ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: Water distribution system design optimisation is one of the most heavily researched areas in the hydraulics profession. Hundreds of papers and reports on approaches have been developed over the past few decades. However, there are only a few known examples of such systems from literature that can be used for testing and evaluating new design procedures. This paper introduces a benchmark library of water distribution models, which has been set up to ensure that practitioners and researchers have access to water system data, ranging from simple to very complex distribution systems. In particular, special emphasis is paid to data allowing users to test and compare their design and operation modelling algorithms and tools with others. The aim is to clear any inconsistency in the information related to the existing benchmark systems considering both design and optimisation data. Addition of new benchmark water systems is actively encouraged in order to have a diverse set of systems that compare well to real water systems. Most importantly, we encourage the water community to become active users of and contributors to the benchmark library. The motivation and the advantages of building such a library is discussed. The format of a typical entry to the library is illustrated by an example. The current version of the library (which is available from https://www.ex.ac.uk/cws/benchmarks) is described.
