Reliability-based optimal design of water distribution networks

A considerable amount of research has been carried out on the reliability analysis and optimal design of water distribution systems, and it has been reported that each of the above problems is very difficult to solve (Eiger et al. 1994; Wagner et al. 1988). The authors are therefore to be commended for their work, which directly incorporated a sophisticated probabilistic reliability model into an optimization routine. The paper had other interesting and useful aspects, which, unfortunately, will not be elaborated upon here.