STORMWATER CONVEYANCE

MODELING AND DESIGN

Authors
Haestad Methods
S. Rocky Durrans

Managing Editor
Kristen Dietrich

Contributing Authors
Muneef Ahmad, Thomas E. Barnard,
Peder Hjorth, and Robert Pitt

Peer Review Board
Roger T. Kilgore (Kilgore Consulting)
G. V. Loganathan (Virginia Tech)
Michael Meadows (University of South Carolina)
Shane Parson (Anderson & Associates)
David Wall (University of New Haven)

Editors
David Klotz, Adam Strafaci, and Colleen Totz
HAESTAD PRESS
Waterbury, CT USA





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C H A P T E R
3
Fundamental Laws and Units
Scientists and engineers have developed equations to describe hydrologic processes
and the hydraulic properties of stormwater conveyances. The engineering calculations
used in the design and evaluation of stormwater systems are, to a large extent, applica-
tions of the fundamental physical laws of conservation of mass, energy, and momen-
tum. The first three sections of this chapter provide reviews of these fundamental
laws. The fourth section addresses some of the common units of measurement
employed in hydrologic and hydraulic engineering.
3.1 CONSERVATION OF MASS
The familiar principle of conservation of mass simply states that matter is neither
created nor destroyed. The mass entering a system is equal to the mass leaving that
system, plus or minus the accumulation of mass (that is, storage) within the system.
Without doubt, this principle is the single most important concept that must be
applied in hydrologic and hydraulic engineering. In the engineering analyses that
must be performed, the properties of flow change both through space and over time.
For example, the amount of fluid present in a given channel reach may change over
time; thus, accounting for the accumulation (or loss) of fluid during any time interval
is essential.
As a practical matter, the application of the principle of conservation of mass is
simply an accounting procedure. Consider, for example, a bank account and assume
that the account contains $100 at the beginning of the month. Suppose also that
deposits made during the month amount to $50, and withdrawals amount to $70.
Clearly, the account balance at the end of the month is $80 (=$100 +$50 $70). If
the ending balance had been specified instead of the monthly withdrawals, then a sim-
ilar calculation could be applied easily to determine the withdrawals. In any case, the
change in the account balance is equal to the difference between deposits and
withdrawals.
52 Fundamental Laws and Units Chapter 3
Now, consider an incompressible fluid (that is, a fluid having a constant density) that
flows through a fixed region (a control volume) in space and denote the volume of
fluid, or storage, in that region at time t by the quantity S(t). The fixed region might
correspond to a lake or reservoir, to a water tank, or to a length of river or stream. If
I(t) represents a volumetric flow rate into the region, then a volume I(t)At of
additional fluid flows into the fixed region during the time interval of duration At.
Representing the volumetric flow rate out of the system as Q(t), a volume of fluid
equal to Q(t)At flows out of the region during the time interval. [Note that I(t) and
Q(t) may be functions of time.]
According to the principle of conservation of mass, at the end of the time interval
(that is, at time t +At), the storage S(t +At) of fluid in the fixed region will be equal to
what was there initially, plus the additional fluid that entered during that time, less the
amount of fluid that left during that time. Expressed mathematically (with example
units),
(3.1)
where t =time (s)
S(t +At) =storage at the end of the time interval (ft
3
, m
3
)
S(t) =storage at the beginning of the time interval (ft
3
, m
3
)
I(t) =volumetric inflow rate at time t (cfs, m
3
/s)
Q(t) =volumetric outflow rate at time t (cfs, m
3
/s)
A volumetric flow rate, typically denoted by Q, is referred to as a discharge in hydro-
logic and hydraulic engineering.
A rearrangement of Equation 3.1 yields
(3.2)
AsAt approaches zero, this equation becomes
(3.3)
Equation 3.3 is the differential form of the mathematical expression for conservation
of mass. An integral form may be obtained by multiplying both sides of the expres-
sion by dt and integrating:
(3.4)
If a flow is steadythat is, if the flow characteristics do not change with timethen
the time derivative in Equation 3.3 is zero, and conservation of mass may be
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) S t t S t I t t Q t t + A = + A A
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
S t t S t
I t Q t
t
+ A
=
A
( ) ( )
dS
I t Q t
dt
=
2 2 2
1 1 1
2 1
( ) ( )
S t t
S t t
dS S S I t dt Q t dt = =
) ) )
Section 3.1 Conservation of Mass 53
expressed by simply stating that the inflow and outflow discharges to and from a con-
trol volume are equal. In other words, I(t) =Q(t).
Thevolumetric flux of a fluid is defined as the volume of fluid that passes a unit cross-
sectional area per unit time. It can be expressed as
(3.5)
where S =fluid volume (ft
3
, m
3
)
A =cross-sectional area (ft
2
, m
2
)
t = time (s)
BecauseQ is a fluid volume per unit time, the volumetric flux can be restated as
(3.6)
where Q =flow (cfs, m
3
/s)
It can be seen from this definition that volumetric flux has units of length per unit
time. Noting that velocity has the same units, one can express the average velocity of
flow as
(3.7)
where V =average velocity (ft/s, m/s)
Comparing Equations 3.6 and 3.7, average flow velocity is the same as volumetric
flux.
In steady flow, the discharges into and out of a control volume must be equal, and
Equation 3.7 can be used to write
(3.8)
The reader should recognize that the equations presented in this section have been
cast in terms of fluid volumes and volumetric flow rates even though the discussion
concerns conservation of mass. The use of volumes and volumetric flow rates is valid
as long as the fluid in question is incompressible (has a constant density). This
assumption is valid for nearly all civil and environmental engineering applications
dealing with water. For instances in which this assumption is not valid, the volumes
and volumetric flow rates in the above equations should be replaced with fluid masses
and mass flow rates. A fluid mass is found by multiplying the fluids volume by its
density, and a mass flow rate is found similarly by multiplying the volumetric flow
rate by the density.
S
Volumetric Flux
At
=
Q
Volumetric Flux
A
=
Q
V
A
=
( ) ( )
inlow outflow
AV AV =
54 Fundamental Laws and Units Chapter 3
Example 3.1 Determining Discharge and Velocity Based on Conservation of
Mass. A stormsewer is being designed for a location where the slope of the sewer must decrease
because of local topography. A manhole will be positioned at the location where the pipe slope
changes. Upstreamof the manhole, the topography is relatively steep, and the pipe diameter is 600
mm. Downstreamof the manhole, where the topography is flatter, a 750-mmdiameter pipe is
required to convey the flow. No additional flow enters the sewer at the location of the manhole. The
pipes in the sewer are flowing full both upstreamand downstreamof the manhole, and the discharge
in the upstreampipe is 0.5 m
3
/s. The flow is steady. Determine the discharge and velocity in the
downstreampipe.
Solution: Consider the manhole as a control volume into which flow enters fromthe upstreampipe
and fromwhich flow departs through the downstreampipe. Because the flow is steady, the inflow and
outflow discharges must be equal, and thus the discharge in the downstreampipe is 0.5 m
3
/s. The
velocity in the downstreampipe can be found using Equation 3.7. The cross-sectional area of the 750-
mmdiameter downstreampipe is A =0.442 m
2
, and thus the velocity is
V = Q/A =0.5/0.442 =1.13 m/s
Example 3.2 Applying Conservation of Mass to a Detention Pond. A discharge
hydrograph is a graph showing how the discharge in a pipe or channel changes over time. The dis-
charge is usually shown on the vertical axis of the graph, and time is shown on the horizontal axis. For
any time interval on the horizontal axis, the area under the curve shown on the graph represents the
volume of the flow over that time interval.
Figure E3.2.1 shows the inflow and outflow hydrographs for a detention pond. The inflow hydrograph
is represented by the solid line, and the outflow hydrograph is shown as a dashed line. Assuming that
the pond is initially empty, the outflow hydrograph is triangular in shape, and the pond is again empty
at time t
end
, determine the following:
a) the total volume of water passing through the pond
b) the time t
end
c) the time at which the storage in the pond is at a maximum
d) the maximumstorage in the pond
Figure E3.2.1 Inflow and outflow hydrographs for a detention pond
Section 3.2 Conservation of Energy 55
Solution to (a): The total volume of water passing through the pond is equal to the total volume of
water entering the pond because it is empty at time zero and again at time t
end
. This volume of water
is equal to the area under the inflow or outflow hydrograph. In this case, the volume can be computed
using the formula for the area of a triangle as

inflow
=0.5(3 hr)(100 cfs)(3,600 s/hr) =540,000 ft
3
Solution to (b): The time t
end
at which the pond is again empty may be found using Equation 3.4 and
noting that S
1
=S
2
=0 when one takes t
1
=0 and t
2
=t
end
. Hence, the flow volumes represented by the
inflow and outflow hydrographs must be equal. The inflow volume was found in the solution to part
(a) to be 540,000 ft
3
; thus,

outflow
=
inflow
=540,000 ft
3
=0.5(50 cfs)(t
end
)
Solving,
t
end
=21,600 s =6 hr
Solution to (c): Inspection of Figure E3.2.1 shows that during the time interval from0 to 2 hr, the dis-
charge into the pond is greater than the discharge out of it. Thus, the storage in the pond must be
increasing during that time interval. After t =2 hr, the outflow discharge is greater than the inflow dis-
charge, so the storage in the pond must be decreasing. Therefore, the time at which storage in the
pond is a maximumis t =2 hr.
Solution to (d): Apply Equation 3.4 with t
1
=0 and t
2
=2 hr. Because the pond is empty at time zero,
S
1
=0. The maximumstorage volume S
2
at time t
2
is equal to the difference between the volumes rep-
resented by the inflow and outflow hydrographs over the time interval from0 to 2 hr:
S
2
=[0.5(1 hr)(100 cfs) +0.5(1 hr)(100 ftcfs +50 cfs) 0.5(2 hr)(50 cfs)](3600 s/hr)
S
2
=270,000 ft
3
3.2 Conservation of Energy
In the most formal sense, a discussion of conservation of energy for a fluid would
begin with the First Law of Thermodynamics. That law states that the rate of change
of stored energy in a fluid system is equal to the rate at which heat energy is added to
the system, minus the rate at which the fluid system does work on its surroundings.
The stored energy is composed of kinetic energy due to the motion of the fluid,
potential energy due to its position relative to an arbitrary datum plane, and internal
energy.
In the vast majority of civil and environmental engineering applications, flow can be
considered to be steady and incompressible, and it is generally sufficient to apply the
principle of conservation of energy in a much simpler way using what is commonly
known as the energy equation. The expression most commonly applied expresses
energy on a unit weight basis (that is, as energy per unit weight of fluid) and may be
stated as
(3.9)
2
1 1 1
1 2
2
2 2 2
2 2
L P T
p V p V
Z Z h h h
g g
o o

+ + = + + + +
56 Fundamental Laws and Units Chapter 3
where p =fluid pressure (lb/ft
2
, Pa)
=specific weight of fluid (lb/ft
3
, N/m
3
)
Z =elevation above an arbitrary datum plane (ft, m)
o =velocity distribution coefficient
V =fluid velocity, averaged over a cross section (ft/s, m/s)
g =acceleration of gravity (ft/s
2
, m/s
2
)
h
L
=energy loss between cross sections 1 and 2 (ft, m)
h
P
=fluid energy supplied by a pump between cross sections 1 and 2 (ft, m)
h
T
=energy lost to a turbine between cross sections 1 and 2 (ft, m)
The first three terms on each side of this equation represent, respectively, the internal
energy due to fluid pressure, potential energy, and kinetic energy. When the dimen-
sion of each term is given in units of length as in Equation 3.9 (resulting from division
of energy units by fluid weight units), the three terms are generally called the pressure
head, the elevation head, and the velocity head. The terms on the left side of the equa-
tion with the subscript 1 refer to an upstream cross section of the fluid, and those on
the right side with the subscript 2 refer to a downstream cross section.
Appendix A contains tabulations of the physical properties of water at standard atmo-
spheric pressure. The specific weight and other properties of water may be deter-
mined from those tables.
Strictly speaking, the energy equation applies only to a particular streamline within a
flow. Because the velocities along individual streamlines are generally different due
to the effects of pipe walls or channel sides, the velocity head terms in Equation 3.9
should be corrected using the velocity distribution coefficient (o) if one chooses to
use an average cross-sectional velocity. Chapter 6 discusses this coefficient in more
detail. Chapter 6 also provides more details related to the energy loss, pump, and tur-
bine terms of Equation 3.9.
Because the dimension of each term in Equation 3.9 has units of length, qualitative
aspects of the energy equation can be shown graphically. Figure 3.1 shows the profile
of a pipe in which a venturi meter has been installed to measure flow. The pipe diam-
eter downstream of the venturi is smaller than the pipe diameter upstream of the ven-
turi. An arbitrary datum is shown below the pipe profile.
In Figure 3.1, the elevation head (Z) represents the vertical distance from the datum to
the pipe centerline. The hydraulic grade line (HGL) represents the height to which a
column of water would rise in a standpipe placed anywhere along the length of the
pipe. The height of the HGL is sometimes called the piezometric head. The vertical
distance from the pipe centerline to the HGL is the pressure head, p/, and the dis-
tance from the HGL to the energy grade line (EGL) is the velocity head, V
2
/2g. The
vertical distance from the datum to the EGL is representative of the sum of the first
three terms on each side of Equation 3.9 and is called the total head. Flow always
occurs in a direction of decreasing total head (not necessarily decreasing pressure),
and hence is from left to right in the figure.
Section 3.2 Conservation of Energy 57
Figure 3.1
A venturi meter is
used to measure flow
in a pipe
According to conservation of mass, the velocity must be greater in the pipe
downstream of the venturi than in the upstream pipe; thus, the distance between the
HGL and EGL is greater for the downstream pipe. At the throat of the venturi itself,
where the flow velocity is the highest, the distance between the EGL and HGL is the
greatest. In the regions upstream and downstream of the venturi where the HGL is
above the pipe centerline, the fluid pressure (gauge pressure) in the pipe is positive. In
this example, the HGL falls below the pipe centerline at the venturi, and the fluid gage
pressure is negative. Note that although the fluid pressure just downstream of the ven-
turi is greater than that in the throat of the venturi, flow is still from left to right.
TheEGL in the figure has a nonzero slope because energy is lost due to friction and
turbulent eddies as fluid moves along the length of the pipe. In other words, the total
head changes along the pipe and decreases in a downstream direction. In Figure 3.1,
because neither a pump nor turbine is present, the difference in the elevation of the
EGL between any two locations (cross sections) along the pipe is representative of the
head loss h
L
between those two cross sections. The loss rate of total energy in a fluid
flow increases with the velocity of the flow. Thus, in the figure, the magnitude of the
slope of the EGL is larger for the downstream pipe than for the upstream pipe.
Example 3.3 Determining Flow Direction from the Energy Equation. Two cross
sections along a constant-diameter pipe are denoted by A and B. The pipe centerline elevation at cross
sectionA is 30 m, and the fluid pressure in the pipe at that location is 210 kPa. At cross section B, the
pipe centerline elevation is 21 m, and the fluid pressure is 240 kPa. Determine the direction of flow in
the pipe. The specific weight of water is 9.81 kN/m
3
.
Solution: The total energy head at each of the two cross sections is the sumof the elevation head (that
is, the pipe centerline elevation), the pressure head, and the velocity head. Flow occurs in the direction
of decreasing total energy head.
58 Fundamental Laws and Units Chapter 3
FromEquation 3.9, the total energy head H
A
at cross section A is
At cross section B, the total energy head is
Because by continuity, the discharge and velocity must be the same at each of the two cross sections,
the velocity head terms on either side of Equation 3.9 are equal and cancel out. Thus, in this case,
flow is in a direction of decreasing piezometric head. Because the piezometric head of 51.41 mat
cross section A is higher than the piezometric head of 45.46 mat cross section B, flow is fromA to B.
Note that this is true even though the fluid pressure is higher at cross section B.
3.3 CONSERVATION OF MOMENTUM
The principle of conservation of momentum states that the summation of the external
forces acting on a system is equal to the time rate of change of momentum for the sys-
tem. The physical principle of conservation of momentum is generally more difficult
to apply in practice than either conservation of mass or conservation of energy. The
added complexity is the consequence of momentum being a vector-valued quantity
(that is, it has both magnitude and direction), whereas mass and energy are scalars
(represented by magnitude only). Momentum equations must therefore be written for
each coordinate direction separately.
2 2 2
210
30 51.41
2 9.81 2 2
A A A A
A A
p V V V
H Z
g g g
o o o

= + + = + + = +
2 2
240
21 45.46
9.81 2 2
B B
B
V V
H
g g
o o
= + + = +
Section 3.3 Conservation of Momentum 59
In its most general form, conservation of momentum is expressed as
(3.10)
where F
x
=force acting on the water in a control volume in the x-direction (lb, N)
t = time (s)
cv = control volume (ft
3
, m
3
)
=fluid density (slugs/ft
3
, kg/m
3
)
V
x
=x-component of the velocity of the fluid in the control volume (ft/s, m/s)
S = fluid volume (ft
3
, m
3
)
(M
out
)
x
=x-component of momentum outflow rate from the control volume (lb,
N)
(M
in
)
x
=x-component of momentum inflow rate into the control volume (lb, N)
This expression, which is written for the coordinate direction x, can be written for
other coordinate directions as needed. It states that the sum of the external forces act-
ing on the water in a control volume is equal to the time rate of change of momentum
within the control volume, plus the net momentum flow rate (in the x-direction) from
the control volume. In this expression, the sums of M
out
and M
in
account for the pos-
sibility of more than one inflow and/or outflow pathway to/from the control volume.
A momentum flow rate, in the x-direction, can be written as
M
x
= | QV
x
(3.11)
whereM
x
=momentum flow rate in the x-direction (lb, N)
| =velocity distribution coefficient
Q =discharge (ft
3
/s, m
3
/s)
The numerical value of | is close to 1 for turbulent flow. Sections 6.1 and 6.4 provide
an explanation of turbulent flow and more detail on |.
If a fluid flow is steady, such that its characteristics do not change with time, Equation
3.10 reduces to
(3.12)
Further, if there is only a single inflow stream (that is, a single inflow pipe) and a sin-
gle outflow stream from the control volume, Equation 3.12 can be rewritten as
(3.13)
Equation 3.13 states that the vector sum of the x-components of the external forces
acting on the fluid within a fixed control volume (including the pressure forces) is
equal to the fluid density times the discharge times the difference between the x-
components of the outgoing and incoming velocity vectors from and to the control
volume. As in Equation 3.9, the velocity terms should be modified using a velocity
distribution coefficient if one chooses to use the average velocity at a cross section.
x x out x in x
cv
F V dS M M
t

c
= +
c
_ _ _
)
( ) ( )
x out x in x
F M M =
_ _ _
( ) ( )
x x
F Q V | = A
_
( )
60 Fundamental Laws and Units Chapter 3
Example 3.4 Determining the Force Exerted on a Bend from the Momentum
Equation. A pipe with flow in a northerly direction has a bend in which flow is turned to 45
degrees east of north (see Figure E3.4.1). The discharge is 25 cfs, the pipe diameter is 24 in., and the
fluid pressures upstream(cross section 1) and downstream(cross section 2) of the bend are 25 psi and
22 psi, respectively. Assuming that the pipe is flowing full and | =1, determine the force that the
water exerts on the pipe bend.
Figure E3.4.1 Forces on a pipe bend
Solution: Take a control volume as the region of the pipe between cross sections 1 and 2 shown in the
figure. Let the x-direction be taken as due east, and the y-direction as due north. External forces
exerted on the water in the control volume in the x- andy-directions consist of the forces F
1
and F
2
due to the fluid pressures upstreamand downstreamof the bend, and the forces R
x
and R
y
exerted on
the flow by the pipe. The fluid pressure forces can be found by multiplying the fluid pressures by the
pipe cross-sectional area:
F
1
= p
1
A = (25 psi)(3.14)(12 in)
2
=11,300 lb
F
2
= p
2
A = 9,950 lb
The velocity in the pipe at both cross-sections is
V = Q/A =(25 cfs)/(3.14 x 1 ft
2
) =7.96 ft/s
An application of Equation 3.13 in the x-direction leads to
EF
x
= R
x
9,950 sin 45 =1.94(25)(7.96 sin 45 0)
A similar application in the y-direction leads to
EF
y
= R
y
+11,300 9,950 cos 45 =1.94(25)(7.96 cos 45 7.96)
Solving these expressions yields R
x
=7,310 lb and R
y
=4,380 lb. The negative sign on R
y
means that
its direction is actually to the south rather than the assumed northerly direction (see figure). The net
force acting on the water has a magnitude of
The direction in which this net force acts is
u =arctan(4,380/7,310) =30.9 to the south of due east
The forces determined in this example are those acting on the water. The forces exerted on the pipe by
the water are equal to these, but in the opposite directions. Thrust blocks or special pipe jointing
methods may be required in some instances to resist these forces.
lb 520 , 8 380 , 4 310 , 7
2 2
= + = R
Section 3.4 Common Units of Measurement 61
3.4 COMMON UNITS OF MEASUREMENT
Hydrologic and hydraulic engineering is a field marked by many different units of
measurement; therefore, one must frequently convert from one set of units to another.
All of the fundamental dimensions of mass (or force), length, and time are routinely
used. For example, rainfall and rainfall losses are often expressed in units of inches or
millimeters of rainfall per hour (in/hr, mm/hr), and discharges in pipes and open chan-
nels are often expressed in units of cubic feet or meters per second (cfs, m
3
/s). Drain-
age basin areas might be expressed in units of acres (ac), hectares (ha), square miles
(mi
2
), or square kilometers (km
2
); and volumes of water might be expressed in cubic
feet or meters (ft
3
, m
3
), or in units such as acre-feet (ac-ft). Table3.1 summarizes
some of the more frequently used units in stormwater applications, and Appendix B
presents conversion factors for changing from one set of units to another.
A common situation encountered in hydrologic and hydraulic engineering is the need
to determine the units associated with the area under a graphed curve (that is, with the
integral of some function). This problem was encountered in Example 3.2. The solu-
tion is accomplished by simply multiplying the units of the two quantities represented
on each axis of the graph. If, for example, a hydrograph shows discharge on the verti-
cal axis in ft
3
/s and time on the horizontal axis in seconds, an area under the plotted
hydrograph represents cubic feet of water.
Table 3.1 Common units in stormwater applications
Measurement U.S. Customary Units SI Units
Length foot (ft), inch (in.), mile (mi) meter (m), millimeter (mm), kilometer (km)
Mass slug, pound-mass (lbm) kilogram(kg), gram(g)
Time hour (hr), minute (min), second (s) hour (hr), minute (min), second (s)
Temperature degree Fahrenheit (F) degree Celcius (C)
Force slug, pound (lb) Newton (N), kilonewton (kN)
Area sq. foot (ft
2
), acre (ac), square mile
(mi
2
)
sq. meter (m
2
), hectare (ha), sq. kilometer
(km
2
)
Volume cubic foot (ft
3
), gallon (gal),
acre-foot (ac-ft)
cubic meter (m
3
), liter (l or L)
Pressure/Stress pounds per sq. ft (lb/ft
2
),
pounds per sq. inch (psi)
kilonewtons per sq. m(kN/m
2
), grams per sq.
meter (g/m
2
)
Flow cubic feet per second (cfs or ft
3
/s),
gallons per minute (gpm)
cubic meters per second (m
3
/s), liters per sec-
ond (L/s)
Concentration milligrams per liter (mg/l)
62 Fundamental Laws and Units Chapter 3
Example 3.5 Determining the Equivalent Depth of Runoff. The detention pond of
Example 3.2 is located at the outlet of a 140-ac drainage basin. Given the information in Example 3.2,
determine the equivalent depth of runoff from the drainage basin.
Solution: FromExample 3.2, the volume of inflow to the detention pond is 540,000 ft
3
, or 12.4 ac-ft.
Dividing this volume of water by the area of the drainage basin yields the equivalent depth of runoff
as
d = 12.4 ac-ft/140 ac =0.886 ft =1.06 in.
This 1.06 in. of runoff may be viewed as the depth of effective precipitation causing the runoff to
occur. As will be described in Chapter 4, effective precipitation is what remains of total precipitation
after surface infiltration and other rainfall abstractions have been accounted for.
Example 3.6 Determining the Volume of Water from a Surface Area versus
Elevation Function. The area of the water surface of a detention pond, graphed as a function of
the water surface elevation, can be used to determine the volume of water in the pond. Figure E3.6.1
shows water surface area as a function of water surface elevation for a pond with a bottomelevation
of 196.0 ft. The surface areas have been determined by digitizing a contour map of the pond at 2-ft
contour intervals (for example, the area shown for a water surface elevation of 200.0 ft has been found
by determining the area represented within the 200-ft contour on the map. Using the values shown in
the figure, determine the volume of water in the pond when the water surface elevation is 200.0 ft.
Figure E3.6.1 Water surface area versus water surface elevation
Section 3.5 Chapter Summary 63
Solution: An incremental volume dS of water in the pond can be expressed as
dS = A(h)dh
where A(h) =water surface area at elevation h
dh =incremental change in water surface elevation
Integration of both sides of this expression shows that the volume of water is simply the area under a
curve of surface area expressed in terms of elevation. Using the trapezoidal rule to approximate the
area under the curve shown in Figure E3.6.1, the volume of water in the pond when the water surface
elevation is 200.0 ft (represented by the shaded area in Figure E3.6.1) is found as
S =0.5(2,000 ft
2
)(2 ft) +0.5(2,000 ft
2
+5,500 ft
2
)(2 ft) =9,500 ft
3
=0.22 ac-ft
3.5 CHAPTER SUMMARY
The calculations used in analyzing and designing stormwater conveyance systems are
typically derived from one or more of the fundamental physical laws of conservation
of mass, momentum, and energy.
As it applies to hydraulics, conservation of mass basically states that, for an incom-
pressible fluid, the amount of fluid in a control volume at the end of a time interval is
equal to the amount of fluid in the control volume at the beginning of the time inter-
val, plus the amount of fluid entering the control volume during the time interval, and
minus the amount leaving the control volume during the time interval.
If flow can be considered to be steady and incompressible and changes in thermal
energy negligible, the energy at a point is taken as the sum of the pressure head (inter-
nal fluid energy), elevation head (potential energy), and velocity head (kinetic
energy). Conservation of energy between two points can be applied in the following
form:
(3.14)
According to the principle of conservation of momentum, the summation of the exter-
nal forces acting on a system is equal to the time rate of change of momentum for the
system. It is a vector-valued quantity that must be evaluated separately for each direc-
tion. For the x-direction, momentum flow rate is given by
(3.15)
A variety of units of measurement are common in the field of hydrologic and hydrau-
lic engineering. Rainfall and rainfall losses are often expressed in units of inches or
centimeters of rainfall per hour (in/hr, cm/hr), and discharges are often expressed in
units of cubic feet or meters per second (cfs, m
3
/s). Drainage basin areas are fre-
quently in acres (ac), hectares (ha), square miles (mi
2
), or square kilometers (km
2
),
and volumes of water are often given in cubic feet (ft
3
), cubic meters (m
3
), or acre-ft
(ac-ft).
2
1 1 1
1 2
2
2 2 2
2 2
L P T
p V p V
Z Z h h h
g g
o o

+ + = + + + +
x x
M QV | =
64 Fundamental Laws and Units Chapter 3
REFERENCES
Abbott, M.B. 1979. Computational Hydraulics: Elements of the Theory of Free Surface Flows. London :
Pitman.
Chow, V.T., D.L. Maidment, and L.W. Mays. 1988. Applied Hydrology. New York: McGraw-Hill
Prasuhn, A.L. 1980. Fundamentals of Fluid Mechanics. Englewood Cliffs, N. J .: Prentice-Hall.
Shames, I.H. 1992. Mechanics of Fluids. 3d ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Simon, A.L. 1981. Practical Hydraulics. 2d ed. New York: J ohn Wiley & Sons.
White, F.M. 1999. Fluid Mechanics. 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
PROBLEMS
3.1 A pipe discharges froma pond at a rate of 40,000 gpm. What is the flow in cfs?
3.2 During an emergency release, the water level in a 12,000-ac reservoir dropped by 1 inch in 6 hours.
What was the discharge rate in cfs?
3.3 The last flow gaging station on the Susquehanna River before it enters the Chesapeake Bay is at the
Conowingo Dam. The average flow recorded at this station is 2,500 m
3
/s. What is the total amount
of water (in m
3
) that flows into the Chesapeake Bay fromthe Susquehanna River in an average year?
3.4 A square detention pond has a 100 100-ft, level bottomand 3H:1V side slopes. What volume of
water can the pond hold if the depth is 5 ft?
3.5 The discharge in a streamis 125 cfs. Downstreamof the monitoring point, a 30-in. stormsewer is
discharging into the stream. The pipe is flowing full and the average velocity is 5 ft/s. What is the
total discharge in the streamdownstreamof the discharge?
3.6 The shape of a runoff hydrograph from a subdivision for a particular stormevent can be approxi-
mated as a triangle. The duration of the event was 18 hours. The peak flow was 3.4 m
3
/s, and it
occurred 4 hours after the start of the runoff hydrograph. What was the total volume of runoff pro-
duced?
3.7 A rainfall event is quantified as follows:
30 minutes at 0.25 in/hr
60 minutes at 0.50 in/hr
45 minutes at 0.15 in/hr
The precipitation occurs over a 500-ac watershed. What are the total volume of rainfall (in ft
3
) and
the equivalent rainfall depth (in in.)?
3.8 Water is flowing in an open channel at a depth of 4 ft and a velocity of 7.5 ft/s. It then flows down a
chute into another open channel where the depth is 2 ft and the velocity is 30 ft/s. Assuming friction-
less flow and o =1, determine the difference in elevation between the channels.
Problems 65
3.9 During a flood, runoff flows into a large reservoir where the velocity is 0. At the reservoirs dam, the
water overtops a rectangular spillway at a depth of 0.6 mand a velocity of 2.4 m/s. The water then
flows down a long spillway and makes a smooth transition to a discharge channel. The bottomof the
discharge channel is 13.7 mbelow the top of the spillway, and the depth of flow is 3.7 m. The flow is
assumed to be frictionless.
a) Calculate the velocity head and total head at locations (1) upstreamof the spillway (in the reser-
voir); (2) at the crest of the spillway; and (3) in the discharge channel.
b) Plot the hydraulic and energy grade lines over the path of the water.
3.10 A 36-in. diameter pipe has a 30 horizontal bend and a flow of 100 cfs. The inlet pressure is 35 psi
and the outlet pressure is 33 psi. Calculate the direction and magnitude of the forces required to sta-
bilize the bend.
Some rainfall is
intercepted by
plants, thereby
reducing the
fraction of rainfall
that becomes
runoff.