Parallel computing in water network analysis and leakage minimization

In this paper a parallel computing based software demonstrator for the simulation and leakage minimization of water networks is presented. This demonstrator, based on the EPANET package, tackles three different types of problems making use of parallel computing. First, the solution of the hydraulic problem is treated by means of the gradient method. The key point in the parallelization of the method is the solution of the underlying linear systems, which is carried out by means of a multifrontal Choleski method. Second, the water quality simulation problem is approached by using the discrete volume element method. The application of parallel computing is based on dividing the water network in several parts using the multilevel recursive bisection graph partitioning algorithm. Finally, the problem of leakage minimization using pressure reducing valves is approached. This results in the formulation of an optimization problem for each time step, which is solved by means of sequential quadratic programming. Because these subproblems are independent of each other, they can be solved in parallel.