Wavelet DT method for water leak-detection using a vibration sensor: an experimental analysis

In this study, the authors propose and analyse a novel leak-detection method based on the Haar' continuous wavelet transform (CWT) and a double thresholding, i.e. CWTDT. Inspired by the idea of the binary integration technique in radar target detection, the algorithm analyses the non-stationary vibration signal issued from a water pipeline through which it decides whether or not there exists a leak in the water conveyance. To achieve this, the signal is first divided into several segments. Partial binary decisions within each segment are then obtained through the use of two preselected thresholds. The final binary decision is obtained by means of the K out of L' fusion rule. In doing this, the hardware leak system prototype is designed and a number of desirable leak positions in the water pipeline are first created to achieve the two best thresholds and K out of L' fusion rule. For comparison purposes, the performances of the proposed CWTDT method are assessed experimentally against those of the existing fast Fourier transform- and CWT-based methods under real operating conditions.