Multi-objective design of water distribution systems based on the fuzzy reliability index

This paper reports the application of a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm to the design of water distribution systems. The objective functions are the minimization of the capital costs and the maximization of the hydraulic reliability of the network so as to identify the tradeoff between cost and reliability. Furthermore, a new deterministic reliability index named fuzzy reliability index is introduced utilizing fuzzy logic and the definition of hydraulic reliability. The multi-objective honey-bee mating optimization (MOHBMO) algorithm is developed to achieve the design of two well-known water distribution networks. Results show that the proposed reliability measure is able to produce appropriate hydraulic reliability in the system and the MOHBMO algorithm calculates desirable Pareto-optimal solutions.