Decision Support for the Design and Operation of Variable Speed Pumps in Water Supply Systems

The design and operation of water supply systems is a multicriteria task; the energy efficiency should be minimized while, at the same time, respecting technical requirements, such as the balanced operation of available pumps. On one hand, the overall system can be improved by the use of variable speed pumps. They increase the number of operating options. On the other hand, they add more complexity to the operation problem. In this paper, we discuss the difficulties associated with speed control and propose a decision support system to overcome them.