What’s Next in Water Distribution Systems Management?

Water distribution systems (WDS) were studied intensively in the last decades. The research concerning WDS is varied and covers many aspects of the WDS lifecycle such as design, operation, water quality, sensors placement, leaks detection, demand forecasting, and more. A common approach in all areas of research on WDS is to explore within predefined boundaries of the problem and ignore anything beyond these boundaries. For example, consumers consume water from the network and use it, a direct outcome of this action is that the sewage collection system gets its input. The two systems are inherently related to each other but analyzed and operated separately. More examples of such boundaries are the connection between WDS and electricity grids, where electricity prices are usually treated as parameters of WDS problems but the costs of the electricity production and transmission are ignored. Moreover, WDS storage tanks can be used for regulating loads in the electricity grid. Another example is the state (volume, levels, and quality) of water sources such as aquifers and surface water. These are usually studied from a hydrologic perspective but WDS and natural water resources are subject to mutual influences on each other. These examples (and others) point out that WDS are not isolated systems, they are integrated with other natural and infrastructure systems. Accordingly, the decision making related to the different aspects of WDS should consider the full complexity that exists in real systems which is wider than the WDS itself. This study is elaborating on opportunities to expand the existing boundaries of WDS problems thus opening new research areas in WDS management.