Water treatment plant site location using rough set theory.

Currently, advanced methods have been developed to select an appropriate site for an engineering project. The ability to make a good decision in site selection can help the engineers to reduce the expensive costs, which are very important in large construction projects. In this paper, a new approach for site selection is presented. This method is based on rough set theory which is a mathematical theory presented by professor Pawlak. In this study, the results of the rough set decision-making are compared with the results of the regression method in a practical case study for the site location of a water treatment plant in Ardabil Province in the northwest of Iran, to demonstrate that the rough set theory provides a useful method for site selection. The results of practical studies indicate that using this method for site selection decision-making can reduce costs and prevent hazards that may happen due to civil engineering uncertainties.