Running and reading results
Run the analysis, read the Status Report, colour the map, step through time, and use graphs, tables, queries, legends and animation to understand the results.
Run the analysis
Press Run on the toolbar, press F5, or choose Project > Run Analysis. The solve runs in the background, so the page stays responsive on a large network. A Run Status box then reports one of three outcomes: success, success with warnings, or failure. Warnings and failures offer a Status Report button.
The status bar keeps track of the results. It reads Results current after a good run and Results out of date as soon as you change anything. Results that are out of date still show on the map, but rerun before you rely on them.
The Status Report
Report > Status shows EPANET's own report file exactly as the solver wrote it: the status of tanks, pumps and valves as they change over time, and every warning with its time. Use Copy to put it on the clipboard or Save... to download it. When a run fails, the reason is shown at the top.
The same warnings, explained in plain words with steps to fix them, are on the Last run tab of Report > Problems....
Colour the map
On the Browser's Map tab, choose what to show:
- Nodes: Elevation, Base Demand, Initial Quality, and after a run Demand, Head, Pressure and Quality.
- Links: Length, Diameter, Roughness, Bulk Coeff., Wall Coeff., and after a run Flow, Velocity, Unit Headloss, Friction Factor, Reaction Rate and Quality.
Variables marked with an asterisk need a run. After the first run on a blank map PipePilot shows pressure at nodes and flow in links.
Step through time
An extended period run (a 24 hour day, for example) has a result for every reporting period. On the Map tab, Time picks the period with a drop-down or a slider. The map, the Property Editor and the hover card all show values for that period. A snapshot run shows Single Period.
Animation
The Animation buttons on the Map tab play the run: Forward and Rewind play continuously and loop at the ends, Stop halts, and the two smaller buttons step one period forward or back. Speed sets how fast. Animation needs more than one period and a computed variable on the map, such as Pressure or Flow. Watching tank levels and pressures through the day is the quickest way to see whether an ESR drains overnight or a zone loses pressure at the morning peak.
Legends
Click a legend box on the map, or use View > Modify Node Legend... and View > Modify Link Legend..., to open the Legend Editor. Four break values divide the range into five colours. Equal Intervals spreads the breaks evenly between the lowest and highest values; Equal Quantiles puts the same number of objects in each colour. Color Ramp changes the colour scheme. A useful habit for pressure: set the breaks to your CPHEEO limits (for example 7, 12, 17 and 21 m) so that each colour means something.
Graphs
Report > Graph... (or the Graph toolbar button) opens the Graph Selection form:
| Graph type | Shows |
|---|---|
| Time Series | One variable over time for chosen nodes or links, for example the level of an ESR or the pressure at a tail-end junction. |
| Profile Plot | One variable along a chain of nodes at one time, for example head along a main. |
| Contour Plot | One node variable over the map area at one time. |
| Frequency Plot | The distribution of one variable over all nodes or links at one time. |
| System Flow | Total production and consumption over the run. |
For a time series or profile, select an object on the map or in the Browser, then press Add in the form. Move Up and Move Down set the order of a profile. Press OK to draw. Select... in the graph window returns to the form with your choices kept.
Tables
Report > Table... (or the Table toolbar button) opens the Table Selection form with three tabs:
- Type: Network Nodes at or Network Links at one time period, or Time series for Node or Time series for Link for one object over the run.
- Columns: the variables to include, and Sort by for network tables.
- Filters: up to 10 conditions such as Pressure Below 17, to list only the junctions that fail.
Options... in the table window reopens the form with your choices kept.
Query the map
View > Query... (or the Query toolbar button) highlights every node or link that meets one condition, for example Find Nodes with Pressure Below 17. Press Submit; the window reports how many items were found at the current time period, and the count updates as you step through time. While a query is active the Map tab's variable choices are locked. Close the Query window to clear it.
Find an object
View > Find... opens the Map Finder. Type an ID to select that node or link; the finder also lists its neighbours (a node's links, a link's end nodes) so you can walk along the network. It selects without zooming, so your view stays where it was.
Energy
After a run with pumps, Report > Energy shows EPANET's energy table for each pump: Percent Utilization, Average Efficiency, Average Kwatts, Peak Kwatts, Cost/day, and the Demand Charge and Total Cost, as a table or a bar chart of one measure.
File > Print prints the current screen through the browser's print dialog.