Comparison between entropy and resilience as indirect measures of reliability in the framework of water distribution network design

The aim of this paper is to investigate which between the entropy and resilience indices represents a better indirect measure of reliability in the framework of water distribution network design. The methodology adopted consisted of (a) multi-objective optimizations performed in order to minimize costs and maximize reliability, expressed by means of one of the indirect indices at time; (b) retrospective performance assessment of the solutions of Pareto fronts obtained. Two case studies of different topological complexity were considered. Results showed that indices based on energetic concepts (resilience and modified resilience) represent a better compact estimate of reliability than the entropy. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd