Real-time data assimilation potential to connect micro-smart water test bed and hydraulic model

Recently, smart water application has gained worldwide attention, but there is a lack of understanding of how to construct smart water networks. This is partly because of the limited investigation into how to combine physical experiments with model simulations. This study aimed to investigate the process of connecting micro-smart water test bed (MWTB) and a 'two-loop' EPANET hydraulic model, which involves experimental set-up, real-time data acquisition, hydraulic simulation, and system performance demonstration. In this study, a MWTB was established based on the flow sensing technology. The data generated by the MWTB were stored in Observations Data Model (ODM) database for visualization in RStudio environment and also archived as the input of EPANET hydraulic simulation. The data visualization fitted the operation scenarios of the MWTB well. Additionally, the fitting degree between the experimental measurements and modeling outputs indicates the 'two-loop' EPANET model can represent the operation of MWTB for better understanding of hydraulic analysis.