An improved Firefly algorithm with harmony search scheme for optimiziation of water distribution systems

In this study, a new hybrid method based on firey algorithm (fa) andharmony search (hs) techniques is presented for solving the least-cost design problem ofwater distribution systems (wds). this algorithm is designed to improve the performanceof the fa as a recently developed meta-heuristic that mimics the natural behaviour ofreies. the use of such a nature-inspired optimization method to solve the optimaldesign problem of wds needs particular modications to produce high quality solutions.therefore, a modication is proposed to the movement stage of articial reies, and basedon the hs strategy a memory is utilized to save a number of the best solutions. anotherimprovement in this algorithm includes the addition of pitch adjustment operation in thefa as a mutation operator. the presented method is applied to the optimal design of somewell-known benchmark problems taken from literature, and the results conrm its validity.in addition, a sensitivity analysis is performed on the parameters of the algorithm.