Conservation laws are hyperbolic partial differential equations that are commonly used to express the fundamental balance laws that occur in many physical systems and engineering problems when dissipation effects are neglected. In these lectures we shall focus on systems that are made of the interconnection of scalar or 2x2 conservation laws in one space dimension. Typical examples include hydr...

In order to improve the management and to better locate water losses, Water Distribution Networks can be physically divided into District Meter Areas (DMAs), inserting hydraulic devices on proper pipes and thus simplifying the control of water budget and pressure regime. Traditionally, the water network division is based on empirical suggestions and on ‘trial and error’ approaches, checking res...

In the management of water distribution networks, large energy savings can be yielded by exploiting the head drop due to the network pressure control strategy, i.e., for leak reductions. Hydropower in small streams is already exploited, but technical solutions combining efficiency and economic convenience are still required. In water distribution networks, an additional design problem comes out...

This paper describes a penalty-free multi-objective evolutionary optimization approach for the phased whole-life design and rehabilitation of water distribution systems. The optimization model considers the initial construction, rehabilitation and upgrading costs. Repairs and pipe failure costs are included. The model also takes into consideration the deterioration over time of both the structu...

In the field of water distribution systems the EPANET 2 toolkit is considered nowadays the industry standard for hydraulic modelling. Unfortunately, the design and programming model of EPANET 2 have some limitations that make any attempt to extend its hydraulic solver, add new functionalities or improve performance difficult to achieve and time consuming. A new software toolkit for water distri...