Water users can reduce their impact on scarce freshwater resources by using more abundant regional brackish or saline groundwater resources. Decentralized water supply networks (WSN) can connect these regional groundwater resources with water users. Here, we present WaterROUTE (Water Route Optimization Utility Tool & Evaluation), a model which optimizes water supply network configurations based on infrastructure investment costs while considering the water quality (salinity) requirements of the user. We present an example simulation in which we determine the optimal WSN for different values of the maximum allowed salinity at the demand location while supplying 2.5 million m³ year^-1 with regional groundwater. The example simulation is based on data from Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, the Netherlands. The optimal WSN configurations for the years 2030, 2045 and 2110 are generated based on the simulated salinity of the regional groundwater resources. The simulation results show that small changes in the maximum salinity at the demand location have significant effects on the WSN configuration and therefore on regional planning. For the example simulation, the WSN costs can differ by up to 68% based on the required salinity at the demand site. WaterROUTE can be used to design water supply networks which incorporate alternative water supply sources such as local brackish groundwater (this study), effluent, or rainwater.

用水者可以通过使用更丰富的区域微咸水或咸水地下水资源来减少对稀缺淡水资源的影响。分散式供水网络 (WSN) 可以将这些区域地下水资源与用水户连接起来。在这里，我们介绍 WaterROUTE（水路优化实用工具和评估），这是一种基于基础设施投资成本优化供水网络配置的模型，同时考虑了用户的水质（盐度）要求。我们提供了一个示例模拟，其中我们在供应 250 万立方米³年^{-1 的}同时，确定需求位置最大允许盐度的不同值的最佳 WSN与区域地下水。示例模拟基于来自荷兰 Zeeuws-Vlaanderen 的数据。2030年、2045年和2110年的最佳WSN配置是根据区域地下水资源的模拟盐度生成的。模拟结果表明，需求位置最大盐度的微小变化对 WSN 配置和区域规划有显着影响。对于示例模拟，根据需求点所需的盐度，WSN 成本可能相差高达 68%。WaterROUTE 可用于设计供水网络，其中包含替代供水源，例如当地微咸水地下水（本研究）、污水或雨水。