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ERT 246 HYDROLOGY &

WATER RESOURCES
ENGINEERING

DISCHARGE
MEASUREMENT
Study
!!!

Ms Siti Kamariah Bt Md Sa’at

School of Bioprocess Engineering
sitikamariah@unimap.edu.my 1
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DISCHARGE/STREAMFLOW
MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUE
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Streamflow and Measurement

The character, amount, and timing of

discharge from a basin tells a lot about
flow paths within the basin.
Stream flow is one of the most important
topics in engineering hydrology because it
directly relate to water supply, flood
control, reservoir design, navigation,
irrigation, drainage, water quality, and
others.
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Need for Stream flow Measurements

Floodplain management
Flood forecasting & analysis
Reservoir operations
Low flows – water quality concerns
Design structures – culverts, bridges,
storm water systems
Evaluate changes in land use on
watersheds and/or changes in climatic
regimes
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Floods
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Need for Streamflow Measurements

Important to hydrogeologist to identify

how to create stream hydrographs from
discharge measurements
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Measurement of discharge

Method used depends on type of study,

size of river and flow, data requirements,
etc.
Streamflow measurement techniques can
be broadly classified into 2 categories:
 Direct determination – area-velocity method,
dilution techniques, electromagnetic method,
ultrasonic method
 Indirect determination – hydraulic
structures, slope-area method
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Streamflow Measurements

Serves as the basis for many water

resources engineering designs
Three approaches
 Measurement of water stage (water level)
 Measurement of flow velocity
 Hydraulic Structure
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Con’t
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Streamflow Measurements

Measurement of Water Stage

 Water stage: the elevation above some
arbitrary datum of water surface at a station
 Types of Gages Measuring River Stage:
• Staff gage – vertical or inclined
• Suspended – weight gage
• Recording gage (automatic data logger)
• Crest – stage gage ( used to indicate high water
mark)
 Pressure sensor
 Float
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Figures of Stream Gauges

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Stream gauges
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Streamflow Measurements

Measurement of Flow Velocity

 Current meter
 Dilution
 Manning Equation
 Floats: Suitable for straight channel, V = L/T
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Current Meters
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Discharge (Q) Measurement

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Area-Velocity
Method
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Measuring
Streamflow in
small streams
with a pygmy
current meter
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Discharge (Q)
Measurement

Large
rivers –
from
bridges or
boats
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Current Meter Method

3 types of current meter

 Propeller type : for high discharge
 Price type using anemometer
 Electromagnetic type : for low river flow
 Rating curve for current meter is given by:
V = a + bN
where V = flow velocity;
a = starting velocity to overcome mechanical friction;
b = equipment calibration constant;
N = revolutions/sec.
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For river velocity measurement, we need:

Wading/Paddle
Bridges
Boat
Cablecar
Cableway
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Velocity-Area Method

Mostly/frequently used
River cross-section determined
Velocity measured using
 Float (for straight channel)
 Current meter
Vertical velocity measured at 0.2d
and 0.8d if depth,d >0.6m. If d<0.6m,
velocity measured at 0.6dm.
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Velocity-Area Method

Q = [Velocity x Area]
 Need to know width of channel (w), Depth
of channel (d), and Velocity of flow (V) (ft/s
or m/s)
 Area = w x d
Because depth & velocity vary
across a channel:
(1)Important to divide the channel into
manageable segments (slices); Typically
use 10-20 segments
(2)For each segment measure depth, width
and velocity
 Measuring Streamflow
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Discharge

 Procedure: at each segment measure

depth then velocity
• If Depth < 0.6m, take one reading @
60% depth

• If Depth > 0.6m take 2 measurements

and compute the average
– One @ 20% depth
– One @ 80% depth
– Average the two readings
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Measuring Streamflow Discharge

Two method of measurement

 Mean section method
 Mid section method
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Mean section

Q   qi
 VA
vi 1  vi d i 1  d i
 * (bi  bi 1 )
2 2
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Mid section

Q   qi
bi 1  bi 1
( )vi d i 
2
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Example Calculation:

Find the Q for this case:

V = 0.25 N + 0.05
Where V= velocity (m/s)
N = number of revolution/s

a) Using mean-section method

b) Using mid-section method
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Example Calculation:

Distance Depth, d Rev/min

from edge, (m)
0.6d 0.2d 0.8d
b (m)
0 0
2 1.1 14
4 2.6 48 44
6 4.0 57 52
8 7.2 43 37
10 4.3 38 32
12 3.2 36 29
14 1.6 12
15.5 0
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Mean-section method
Velocity (m/s)

b d 0.6d 0.2d 0.8d Vavg (Vi+ A Q

Vi+1)/
2
0 0 0
2 1.1 0.108 0.108 0.054 1.1
4 2.6 0.250 0.233 0.242 0.175 3.7
6 4.0 0.288 0.278 0.260 6.6
8 7.2 0.229 0.216 0.247 11.2
10 4.3 0.208 0.196 0.206 11.5
12 3.2 0.200 0.186 0.191 7.5
14 1.6 0.100 0.100 0.143 4.8
15.5 0 0.000 0.050 1.2

Q = 9.736 m3/s
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Mid-section method
Velocity (m/s)
b d 0.6d 0.2d 0.8d Vavg (bi+1- qi
bi-1)/2
0 0 0
2 1.1 0.108 0.108 2
4 2.6 0.250 0.233 0.242 2
6 4.0 0.288 0.278 2
8 7.2 0.229 0.216 2
10 4.3 0.208 0.196 2
12 3.2 0.200 0.186 2
14 1.6 0.100 0.100 1.75
15.5 0 0.000

Q = 9.986 m3/s
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Dilution gauging

 Using tracer/chemical at upstream

 For uneven stream base, good method for
turbulent streams
 Q can be determined by tracer quantity and
concentration at upstream and downstream (after
dilution) using mass transfer equation.
 need to use tracer that is a) easily soluble, b) have
no or very low natural concentrations in stream,
c) be conservative, d) easily detectable at low
concentrations, e) ecofriendly, f) affordable
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Dilution gauging

Example of tracer:
 Chemical: Sodium cloride,sodium
dicromat,manganese sulphate
 Dye: sodium fluoroscein, Rhodamine-WT
 Radioactive: Bromine-82,Sodium-
24,Iodine-132
2 method
 Sudden/Gulp injection
 Constant rate injection
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Dilution gauging: Constant Rate Injection

C1,q
C1q
C2 
qQ C2(q+Q)

q  Q  q  Q Q

C1
C2  .q
Q
C1
Q .q
C2
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Example calculation

 20 g/L of tracer injected at upstream of the river

at rate 0.01 L/s. Concentration of tracers at
downstream is 5 ppb. Estimate the discharge of
the river at downstrean. Assume the initial
concentration of tracer is very low.
Solution:
q =0.01 L/s = 10-5 m3/s
C1 = 20 g/L = 20 000 g/m3
C2 = 5 ppb = 5 x 10-6 g/L = 5 x 10-3 g/m3
Q = C1/C2 x q = (20 000/5 x 10-3 )x 10-5
= 40 m3/s = 40 000 L/s
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Conversion factor

1 g/L = 10-3
1 mg/L = 10-6 = 1 ppm
1 μg/L = 10-9 = 1 x 10-3 g/m3 = 1 ppb
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Dilution gauging: Sudden Injection

C1,V1

C2, Q2

Q
t2
VC1  Q  C2 dt
t1

Where:
V = volume of tracers (m3)
t1=time of tracer induced at upstream(point 1)
t2=time of tracer detected at point 2
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Example Calculation:

 100 liter NaCL at concentration 10 g/L induced at

river upstream. Average NaCl concentration after
an hour at 800 m distance, at downstream are
0.02 mg/L. Estimate the river discharge at
downstream.
 Solution:
t2
VC1  Q  C2 dt
t1

VC1  QC 2 t
VC1 0.1x10
Q  5
 13.89 m 3
/s
C2 t 2 x10 x 3600
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Sonic methods

- Measure speed of small particles in the flow

- Can also track and subtract bottom speed
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Some gages are designed to measure just high flows

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Hydraulic Structures

Used for small watersheds – such as

experimental watersheds – where need
accurate, continuous flow measurements.
Two types:
 Weirs
 Flumes
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Weirs

 Obstruct flow and

force it through a
notch
 Stage-Q
relationship
established
mathematically
for different types
of notches
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Weirs

Generally used in small streams

Various types
 V-notch for accurate low flow
 Rectangular
• Handles higher flows
• Less accurate at low flows
 Trapezoidal -- an intermediate weir
Concerns
 Sediment & debris are trapped
 Leakage
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Trapezoidal Weir
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Trapezoidal Weir
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Rectangular Weir
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90 degree V-notch Weir

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V-notch Weir

For small river

Q (m3/s) can be determine using
equation:
 8  52
Q Cd 2 g tan H
15 2
Where:
 H = head loss
 Cd = discharge coefficient
 g gravity acceleration
 θ angle of the v-notch
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90º V-notch Weir

Q = 2.36CdH5/2
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Flumes
• An artificial open channel built to contain flow
within a designed cross-section and length
• No impoundment
• Water height in flume measured with a stilling
well
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Flumes

Used to measure flow in:

 water and wastewater treatment plants
 irrigation channels
 agricultural runoff
 runoff plots – research applications
 small watersheds
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Large Crest Flumes

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Long-throated Flume
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Short-throated Flume
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Parshall Flume
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H Flume
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Slope Area Method

Manning Equation
Chezy Equation
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Estimating Discharge (Q) from channel features:

Manning’s Equation

1 2 3 12
v R S
n

• v = average velocity (m/s)

• R = hydraulic radius
= [Area/wetted perimeter]
• S = Energy gradient, Approximated by water surface slope
• n = Manning’s roughness coefficient
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Chezy Equation
 Based on Chezy formula,
Q  AC RS
 with A = flow cross-section area; C = Chezy
Coefficient; R = hydraulic radius, A/P; and S =
channel slope.

 For a given section, C S = constant whereas for a

wide channel (W>10D) RD. Therefore,

QKA D
K
1
A D
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