Optimizing the Locations of Intermediate Rechlorination Stations in a Drinking Water Distribution Network

The preservation of the water quality in the distribution network requires maintaining permanently minimum residual chlorine at any point of the network. This is possible only if we plan chlore’s injections in various points of the network for intermediate rechlorination, or when increasing the initial level of chlorine in the tank outlet. In the latter case, there is a risk of disruption of the taste and smell of water for consumers near the tanks. Therefore, to avoid an excessive increase in the chlorine concentration in the tanks and to avoid affecting the taste of the distributed water, intermediate rechlorination stations should be implemented. These stations will proceed with the chlorine regulation. Given the high cost of the implementation of such stations, the optimization of the number and the choice of location of these stations are needed. This paper is focused on the implementation of an algorithm for such optimization. We used dynamic programming in this algorithm. Performance tests of our decision support system were done on real sites of the Wilaya Rabat-Sale (network of Morocco's capital).