Design of Pumping Stations Using a Multicriteria Analysis and the Application of the AHP Method

Abstract

[EN] The pumping station are very important hydraulic system in urban water supply be-cause the pumps raise the water head ensuring the minimum pressure required in drinking water systems. In the design of a pumping station, one of the most important criteria is the number of pumps. However, in the traditional design this criterion is de-fined arbitrarily. The other criteria are defined from the number of pumps and can be produce a design not optimal. In addition, the traditional design does not consider the environment importance to choose the pumps. The objective of this paper is defining a new design methodology for pumping sta-tions. It has been developed using a multicriteria analysis in which nine criteria are evaluated. The application of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) allows finding an optimal solution. These design criteria have been associated in three cluster factors: technical factors, environmental factors, and economic factors. The results obtained allow not only to validate the methodology, but also to offer a solution to the problem of determining the most suitable model and the number of pumps of a pumping sta-tion.