CLIPS based decision support system for Water Distribution Networks

The Water Distribution Networks (WDN) are managed by experts, who, over the years of their association and responsibility, acquire an empirical knowledge of the system and, characteristically, this knowledge remains largely confined to their respective personal domains. In the event of any new information and/or emergence of a new problem, these experts apply simple heuristics to design corrective measures and cognitively seek to predict network performance. The human interference leads to inefficient utilization of resources and unfair distribution. Researchers over the past, have tried to address to the problem and they have applied Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool to automate the decision process and encode the heuristic rules. The application of AI tool in the field of WDN management is meager. This paper describes a component of an ongoing research initiative to investigate the potential application of artificial intelligence package CLIPS (short for C Language Integrated Production System, developed at NASA/Johnson Space Center) in the development of an expert decision support system for management of a water distribution network. The system aims to meet several concerns of modern water utility managers as it attempts to formalize operational and management experiences, and provides a frame work for assisting water utility managers even in the absence of expert personnel.