Mitigating water supply deficit through micro-grid powered pumping station

The stochastic nature of water demand could lead to deficits in the case that flows from the reservoir and pressure in networks are not properly managed. Installation of pumping facilities has the potential to resolve this issue. However, the energy used by these facilities is a concern. In addition, utilisation of the grid also contributes towards the carbonisation of the atmosphere. This work proposes the utilisation of a PV-battery micro-grid to power the pumping station. The size of the micro-grid is determined by the power required to operate the pump to mitigate the supply deficit. A pressure-driven model is used to solve the water distribution network and to determine the deficit in supply. The results show that the proposed micro-grid can supply the pumping for 24 hours without interventions from the grid. The cost of energy is found to be 0.951 ZAR which is considerably lower than the reselling price of utilities standing at 1.16–1.28 ZAR in South Africa.