Optimal operation scheduling of a pumping station with multiple pumps

► We formulate the optimal operation scheduling of a pumping station with multiple pumps as a dynamic programming problem. ► The extended reduced dynamic programming algorithm (RDPA) is proposed to solve the optimization problem. ► The extended RDPA reduces the admissible domain of the possible state values at each stage and that of the possible state transfer routes. ► The optimal scheduling strategy reduces the operational cost. ► The extended RDPA performs much more time efficient than the conventional DP algorithms.