In response to the difficulty in detecting and locating HWPN leaks, this article fully considers the multipath effect of negative pressure wavs (NPWs) propagation in the pipeline network and proposes a HWPN leak location method based on the shortest path planning of NPW propagation. First, the shortest paths from each potential leak point to each pressure transmitter are searched, and the shortest time delay of NPW propagation in the HWPN is calculated to form a time delay standard library. Then, the actual arrival time delay of NPWs that is measured in real time is compared with the time delay standard library to determine the leak location. Small leak location experiment in an on-site 13 km×5 km HWPN is implemented to evaluate the proposed method. When the number of effective pressure monitoring points is only 5, this method can realize zero-error leak location within the time-delay match range of 1 000 m radius. This method utilizes accurate and non-fuzzy principle, which can also avoid installing pressure transmitters on all branches of huge HWPN in field. Therefore, it has important application value.