An Analysis of Multiple Contaminant Warning System Design Objectives for Sensor Placement Optimization in Water Distribution Networks

Jean-Paul Watson (), William E. Hart (), Harvey J. Greenberg and Cynthia A. Phillips ()
Additional contact information
Jean-Paul Watson: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
William E. Hart: Sandia National Laboratories
Harvey J. Greenberg: University of Colorado
Cynthia A. Phillips: Sandia National Laboratories

Chapter Chapter 7 in Harvey J. Greenberg, 2021, pp 125-145 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract A key strategy for protecting municipal water supplies is the use of sensors to detect the presence of contaminants in associated water distribution systems. Deploying a contamination warning system involves the placement of a limited number of sensors—placed in order to maximize the level of protection afforded. Researchers have proposed several models and algorithms for generating such placements, each optimizing with respect to a different design objective. The use of disparate design objectives raises several questions: (1) What is the relationship between optimal sensor placements for different design objectives? and (2) Is there any risk in focusing on specific design objectives? We model the sensor placement problem via a mixed-integer programming formulation of the well-known p-median problem from facility location theory to answer these questions. Our model can express a broad range of design objectives. Using three large test networks, we show that optimal solutions with respect to one design objective are often highly sub-optimal with respect to other design objectives. However, it is sometimes possible to construct solutions that are simultaneously near-optimal with respect to a range of design objectives. The design of contamination warning systems thus requires careful and simultaneous consideration of multiple, disparate design objectives.

Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:isochp:978-3-030-56429-2_7

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9783030564292

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-56429-2_7

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in International Series in Operations Research & Management Science from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().