Controls

Rule-based controls allow link status and settings to be based on a combination of conditions that may exist in the network during an extended simulation period. To edit these rules, use the command EPANETCONTROLS:

The editor above controls the syntax of the rules. To preview how it will be written in Epanet standard editor, click the button Format:

Rule-based controls are applied after an initial hydraulic state of the network is calculated (that is, after time zero). They are evaluated throughout a hydraulic simulation as follows:

1. Rules are evaluated in a sub-hydraulic time interval equal to 1/10 of the normal hydraulic time interval (for example, if the hydraulic system is updated every hour, then rules are evaluated every 6 minutes)
2. Throughout this sub-hydraulic time interval, the clock time is updated, as are the water levels in the storage tanks (based on the last calculated set of pipe flows)
3. If a rule's conditions are met, its actions are added to a list. If an action conflicts with another for the same link already in the list, the rule action with the highest priority remains in the list and the other one is removed. If the priorities are the same, the original action will remain in the list
4. If the list is not empty, the new actions will be performed. If this causes the status of one or more links to change, a new hydraulic solution is calculated
5. The list of actions is cleared and the next sub-hydraulic time is checked