Using Location-Allocation Algorithms to Distribute Multioutlet Hydrants in Irrigation Networks Design

Abstract

Location-allocation algorithms allow for situating services in an efficient way in zones where the demand is dispersed across the area. In the present work, the minisum location-allocation algorithm is used to optimize the placement multioutlet hydrants, which are needed to supply irrigation to the region. The objective function aims to minimize the total access costs of the service. Because the total number of hydrants is the same as what currently exists the results can be compared with the presented solution. The proposed model reduces the total distance run to access the service, from 16,177 m to 13,560 m (16.17%), and the objective function (proportional to the cost) by 28.95%. © 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.