Protocol for developing ANN models and its application to the assessment of the quality of the ANN model development process in drinking water quality modelling

•Development of a protocol for developing ANN models.•Development of framework for assessing the quality of ANN development process.•Literature review on ANN drinking water quality modeling based on proposed protocol.

The application of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) in the field of environmental and water resources modelling has become increasingly popular since early 1990s. Despite the recognition of the need for a consistent approach to the development of ANN models and the importance of providing adequate details of the model development process, there is no systematic protocol for the development and documentation of ANN models. In order to address this shortcoming, such a protocol is introduced in this paper. In addition, the protocol is used to critically review the quality of the ANN model development and reporting processes employed in 81 journal papers since 2000 in which ANNs have been used for drinking water quality modelling. The results show that model architecture selection is the best implemented step, while greater focus should be given to input selection considering input independence and model validation considering replicative and structural validity.