Real-Time Localization of Hydraulic Transient Events in Water Distribution Systems Using Paired Transient Wave Arrival Time Strategy

Timely pipe break and burst detection and localization are important for proactive management of water distribution systems (WDSs). This paper presents a novel timing-based method for fast localization of hydraulic transient waves that may occur from a pipe break or burst event. The proposed technique deals with the arrival time difference from sensor pairs coupled with a new graph-based transient wave propagation mapping strategy to identify potential link (pipe) candidates for the transient event. The fusion of the wave arrival differences from all combinations of sensor pairs in the network is then used to more comprehensively locate the transient event source among the candidates. This novel integration of topological information avoids missing the correct candidate by identifying all possible solutions, and thus improves the reliability of the localization. Applications to numerical case studies and laboratory experiments show that the method can accurately locate the transient source even with uncertainties from measurement devices and address issues with previous conventional methods concerning detection reliability.