Automatic Generation of Water Distribution Networks from Streets Layout

This article focuses on creating a model for the automatic generation of the EPANET input file from the layout of the arrangement of the streets designed in a CAD environment. From this layout a binary image is built, in which each pixel will be black if is inside the street and, otherwise, white. In order to determine the location of the pipes and nodes that are in the middle of the streets, the Zhang and Suen method of thinning binary images was used. After the image was thinned, the main challenge was to identify the pixels that will be considered as nodes of the network due to the irregular geometry of the streets. To solve this problem, a set of algorithms was developed on the theme of binary image processing. Two street layouts were used, one hypothetical and the other real. For both layouts, the model proved to be efficient, automatically generating the EPANET input format file with the pipes located within the streets.