA); District; Partitioning.

Introduction
When service pressure is higher than the minimum desired values
required for full demand satisfaction, water utilities often choose to
install control valves. One of the main benefits of service pressure
regulation is the abatement of leakage (Farley and Trow 2003).
Other benefits include reduction in the yearly number of pipe
breaks and extension of the infrastructure life.
The optimal location of control valves for service pressure and
leakage reduction has been one of the most explored topics in the
framework of water distribution network (WDN) management,
with numerous algorithms proposed over the years starting in the
1990s. The algorithm proposed by Jowitt and Xu (1990) makes use
of iterated linear programming (LP) to search for the optimal con-
trol valve settings that minimize leakage at each time slot of the
day. Vairavamoorthy and Lumbers (1998) suggested replacing LP
with sequential quadratic programming while formulating an ob-
jective function that allows minor violations in the targeted pressure
requirements. Reis et al. (1997) tackled the optimization of valve
1
Associate Professor, Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile e Architettura,
Univ. of Pavia, Via Ferrata 3, Pavia 27100, Italy; Honorary Senior Research
Fellow, College of Engineering, Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Univ.
of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QF, UK; Adjunct Senior Lecturer, School of Civil,
Environmental and Mining Engineering, Univ. of Adelaide, Adelaide 5005,
Australia (corresponding author). ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003
-4422-2417. Email: creaco@unipv.it
2
Associate Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Lebanese Univ.,
Rafic Hariri Campus, Hadath B.P. 2, Baabda, Lebanon. Email: hatem
_mhaidar@hotmail.com
Note. This manuscript was submitted on July 24, 2018; approved on
February 28, 2019; published online on August 14, 2019. Discussion per-
iod open until January 14, 2020; separate discussions must be submitted for
individual papers. This paper is part of the Journal of Water Resources
Planning and Management, © ASCE, ISSN 0733-9496.
locations and settings using a genetic algorithm (GA) and LP,
respectively. The algorithms proposed by Araujo et al. (2006),
Ali (2015), and Covelli et al. (2016) adopt GAs for both issues.
However, Ali (2015) incorporated physical knowledge of the
WDN to improve convergence toward optimal solutions. Liberatore
and Sechi (2009) proposed a two-step procedure for determining
optimal valve location and control. In the first step, candidate sets
for the location of valves are restricted to pipes defined based on
hydraulic analysis. Metaheuristic scatter search routines were used
in the second step to identify the best solution in the location and
control problems by optimizing a weighted multiobjective function
that considers the cost of inserting valves and the penalty for node
pressures that do not meet the requirements. A harmony search
approach was used by De Paola et al. (2017) to optimize both
control valve locations and settings. The algorithms of Pezzinga
and Gueli (1999), Nicolini and Zovatto (2009), and Creaco and
Pezzinga (2015a, b) differ from those just described in that they
were developed using a multiobjective approach. In fact, they en-
able constructing Pareto fronts of optimal solutions in the trade-off
between number of control valves, as a surrogate for the installation
cost, and daily leakage. Nicolini and Zovatto (2009) used a multi-
objective GA to optimize both valve locations and control settings.
Pezzinga and Gueli (1999) and Creaco and Pezzinga (2015a, b) used
LP for optimal valve control. However, the former authors tackled
optimal valve location through a fully deterministic procedure, based
on the sequential addition (SA) of beneficial valves up to a maximum
number of valves installable in the WDN. The latter, on the other
hand, used a multiobjective GA. The comparison of SA and multi-
objective GA for control valve location was presented by Creaco and
Pezzinga (2018), who showed that the former has the advantage of
lower computational burden, whereas the latter performs better at
finding beneficial valve locations in terms of leakage abatement.
Compared to the other works in the scientific literature, a further
novelty of the work of Creaco and Pezzinga (2015a, b) lies in the

© ASCE 04019046-1 J. Water Resour. Plann. Manage.

J. Water Resour. Plann. Manage., 2019, 145(10): 04019046

 fact that they proposed combining control valve installation with
closure of isolation valves suitably identified in the WDN. The re-
sults of their work proved the combined optimization to eliminate
paths for water to bypass the installed control valves and to obtain
additional benefits in terms of leakage reduction. However, the iso-
lation valves to be closed were identified by Creaco and Pezzinga
(2015a, b) based only on their effects in terms of pressure reduc-
tion. On the other hand, isolation valves are used in WDNs mainly
for other purposes, such as WDN partitioning into smaller and
easily manageable subsystems, usually called district metered areas
(DMAs). This facilitates monitoring and control of consumption
and leakage. In fact, at each of the boundary pipes identified though
suitable algorithms (e.g., Perelman and Ostfeld 2012; Diao et al.
2013; Ferrari et al. 2014; Giustolisi and Ridolfi 2014; Ciaponi
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et al. 2016; Galdiero et al. 2016; Laucelli et al. 2017; Di Nardo et al.
2018a, b; Liu and Han 2018; Liu et al. 2018) to separate DMAs, the
option of closing an isolation valve is usually evaluated as a cost-
effective alternative to the installation of a flow meter, as long as
it does not cause any pressure deficits in the WDN. Therefore, the
question arises as to whether isolation valve closures could be op-
timized to obtain simultaneously a large leakage abatement and
an effective WDN partitioning inside an optimization framework
that also includes installation of control valves. A multiobjective
methodology is presented in what follows to explore this issue.
In the following sections, first the methodology proposed is de-
scribed, followed by applications to a real WDN. The paper ends
with conclusions.
Methodology
The algorithm proposed in this work is based on the coupling of
three algorithms:
Algorithm 1: Multiobjective GA for the optimal location of
control valves and for the identification of isolation valves to be
installed and closed in the WDN;
Algorithm 2: WDN partitioning algorithm;
Algorithm 3: To search for the optimal settings of the control
valves at each time slot of WDN operation.
The three component algorithms are described in detail in the
following subsections.
Compared to the work of Creaco and Pezzinga (2015a, b), the
main novelty of the approach described here lies in the introduction
of Algorithm 2 for WDN partitioning. This results in a methodol-
ogy that optimizes simultaneously control valve installations and
DMA creation while searching for optimal solutions in the trade-
off between installation costs, leakage, and demand uniformity
across DMAs. Furthermore, Algorithm 3 was improved in leakage
estimation. In fact, a more general relationship to express leakage
as a function of service pressure was implemented, as will be shown
in what follows.
According to the Talbi (2002) classification, the algorithm is a
low-level hybrid algorithm, since Algorithms 2 and 3 are embedded
in Algorithm 1 as functional parts. The algorithm aims to obtain
optimal solutions in the trade-off between installation costs and daily
leakage volume, which fit in with WDN partitioning into DMAs.
Algorithm 1: Multiobjective Genetic Algorithm NSGAII
Individual Encoding
The multiobjective GA NSGAII (Deb et al. 2002) is used as
Algorithm 1 for the optimal location of control valves and for
the identification of the isolation valves to be closed in the
WDN, with the objective of simultaneously optimizing demand
© ASCE 04019046-2
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uniformity across DMAs, installation costs, and daily leakage.
Within NSGAII, the decision variables are encoded in individuals,
with a number npv of genes equal to the number of pipes where a
control valve can be installed or an isolation valve can be closed.
Typically, npv is equal to the number np of WDN pipes. In some
cases, control valve installation and isolation valve closure must
be prevented at some sites, yielding npv < np . Based on the valve
status in the generic pipe, the possible values of each gene are as
follows:
• 0, associated with absence of control valve and full opening of
isolation valve;
• 1, associated with installation of control valve and full opening
of isolation valve;
• 2 and 3, associated with absence of control valve and closure of
isolation valve.
The gene values 2 and 3, both of which encode isolation valve
closure in the generic pipe, have the same hydraulic effect, i.e., in-
finite pipe resistance. Nevertheless, the two gene values are consid-
ered to have different effects in terms of the creation of DMAs.
Specifically, in the case of a gene value equal to 2, the pipe is con-
sidered a present link during WDN partitioning. The generic pipe
associated with a gene value of 3, on the other hand, is removed
from the layout before the application of the WDN partitioning
algorithm. The distinction between gene values of 2 and 3 was
made to enable NSGAII to select which closed isolation valves will
affect the formation of DMAs.
After the initial population’s generation, the individuals evolve
in generations through processes of crossover and mutation while
being organized in fronts of various levels of dominance. In the
algorithm, the number of population individuals and the maximum
number of generations must be fixed to obtain accurate results
within an acceptable computation time. For each individual of
NSGAII, the sequence of instructions shown in Fig. 1 is carried
out, which includes the main feasibility check and the execution
of Algorithms 2 and 3 in fitness evaluation.
Main Feasibility Check
After valve location according to the genes, the generic individual
of NSGAII undergoes the main feasibility check. In this context,
the individual is considered infeasible when isolation valve closures
cause the disconnection of some nodes from the sources or nodal
pressure deficits below the desired pressure head hdes (m) under
conditions of closed isolation valves (for both gene values 2 and 3)
and open control valves. The degree of infeasibility is expressed as
a function of the number of disconnected nodes and of the maxi-
mum pressure head violation. It results in a penalization of the ob-
jective functions, which are assessed as explained in what follows.
Assessment of Demand Uniformity Cv across DMAs
(Objective Function)
The WDN partitioning algorithm (i.e., Algorithm 2) is then run to
subdivide the WDN into a certain number N dis of DMAs. To this
end, the WDN structure resulting from the removal of the pipes
associated with gene values equal to 3 is considered. The removal
of various pipes, as proposed by the generic individuals of NSGAII,
enables different DMA configurations to be obtained through the
partitioning algorithm. This algorithm enables identification of the
total number N bp of boundary pipes between DMAs and the cal-
culation of how many closed isolation valves are placed inside or
outside the boundary pipes (numbers equal to N ivb or N ivnb, respec-
tively, with N iv ¼ N ivb þ N ivnb ). A flow meter must be installed at
each of the boundary pipes without a closed isolation valve to mon-
itor the exchange of flow. These boundary pipes are as numerous
as N flowmeter ¼ N bp − N ivb . After the application of the WDN
partitioning algorithm, a secondary feasibility check is performed.
J. Water Resour. Plann. Manage.

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Fig. 1. Logic flux of instructions to carry out for each individual of
genetic algorithm.
In this context, the isolation valves associated with gene values
equal to 2, which were retained as active links during WDN par-
titioning, are now also removed from the WDN, to determine
whether any of these isolation valves causes disconnections inside
the generic DMA. Failure to comply with this secondary feasibility
check results in an additional increase in the degree of infeasibility
of the individual.
The first objective function is then assessed as the demand uni-
formity across DMAs. It is calculated as the coefficient of variation
Cv of DMA demands, the ratio of the standard deviation to the aver-
age value, to be minimized. The lower Cv, the more uniform is de-
mand across DMAs.
Assessment of Total Installation Cost Cinst
(Objective Function)
After N val control valves have been installed and N iv isolation
valves have been closed based on the NSGAII individual’s encod-
ing, the installation cost Cinst of the intervention is assessed (second
objective function to be minimized) as
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J. Water Resour. Plann. Manage., 2019, 145(10): 04019046
X
npv
X
np
Cinst ¼ Cval;i þ ðCflowmeter;i þ Cvault;i Þ ð1Þ
i¼1 i¼1
where Cval;i is the valve cost in the ith of the npv pipes that enable
control valve installation or isolation valve closure. In Eq. (1), if the
ith of the npv valve-related genes is equal to 0, the corresponding
value Cval;i is set at 0; if the ith gene is equal to 1, Cval;i is equal to
the cost of a control valve; finally, if the ith gene is equal to 2 or 3,
Cval;i is equal to 0 if an isolation valve is already present in the ith
pipe (because it has already been installed for other purposes, such
as segment isolation) or to the cost of an isolation valve if the latter
device is absent. Furthermore, Cflowmeter;i is equal to the cost of the
flowmeter if the generic ith of the np WDN pipes was identified as
a flowmeter-fitted boundary pipe by the WDN partitioning algo-
rithm. Otherwise, Cflowmeter;i ¼ 0. In the presence of a control valve
or of a flowmeter, the cost of the vault Cvault;i must be considered
for the ith pipe. Otherwise, Cvault;i ¼ 0.
Assessment of Daily Leakage WL (Objective Function)
In the case of a feasible individual, Algorithm 3 is run to search for
the optimal control valve settings at each time step of WDN oper-
ation. Then leakage volumes W L;j (m3 ) are calculated at each time
step of WDN operation through Algorithm 3, leading to the assess-
ment of the daily leakage volume W L (m3 ), which is the third ob-
jective function to be minimized:
X
nΔt
WL ¼ W L;j ð2Þ
j¼1
where nΔt represents the number of time steps associated with the
daily operation of the WDN.
In the presence of infeasibility, a penalized daily leakage volume
is estimated without running Algorithm 3, starting from the daily
leakage volume in the no-control scenario. Algorithm 3 cannot be
the source of any infeasibility for an initially feasible individual
because it preserves the meeting of nodal pressure constraints.
Improvements of NSGAII
The various individuals of NSGAII are compared based on their
fitness, composed of the three objective functions described earlier,
to be simultaneously optimized. When the population is old
enough, the entire population belongs to a single Pareto band of
undominated individuals. Compared to the NSGAII proposed by
Deb et al. (2002), the upgrades proposed by Creaco et al. (2016)
to improve the algorithm convergence in the presence of more than
two objective functions were implemented. Another variation was
implemented to prevent the population’s aging. If all of the popu-
lation’s individuals belong to a single band of undominated indi-
viduals before the maximum number of generations is reached, a
check is made about the presence of duplicate individuals. Whether
present, they are regenerated to insert new genetic characters into
the population.
Algorithm 2: Fast-Greedy Partitioning Algorithm
The fast-greedy partitioning algorithm (FGPA), developed through
graph theory by Clauset et al. (2004) and based on the concept of
modularity as an indicator of the strength of partitioning, is used as
Algorithm 2 to obtain WDN partitioning into N dis DMAs. Various
authors have used FGPA (e.g., Diao et al. 2013; Ciaponi et al. 2016;
Liu et al. 2018). Though Liu et al. (2018) recently proved that this
algorithm has both advantages and disadvantages, it was chosen as
Algorithm 2 in the present work due to its simple implementation.
FGPA is applied to the WDN configuration associated with the
J. Water Resour. Plann. Manage.
 generic individual of Algorithm 1, after the isolation valves corre-
sponding to gene values of 3 have been removed from the WDN
layout. This is done to drive WDN partitioning toward DMAs with
some closed isolation valves placed at the boundary pipes. Different
distributions of closed isolation valves associated with gene values
equal to 3 produce different configurations of DMAs, which may
have a different performance in terms of leakage abatement and
demand uniformity.
For the application of FGPA, modularity can be expressed
starting from the incidence topological Matrix A, with size np xnn
(np and nn are the total numbers of pipes and nodes, respectively).
In the generic row of A, associated with the generic network pipe,
the generic element can take on the values 0, −1, or 1, whether the
node corresponding to the matrix element is not at the end of the
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pipe, is the initial node of the pipe, or is the final node of the pipe,
respectively. Starting from A, Vector K (nnx1) and Matrix B
(nn × nn) can be calculated using the following expressions:
K ¼ diagonalðAT · AÞ ð3Þ
D ¼ jAT · A − diagðKÞj ð4Þ
where diagonal(), diag(), and | | indicate the vector extracted from
the diagonal of a square matrix, the diagonal square matrix con-
structed starting from a vector, and the absolute value, respectively.
Finally, T indicates the transpose matrix. Element ki of Vector K is
equal to the number of pipes connected to the ith node. The generic
element Dij of D is equal to the number of pipes connecting the ith
and jth nodes. Following the definition of K and D, the WDN mod-
ularity M is formulated as (Girvan and Newman 2002)
nn  
1 X nn X
ki kj
M¼ Dij − δðci ; cj Þ ð5Þ
2np i¼1 j¼1 2np
where ci and cj are the DMAs to which the ith and jth nodes
belong, respectively. Finally, δðci ; cj ) is equal to 1, whether the
ith and jth nodes belong to the same DMA (that is, ci ¼ cj ).
Otherwise, δðci ; cj Þ ¼ 0.
The objective of the algorithm lies in obtaining a WDN partition
featuring a high value of M. After the target number N dis of DMAs
has been set, the algorithm starts by considering each WDN node
constituting a DMA of its own. Therefore, at the initial step, the
number of DMAs in the WDN is equal to the number of nodes,
which is nn. At the second step, two DMAs are joined together,
and the number of DMAs becomes nn − 1. The aggregation pro-
cess is repeated in the following steps until the network merges to
N dis DMAs. At the generic step, the choice of the two DMAs to
merge is made to obtain the highest positive variation in M.
Algorithm 3: Linear Programming Algorithm
The iterated LP, an upgraded version of that proposed by Creaco
and Pezzinga (2015a, b), is used as Algorithm 3 for the optimiza-
tion of control valve settings located following the generic individ-
ual of NSGAII. The main upgrade lies in leakage estimation by the
fixed and variable area discharge (FAVAD) equation (May 1994;
Van Zyl and Cassa 2014), which guarantees better estimation of
leakage over a large range of service pressures than the conven-
tional emitter equation (Rossman 2000).
Algorithm 3 is used to search for the optimal setting of the con-
trol valves in the jth of the nΔt time steps that characterize the net-
work operation (in terms of hourly variations in source head and
demand coefficient). The objective of the optimization is to min-
imize the leakage volume W L;j at each time step, calculated by
means of the following relationship:
© ASCE 04019046-4
J. Water Resour. Plann. Manage., 2019, 145(10): 04019046
X
np
W L;j ¼ QLi Δt ð6Þ
i¼1
where QLi (m3 =s) is the leakage outflow from the ith of the np
network pipes during the jth time step, and Δt (s) is the temporal
length of the time step itself.
Within the optimization problem, control valve settings can be
defined as coefficients V that take on real positive values lower than
1, by means of which the resistance of the generic pipe fitted with
control valve is modified in such a way as to take account of the
presence of the valve itself. Vector V ¼ ðV 1 ; V 2 ; : : : ; V k ; : : : ;
V N val Þ of control valve settings can then be defined, where N val
is the number of pipes fitted with a control valve.
Within the objective function in Eq. (6), the leakage outflow in
cubic meters per second from the generic pipe can be assessed
through the following relationship derived from May (1994):
pffiffiffiffiffi
QLi ¼ Li Cd 2gðA0s h0.5 1.5
i þ ms hi Þ ð7Þ
where, for the ith pipe, hi (m) and Li (m) are the mean pressure
head (ratio of pressure to specific weight of water) and the length,
respectively. Cd and g ¼ 9.81 m=s2 are the outflow coefficient and
the gravity acceleration, respectively. A0s (m) and ms ð−Þ are the
initial leakage opening area per unit of pipe length, in the case
of service pressure equal to 0 m, and the pressure head area slope,
respectively. The latter coefficient expresses how leakage opening
area changes when the pressure head in the generic pipe increases.
The mean pressure head hi (m) can be calculated as
Hi;1 þ H i;2 − zi;1 − zi;2
hi ¼ ð8Þ
2
where Hi;1 (m), H i;2 (m) and zi;1 (m), zi;2 (m) are the heads and
elevations, respectively, for the end nodes of the pipe.
Simple calculations transform Eq. (7) into the following Eq. (9):
QLi ¼ Li ðC1L;i h0.5 1.5
i þ C2L;i hi Þ ð9Þ
where C1L;i (m3=2 =s) and C2L;i (m1=2 =s) are coefficients that have to
be calibrated based on measurements on the WDN.
Leakage outflows QLi from pipes can be regarded as the ele-
ments of a vector QL (np × 1), evaluated through the following
vector equation:
 
jA10 jðH0 − z0 Þ þ jA12 jðH − zÞ 0.5
QL ¼ diagðCL1 Þ
2
 
jA10 jðH0 − z0 Þ þ jA12 jðH − zÞ 1.5
þ diagðCL2 Þ ð10Þ
2
where CL1 and CL2 are vectors with size np × 1, the elements of
which are Li C1L;i and Li C2L;i , respectively.
In Eq. (10) Matrixes A12 and A10 are derived from A. Matrix
A12 (np × n) is obtained by considering the columns corresponding
to the n network nodes with unknown head. Matrix A10 (np × n0 )
is obtained by considering the columns corresponding to the n0
nodes with fixed head. H (n × 1) and H0 (n0 × 1) are the vectors
of nodal heads for the unknown head nodes and for the fixed head
nodes, respectively. Finally, z (n × 1) and z0 (n0 × 1) are the vec-
tors of nodal elevations for the unknown head nodes and for the
fixed head nodes, respectively. In Eq. (10), the division by scalar 2
and the powers 0.5 and 1.5 are applied to each element of the vector.
J. Water Resour. Plann. Manage.
 The objective function in Eq. (6) can be written in vector form as V min ≤ V ≤ V max ð18Þ
  0.5
T jA10 jðH0 − z0 Þ þ jA12 jðH − zÞ The optimization problem described by Eqs. (11), (12), (16),
W L;j ¼ CL1
2 and (18), with decision variables V and H, is not linear in the ob-
 1.5  jective function [Eq. (11)] and in the constraint of Eq. (12). To
T jA10 jðH0 − z0 Þ þ jA12 jðH − zÞ
þ CL2 Δt ð11Þ make the problem easier to solve, Eqs. (11) and (12) are linearized
2
using linear theory, and the problem is solved in an iterative way.
The linearization of Eqs. (11) and (12) is reported in the Appendix.
Among the constraints of the optimization problem with
Eq. (11) as the objective function, the momentum and continuity
equations of the network must be considered. As Creaco and Applications
Pezzinga (2015a, b) showed, this results in considering the follow-
ing equation written in the following compact matrix form:
Case Study
A21 NB11 ð−A10 H0 − A12 HÞ ¼ d þ qL ð12Þ
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The methodology described in the previous section was applied to

where Matrix A21 is the transpose of A12 . B11 is the inverse of
the diagonal Matrix A11 (np × np ), the elements of which identify
the resistances of the np network pipes through the following
relationship:
λi jQi jLi
A11 ði; iÞ ¼ 0.083 ð13Þ
DI 5i
where DI i (m) is the internal diameter of the ith pipe and λi
is Darcy’s friction coefficient, which is a function of pipe water
discharge Qi (m3 =s) and of the equivalent roughness εi (m). N is
the inverse of the diagonal Matrix M (np × np ), which is used to
increase the resistance of the N val pipes fitted with control valve. In
Matrix M, the diagonal elements corresponding to the N val pipes
fitted with control valve are equal to V −2
k , whereas those corre-
sponding to the np − N val pipes without a control valve are equal
to 1. Matrix N is diagonal, with the elements corresponding to the
pipes without a control valve being equal to 1 and the elements
corresponding to the pipes fitted with control valve being equal to
V 2k . N is then equal to
2 3
I
6 7
N ¼ 4 ··· 5 ð14Þ
diagðV 2 Þ
the main skeleton (Fig. 2) of the WDN of Saadnayel in Lebanon.
This network has nn ¼ 153 nodes, n ¼ 152 demanding nodes, and
n0 ¼ 1 source node with fixed head of 962 m and np ¼ 186 pipes.
Nodal ground elevations lie between 874.3 and 911.8 m above sea
level (asl). Because of these elevations, all the demanding nodes
have pressure head values ranging from about 50 m to about 80 m.
Therefore, they have a large pressure excess compared to the mini-
mum desired head for full demand satisfaction, hdes ¼ 25 m. In this
work, the behavior of the WDN is represented in N Δt ¼ 1 time
step, associated with the average operating conditions on the day
of peak demand. Under these operating conditions, the demanding
nodes have demands up to 0.004 m3 =s. The total demand of net-
work users adds up to 0.136 m3 =s. The WDN pipes have values
of nominal diameters and equivalent roughness within ranges of
50–350 mm and 0.0015–0.30 mm, respectively.
Coefficients C1L;i and C2L;i of Eq. (9) were set at 10−8 m3=2 =s
and 2.14 × 10−9 m1=2 =s, respectively, at all the WDN pipes. This
was done to obtain a daily leakage volume W L ¼ 3,868 m3 , equal
to 25% of the total volume leaving the source node in the no control
scenario, as in real operation of the WDN.
In the applications, the trade-off between daily leakage volume
W L , installation cost Cinst , and demand uniformity Cv was explored.
Being part of the main skeleton, all pipes were assumed to be

where I is an identity matrix [ðnp − N val Þ × ðnp − N val Þ].

Vector Q (np × 1) can also be defined as the vector of pipe water
discharges Qi .
Finally, in Eq. (12), Vector d (n × 1) is the vector of users’
demands. Vector qL (n × 1) is representative of leakage outflows
allocated to network nodes and can be assessed as
jA21 jQL
qL ¼ ð15Þ
2
A further constraint of the optimization process is that relative to
nodal head values:
H ≥ Hdes ð16Þ
where Vector Hdes (n × 1) is obtained as
Hdes ¼ z þ hdes ð17Þ
where hdes (n × 1) is the vector of the minimum desired nodal pres-
sure head hdes values necessary for full demand satisfaction.
The last constraint concerns control valve settings V k , which
Fig. 2. WDN of Saadnayel. In the calculations from the “Applications”
have to range between a minimum value V k;min (related to a fully
section, all nodes are considered with their real ground elevations.
closed valve, slightly larger than 0) and a maximum value V k;max
In those from the “Discussion” section, the ground elevation of the
(related to a fully open valve, equal to 1). In vector form, the last
nodes in gray was artificially increased to 920 m asl.
constraint is

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 equipped with an isolation valve, which can be closed regardless of
whether or not it is required, and to be candidates for control valve
installation (npv ¼ np ¼ 186).
In WDN partitioning through Algorithm 2, a number N dis of
DMAs equal to 5 was considered for the generic individual of
Algorithm 1. N dis ¼ 5 was chosen consistently with the size and
total demand of the WDN. In each individual, at each of the boun-
dary pipes between DMAs, a flowmeter was assumed to be in-
stalled, whether Algorithm 1 did not encode isolation valve closure.
The cost of the generic flowmeter Cflowmeter;i was set at €3,900, in-
cluding a clamp-on device and communication and power to site.
The cost of the generic control valve Cval;i (€) was expressed as a
function of pipe size through the following relationship, constructed
starting from the catalog of a valve manufacturer:
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high values of Cinst , corresponding to numerous valves installed in
the WDN, it is easier to obtain well-performing solutions in terms
of leakage abatement and WDN partitioning. To have better in-
sights into the results, some solutions (i.e., Solutions 1–6 shown in
Figs. 4–6 and described in Tables 1 and 2) were extracted from the
Pareto band and analyzed. Solutions 1 and 2 have a similar value of
Cinst , around €69,000, and quite different values of Cv (0.096 and
0.35, respectively) and W L (1,989 and 1,714 m3 ). As Fig. 4 shows,
the two solutions are different in terms of DMA configuration and
installation of control valves (N val ¼ 0 and N val ¼ 2 in the two so-
lutions, respectively). In fact, two different DMA configurations
with a similar number of boundary pipes (14 and 15) are obtained
thanks to a different distribution of closed isolation valves before
the application of the WDN partitioning algorithm. The DMA con-

figuration of Solution 1 is more oriented toward demand uniformity

Cval;i ¼ 626.39e7.7DI i ð19Þ (see Table 2 for DMA demands), whereas that of Solution 2 is more
oriented toward leakage abatement when combined with control
The cost of the generic vault Cvault;i for hosting a flowmeter or valve installations. The analysis of the two solutions highlights that
a control valve was set at €7,440, following Creaco and Walski the similar value of Cinst is obtained by installing a larger number
(2017). N flowmeter of flowmeters in Solution 1 (6 versus 5) and a larger num-
Algorithm 1 of the methodology was applied to a case study ber N val of control valves in Solution 2 (2 versus 0). Therefore, a
considering a population of 1,000 individuals and 1,000 genera- larger total cost of flowmeters (Cflowmeter ) is obtained in Solution 1,
tions. Following preliminary optimizations not described in the
present work, these values were chosen to ensure accuracy of the
results in acceptable computational times. The algorithms were
implemented in the MATLAB environment, and executable soft-
ware was created for the calculations of this work.

Results
The results of the optimizations are shown in the graph in Fig. 3,
which reports the Pareto band of W L as a function of Cinst and Cv .
The graph has Cinst and W L on the x- and y-axes, respectively. The
third objective function, Cv , is reported in the graph through the
tones of the dots: the darker the dot, the higher the value of Cv .
Globally, the graph shows decreasing values of W L as Cinst in-
creases from about €50,000 to about €400,000. Furthermore, for
a prefixed value of Cinst , the highest values of Cv , associated with
solutions with nonuniform distribution of demand across DMAs,
lead to lower values of W L . These solutions are more tailored to
leakage minimization than to WDN partitioning. Indeed, the lower
envelope of the Pareto band, including the solutions with the high-
est value of Cv for each value of Cinst , coincides with the Pareto
front obtainable through the biobjective (Cinst − W L ) optimization
performed by Creaco and Pezzinga (2015a, b). When moving from
low to high values of Cinst , the range of values obtained for W L as a
function of Cv becomes smaller and smaller. This means that, for

Fig. 3. Pareto band of optimal solutions plotted as W L ðCinst Þ with

values of Cv represented through tones of the dots. Solutions with Fig. 4. Solutions with (a) ID = 1; and (b) ID = 2. See text and Tables 1
IDs 1–6 are commented on in the results section. and 2.

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Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Zhejiang University on 11/27/22. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.
Fig. 5. Solutions with (a) ID = 3; and (b) ID = 4. See text and Tables 1
and 2.
whereas a larger total cost of control valves (Cval ) is obtained in
Solution 2. The number N vault and cost Cvault of vaults is the same
for the two solutions even if Solution 2 features one additional
device to be inserted in a vault (N val þ N flowmeter ¼ 7 for
Solution 2 versus N val þ N flowmeter ¼ 6 for Solution 1). This
happens because one of the vaults in Solution 2 hosts both a flow-
meter and a control valve. Incidentally, it must be remarked that
the possibility to consider cost reductions by inserting a control
valve and a flowmeter into the same vault represents an additional
benefit of the methodology presented in this work.
Solutions 3 and 4 (shown in Fig. 5 and in Tables 1 and 2) have a
similar value of Cinst , around €101,000. While the former solution
has more numerous flowmeters (6 versus 5), the latter features more
numerous control valves (4 versus 3). Compared to Solutions 2
and 1, Solutions 4 and 3 have a similar difference in terms of Cv
(i.e., a difference of about 0.25). However, the difference in terms
of W L is smaller in the case of Solutions 3 and 4. In fact, this differ-
ence is around 195 m3 , while the W L difference between Solution 1
and Solution 2 is about 276 m3 . This happens because, as the num-
ber of control valves installed in the network grows, the benefit
derived from the installation of additional control valves becomes
© ASCE 04019046-7
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Fig. 6. Solutions with (a) ID = 5; and (b) ID = 6. See text and Tables 1
and 2.
smaller and smaller. As a result, the methodology proposed in this
work can yield solutions enabling uniform demand distributions
across DMAs without compromising too much the performance
in terms of leakage abatement. This concept holds true also when
Solutions 5 and 6, which feature Cinst values around €166,000
(Fig. 6 and Tables 1 and 2), are considered. In fact, the results for
this high value of Cinst point out that the Cv reduction of 0.25 pro-
duces an increment in the leakage reduction of 105 m3 , which is
smaller than those obtained above for lower values of Cinst . This
happens even if the lower leakage volume is obtained in Solution 6
through the installation of five additional control valves, in compari-
son with Solution 5.
Discussion
To test the overall effectiveness of the methodology, an additional
optimization was performed under conditions of more complex
topography. Specifically, the ground elevation was increased to
920 m asl in the nodes in the core of the WDN layout (Fig. 2).
Considering a fixed head of the source equal to 962 m, these nodes
feature now only a minor pressure surplus, in comparison with the
J. Water Resour. Plann. Manage.
 Table 1. Main characteristics of the seven solutions chosen among the results of the optimizations
ID N bp N iv N val N flowmeter N vault Cval;tot Cflowmeter;tot (€) Cvault;tot (€) Cinst (€) W L (m3 ) Cv
1 14 19 0 6 6 0 23,400 44,640 68,040 1,989 0.096
2 15 19 2 5 6 5,241 19,500 44,640 69,381 1,714 0.350
3 14 15 3 6 8 18,007 23,400 59,520 100,927 1,599 0.063
4 14 20 4 5 8 21,981 19,500 59,520 101,001 1,404 0.312
5 16 14 4 11 13 25,745 42,900 96,720 165,365 1,433 0.058
6 16 18 9 7 14 34,677 27,300 104,160 166,137 1,328 0.311
7 16 14 5 10 15 17,869 39,000 111,600 168,469 1,517 0.070
Note: ID = identification number; N bp = number of boundary pipes; N iv = number of isolation valves; N val = number of installed control valves; N flowmeter =
number of flow meters; N vault = number of installed vaults; Cval-tot = cost of valves; Cflowmeter-tot = cost of flowmeters; Cvault-tot = cost of vaults; Cinst = total
installation cost; W L = daily leakage volume; and Cv = demand uniformity across DMAs.
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Table 2. For each of the seven solutions described in Table 1, ID and

demand DDMAj in generic jth DMA
DDMA1 DDMA2 DDMA3 DDMA4 DDMA5
ID (m3 =s) (m3 =s) (m3 =s) (m3 =s) (m3 =s)
1 0.0292 0.0232 0.0307 0.0262 0.0263
2 0.0403 0.0168 0.0353 0.0263 0.0169
3 0.0303 0.0254 0.0262 0.0263 0.0274
4 0.0392 0.0168 0.0322 0.0291 0.0184
5 0.0296 0.0246 0.0274 0.0268 0.0273
6 0.0333 0.0168 0.0285 0.0387 0.0184
7 0.0275 0.0286 0.0262 0.0240 0.0294

Fig. 8. Calculations in the case of modified ground elevations. Nodal

pressure heads h in Solution 7 versus those in the no-control scenario.

with higher ground elevations of Solution 7 than in the correspond-

Fig. 7. Solutions with ID = 7. See text and Tables 1 and 2.
original case study. Solution 7 shown in Fig. 7 and described in
Tables 1 and 2 is one of the optimal solutions obtained in this addi-
tional optimization. This solution features values of Cinst and Cv
close to Solution 5. The value of W L is larger since the modified
topology reduces the benefits of control valve regulation. In fact,
the presence of an area with artificially increased ground elevations
forces the methodology to find sites for valve installation away
from the central part of the WDN. Indeed, only the control valve
at the exit of the source is placed in the main ridge of the WDN.
Also, the number of closed isolation valves is smaller in the area
ing area of Solution 5.
Some additional remarks can be made about control valves and
nodal pressure heads. Taking as the benchmark Solution 7 for ex-
plicative purposes, the optimized V k setting values for the five con-
trol valves (identification numbers shown in Fig. 7) are 0.019,
0.220, 0.371, 0.684, and 0.181, respectively. If pressure-reducing
valves are used as control valves, this translates into the following
downstream pressure head settings: 31.8, 37.0, 47.1, 25.1, and
41.4 m, respectively. The goodness of these settings in terms of
service pressure regulation is illustrated by the graph in Fig. 8, in
which nodal pressure heads at demanding nodes of Solution 7 are
plotted against those in the no-control scenario under conditions
of modified ground elevations. Globally, this graph shows that
Solution 7 enables reducing nodal pressure heads significantly. In
fact, all the dots are below the graph bisector. However, as for the
nodes with modified ground elevation, the pressure reduction was,
as expected, quite contained. In no cases did the pressure heads fall
below hdes ¼ 25 m. Furthermore, it must be noted that the control
valve settings were optimized considering a single time slot for
WDN operation (average daily demand in the peak day). Therefore,
these settings could be varied in time to meet hourly, daily, and
monthly demand variations.
A final remark must be made about the choice of the objective
function to characterize the fitness of the solutions produced by the
methodology in terms of WDN partitioning. In fact, in this work,
demand uniformity across DMAs was chosen, so as to have a com-
plementary function to leakage volume, which is related to service
pressure, and to installation costs. However, the effectiveness of the
methodology, in which the WDN partitioning is driven to explore
various potential DMA configurations thanks to the removal of

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J. Water Resour. Plann. Manage., 2019, 145(10): 04019046

 some WDN pipes, is expected to be preserved even in the case of M1 H þ M2 V þ M3 ¼ 0 ð22Þ
different objective functions related to DMAs.
Matrixes M1 ðn; nÞ, M2 (n; N val ), and M3 (n; 1) are calculated
through the following relationships:
Conclusions
jA21 j jA j
M1 ¼ A21 B11 NA12 þ diagðCL1 ÞdiagðP−0.5 Þ 12
In this work, a novel framework was presented for optimizing the 2 2
installation of control valves for reducing leakage in WDNs. The jA21 j 0.5 jA12 j
þ diagðCL2 ÞdiagðP Þ
main novelty of this work lies in the simultaneous optimization of 2 2
control valve installation, isolation valve closure, and DMA crea- M2 ¼ 2A2pv Bpvpv diagðVÞdiagðApv0 H0 þ Apv2 HÞ
tion. To accomplish this, a multiobjective methodology was set up
as the hybrid combination of three algorithms: (1) a multiobjective jA21 j
M3 ¼ ½diagðCL1 ÞdiagðP−0.5 Þ
genetic algorithm entrusted with the optimization of control valve 2
 
installations and of isolation valve closures, (2) an algorithm based 0.5 jA10 jðH0 − z0 Þ − jA12 jz
þ diagðCL2 ÞdiagðP Þ
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on the graph theory for DMA creation, and (3) iterated linear pro-
gramming for the optimization of control valve settings. The ap-
plications to the main skeleton of a real WDN showed that the
methodology yields control valve installations and isolation valve
closures associated with various levels of daily leakage volume and
of fit to WDN partitioning, evaluated as demand uniformity across
DMAs. For a prefixed installation cost, including installation of
vaults, flowmeters, and control valves, the methodology provides
solutions with smaller leakage abatement and higher fit to WDN
partitioning, as well as solutions with larger leakage abatement and
lower fit to WDN partitioning. However, the variation in daily leak-
age volumes as a function of the fit to WDN partitioning is small in
some cases, especially for high installation cost values, associated
with many installed control valves. Therefore, the good fit of the
solutions provided by the methodology to WDN partitioning does
not always compromise the high performance in terms of leakage
reductions compared to the no-control scenario. In fact, compared
to an optimization aiming only at minimizing leakage with no ac-
count for WDN partitioning, solutions can be found with similar
leakage abatement performance but better fit to WDN partitioning.
A future development of the work will concern the implemen-
tation of different WDN partitioning algorithms from that used
in this work (Clauset et al. 2004), including spectral algorithms
(e.g., Di Nardo et al. 2018a, b) and algorithms based on modularity
functions specifically oriented toward WDNs (Giustolisi and
Ridolfi 2014). Furthermore, case studies with different character-
istics from that considered in this paper will be analyzed. This will
enable identification of the best WDN partitioning algorithm and
of its most suitable settings to be used when WDN partitioning is
optimized simultaneously with installation of control valves.
Appendix. Linearization for the Iterated LP Algorithm
Applying linear theory concepts to Eq. (11), the following linear
objective function is obtained:
2
þ d − 2A21 B11 NA12 H þ 2A2nv Bnvnv ðAnv0 H0 þ Anv2 HÞ
− A21 B11 NA10 H0 ð23Þ
where Matrixes Bpvpv and Bnvnv are derived from Matrix B11 by
considering the rows and the columns associated with the pipes
fitted with a control valve and lacking a control valve, respectively.
Matrixes Apv0 and Apv2 are derived from Matrixes A10 and A12 ,
respectively, by considering the rows associated with the pipes fit-
ted with a control valve. Matrixes Anv0 and Anv2 are derived from
Matrixes A10 and A12 , respectively, by considering the rows asso-
ciated with the pipes lacking a control valve. In Eq. (22), Vectors V
and H and Matrix N are relative to iteration iter and Vector P
(np × 1) is yielded by the following relationship:
jA10 jðH0 -z0 Þ þ jA12 jðHiter -zÞ
P¼ ð24Þ
2
Data Availability Statement
The data used for the calculations are made available upon request
by the authors of the paper.
Acknowledgments
This work was done within the project Energy and Leakage
Optimization in Lebanese Water Distribution Networks, funded by
the Lebanese University. The authors wish to thank the anonymous
reviewers, who provided very useful comments for the improve-
ment of the paper.
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