Integrating Demand Variability and Technical, Environmental, and Economic Criteria in Design of Pumping Stations Serving Closed Distribution Networks

This paper presents an innovative and comprehensive methodology considering yearly demand variability and environmental factors in the design of pumping stations serving closed water distribution systems. While a single daily pattern of demand is typically considered for the design in most cases in the literature, the new methodology considers a set of potential daily patterns of demand, each with its own probability of occurrence, both to obtain an accurate estimation of yearly operational costs and to guarantee the feasibility of the pumping station during the yearly demand peak. As an additional novelty of this work, environmental criteria, such as the impact in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, are considered in the design and combined with technical and economic criteria to rank various design alternatives based on the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The methodology proves that it can yield cost-effective, technically sound, and environmentally friendly solutions in systems with various characteristics.Practical ApplicationsThe main contribution of this work is that it presents a standardized methodology for pumping station design in water distribution networks. An important advantage of this method is that it reduces the subjectivity of the designer and avoids assumptions during the design process by applying multicriteria decision analysis. This new method of pumping station design brings a different point of view to traditional design methods. While traditional design methods focus on minimizing project costs and operational costs, this new methodology considers technical, environmental, and economic aspects in a comprehensive manner during the design process. In addition, it considers demand variability in the design process, highlighting its effects and its importance in the case studies presented in this paper. In short, this methodology can be applied in any kind of pumping station design for real water distribution networks of different sizes. The results that this methodology yields demonstrate that pumping station solutions can be technically feasible and simple, economically profitable, and environmentally sound.