An Overview of the Transient Simulation in Water Distribution Networks (TSNet)

Abstract

In water distribution networks (WDNs), hydraulic transients reveal information about the state of the WDN and its responses to operational changes in valves and pumps as well as pipe leaks and bursts. Thus, transient simulation, as a conventional approach to model and predict these transient behaviors, has shown increasing promises in various applications, such as WDN design, fault detection, sensor placement, and risk assessment. To facilitate the integration of transient simulation in these case-specific applications, this work contributes the transient simulation in water networks (TSNet), a new open-source Python package. TSNet includes the capacities to: (1) read EPANET INP files, (2) establish initial conditions, (3) perform transient simulations in various conditions, including valve and pump operations, leaks, and bursts, and (4) obtain and visualize results. TSNet not only provides users with a freely accessible software, rendering easiness for interaction, but also presents a platform where users and developers can further develop, improve, and extend the existing transient model. This paper includes the discussion on TSNet modeling framework, capabilities, an example application, and resources to help users to familiarize and interact with TSNet. TSNet can be downloaded from the GitHub repository, and the package documentation is available from Read the Docs. The GitHub repository contains links to software documentation, example codes and networks, and contacting information for reporting bugs and questions.