A survey of pressure control approaches in water supply systems

Abstract

Pressure control in water distribution networks (WDNs) provides an avenue for improving both their sustainability and reliability. The complexities of the networks make the problem more challenging as various situational operations must be accounted for to ensure that the entire system performs under recommended conditions. In general, this problem is addressed by the installation of pressure reducing valves (PRVs) in WDNs and determining their appropriate settings. Researchers have proposed the utilization of several control techniques. However, the limitations of both computational and financial resources have compelled the researchers to investigate the possibility of limiting the PRVs while ensuring their control is sufficient for the entire system. Several approaches have been put forward to mitigate this sub-problem of the pressure control problem. This paper presents a review of existing techniques to solve both the localization of PRVs and their control problems. It dwells briefly on the classification of these methods and subsequently highlights their merits and demerits. Despite the available literature, it can be noted that the solution methods are yet to be harmonized. As a result, various avenues of research areas are available. This paper further presents the possible research areas that could be exploited in this domain.