Water Supply Network Renewal Strategic Planning Utilizing the VIKOR Method

Water networks are critical infrastructure components, ensuring the continuous supply of high-quality drinking water to consumers.To secure such water supply, regular maintenance, including the replacement of deteriorating pipelines, is essential.In this study, a methodology has been developed for determining optimal pipeline replacement solutions in water supply systems at water utilities with limited data availability.Hydraulic analysis has been conducted on the segment of 25 km of the water supply network using the free software EPANET (Environmental Protection Agency, NETwork) Applying water network optimization, eight pipeline replacement projects according to 13 pre-defined criteria have been identified and evaluated.The paper outlines the methods for evaluating the criteria, including defining specific quantitative limits.The Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) method was used in the paper to determine the weights of the criteria.The reason for applying this method refers to problems that involve a set of criteria with a mixed structure, including both quantitative and qualitative aspects.Also, the paper describes the steps of the multi-criteria optimization method VIKOR (Serbian language -VIekriterumsko KOmpromisno Rangiranje), used to select the optimal project.The obtained results were also confirmed by the TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) multi-criteria optimization method.This paper, considered as a case study, describes a method, i.e., application of a new principle and an innovative way to solve a problem for developing countries.