Implications of Head Loss Path Choice in the Optimization of Water Distribution Networks

The effects of varying the paths used to ensure adequate pressure throughout a water distribution network when using iterative linear programming‐gradient search techniques for least cost solution of the network are analyzed. The path choice is shown to affect how the initial flows are changed, i.e., increased or decreased, by the gradient expressions in the flow modification step. The long‐term implication of the difference in the way the flows are changed is a variation in the relative importance in terms of flows of the various links within the system. The amount of flow in a particular link in the final solution appears to be dependent on how often that link is included in the pressure‐defining constraints.