Water management in Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell systems is a critical point. This article will widely explain the importance of anode exhaust gas management for fuel cell and the issues of liquid water accumulation in the anodic compartment of a dead-ended anode fuel cell system. A OD model of the water behavior in the anode channels is introduced and an identification procedure of the water diffusion coefficient and a tunable parameter, using the least-square criteria, has been developed. The presented results show good correlation, allowing to extend the model to hydrogen and to validate it with experiments. This model will be useful to elaborate a fault tolerant strategy to mitigate the impact of liquid water accumulation into the anode chamber. Copyright (C) 2016, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.