Regras de operação para sistemas de abastecimento de água com baixo nível de automação e sujeitos a incertezas.

Abstract

The increase of the operational complexity of water supply systems, caused by aging of the systems, urban growth, modifications and expansions in their topology, and associated uncertainties, has prevented those systems of performing their main role: deliver water in appropriate quantity, quality and pressure, with operational safety and energy efficiency. As an alternative for coping with this problem, this dissertation presents a generic methodology for construction of rules of multi-objective operation of water supply systems. The operational objectives are: supply of water demands, reduction of electrical operational costs, reduction of the number of on/off switches of pumps and valves, reduction of water losses and recover of the initial conditions of the systems at the end of the operational cycle. The rules made suggest operational routines which are established according to the topologic characteristics of the systems, its operational limits, supplying demand and the related operational objectives. The methodology was applied to the Cariri Water Supply System, in the State of Paraíba, Brazil. The results show that the rules provide consistent and efficient operational alternatives, attending the objectives, being a tool for supporting the operational management of such systems. Comparison between the actual operation of the system and the one suggested by the proposed methodology showed that it is possible to reduce up to 100% the pumping operation in the high energy cost period, thus minimizing the operational costs.