A pressure-chlorine driven approach to design effective district metered areas (DMA) configurations in water distribution systems

Abstract

To address the limitations of conventional Graph Theory ( GT ) techniques, in this study, an effective approach, named the Graph Theory-based Pressure and Chlorine Quantities (GT-PCQ) method, is proposed inspired by Girvan–Newman ( GN ) algorithm. Here, the nodal pressure and chlorine concentration values are directly integrated into the network partitioning process. Three performance indices—Hydraulic Reliability Index ( HRI ), Quality Reliability Index ( QRI ), and Hydraulic–Quality Reliability Index ( HQRI )—are employed to evaluate the performance of the resulting configurations. The GT-PCQ method is applied to a large-scale, real-world Water Distribution System (WDS) in Najaf Abad, Isfahan, Iran, using a 24-hour Extended Period Simulation (EPS) combined with Pressure-Dependent Analysis (PDA) modeling for both hot and cold day scenarios. Three models are developed to assess the influence of system quantities, including (i) simultaneous consideration of pressure and chlorine concentration, (ii) pressure-only, and (iii) chlorine-only. Results indicate that, compared to the GN algorithm, the GT-PCQ method substantially reduces computational time ( CT ) and improves average network pressure ( P̅ ) and chlorine concentration (CL‾), ultimately leading to improved reliability across all indices. © 2026 Elsevier Ltd.