The nexus between water and energy reveals that transporting water for end use is a highly energy intensive operation. In this work we consider the optimal operation of a water distribution network consisting of pumps delivering water to different reservoirs, with each reservoir catering to a time varying demand. Pumps and ON/OFF valves are used as manipulated variables to minimize energy consumption while meeting the demand. Due to the nonlinear nature of the pump operating curve and the hydraulics, this results in a Mixed Integer Nonlinear Program (MINLP). We propose a three step decomposition approach to solve this problem efficiently. The applicability of this technique is demonstrated on a water network proposed for a municipality in India and the potential advantages are reported. We also compare the solution times required for the proposed technique and a standard solver and demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed approach. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd