Multiobjective Genetic Algorithms for Pump Scheduling in Water Supply

Seeking cost reduction and energy savings in water supply by improving the operation of pumps is both an obvious as well as a very efficient possibility to consider. Without making changes to the basic elements of a water supply system, remarkable reductions in operation costs can be achieved by optimising the pump scheduling (PS) problem. The UK Water Research Centre (WRC) [1985] estimates the scope for savings for an average system to amount to ten percent of the current pumping cost. Considering that in the UK the overall energy cost for pumping in water supply is about £70 Million p.a., the estimated savings are very high.