STREAM

FLOW
ARANDA, E.B.
SAPLAN, J.R.V.
ZUBELDIA, J.A.P.

What is

Streamflow?

Streamflow, orchannel
runof, is the flow
ofwaterinstreams,rivers, and
otherchannels
The volume of water in a stream
moving downslope at a given
time, known as streamflow or
stream discharge, is a
combination of surface-water
runoff and base flow.

TYPES OF STREAMFLOW
LAMINAR FLOW
TURBULENT FLOW
HELICOIDAL FLOW

LAMINAR FLOW
All flow is in one direction, with little or no mixing

TURBULENT FLOW
Flow in which particles may move in any direction at
any time, while overall movement is in the direction of
the flow

HELICOIDAL FLOW
Horizontal turbulence in the form of a corkscrew motion.

TYPES OF CHANNELS
STRAIGHT CHANNEL
MEANDERING CHANNEL
BRAIDED CHANNEL

STRAIGHT CHANNEL
A channel that
generally has a central
ridge of deposited
material

MEANDERING CHANNEL
A single, sinuous
channel with broadly
looping curves called
meander.

BRAIDED CHANNEL
Channels that
develop when
sediment exceeds
transport capacity,
resulting in deposition
of several sand and
gravel bars.

FACTORS AFFECTING
STREAMFLOW
Sediment Grain Size
Stream Velocity
Channel Size
Stream Discharge
Sediment Load

MEASURING STREAMFLOW
Bucket and Stop Watch Method
Float Method
Mannings Equation
Flow Meter Method

BUCKET AND STOP WATCH

METHOD
A VERY EASY METHOD TO
ESTIMATE DISCHARGE BY SIMPLY
MEASURE THE TIME TO FILL A
COINTAINER OF A KNOWN
VOLUME. THIS METHOD ONLY
WORKS FOR SYSTEMS WITH A
FAILY LOW FLOW VOLUME.

BUCKET AND STOP WATCH

METHOD
1. LOCATE THE DISCHARGE PIPE
2. PLACE THE CONTAINER WITH A KNOWN VOLUME. ALL OF THE DISCHARGE
SHOULD FLOW INTO THE CONTAINER.
3. USING A STOPWATCH, TIME HOW LONG IT TAKES TO FILL THE CONTAINER.
4. REPEAT THIS PROCESS THREE TIMES TO OBTAIN AN AVERAGE

BUCKET AND STOP WATCH

METHOD
EXAMPLE:
A 5 GALLON CLEAN PAINT BUCKET WAS PLACED UNDER
THE SPROUT OF A DISCHARGE PIPE. THE BUCKET FILLED
UP IN 15 SECONDS, 18 SECONDS AND 14 SECONDS.
DETERMINE THE DISCHARGE.

FLOAT METHOD
THIS METHOD REQUIRES THE
MEASUREMENT AND
CALCULATION OF THE CROSS
SECTIONAL AREA AS WELL AS
THE TIME IT TAKES AN OBJECT
TO FLOAT A DESIGNATED
DISTANCE.

FLOAT METHOD
1. ESTIMATE THE CROSS-SECTIONAL AREA OF THE CHANNEL.
2. TO DETERMINE THE VELOCITY OF THE DISCHARGE, MARK OFF A CERTAIN DISTANCE L OF
THE CHANNEL THAT INCLUDES THE PART WHERE YOU MEASURED THE CROSS-SECTION.
3. MEASURE THE AMOUNT OF TIME IT TAKES THE FLOAT TO TRAVEL THE MARKED
SECTION.
4. REPEAT THIS PROCESS THREE TIMES TO CALCULATE THE AVERAGE TIME.
5. COMPUTE THE VELOCITY BY DIVIDING THE LENGTH OF THE MARKED SECTION BY THE
TIME THE FLOAT TO MOVE THROUGH THE SECTION.

FLOAT METHOD
EXAMPLE:
A RECTANGULAR SHAPED CHANNEL IS 1 FOOT WIDE AND
AVERAGE DEPTH OF THE CHANNEL IS MEASURED TO BE 4
FEET DEEP. FOR A 50 FEET LONG SECTION, A FLOAT
TRAVELED FROM ONE END TO THE OTHER IS: 57
SECONDS; 48 SECONDS; AND 64 SECONDS.
COMPUTE THE DISCHARGE.

MANNINGS EQUATION METHOD

THIS METHOD CAN BE USED FOR OPEN CHANNELS AND
PARTIALLY FILLED PIPES WHEN THE FLOW MOVES BY
FORCE OF GRAVITY.

Engr. Robert Manning

1816-1897

MANNINGS EQUATION METHOD

FOR RECTANGULAR, TRIANGULAR AND
TRAPEZOIDAL CHANNELS
1.MEASURE THE BOTTOM AND TOP WIDTH AND THE DEPTH OF THE DISCHARGE. THESE
VALUES WILL BE USED TO DETERMINE THE CROSS-SECTIONAL AREA AND THE
HYDRAULIC RADIUS
2.A TABLE PROVIDES THE SPECIFIC EQUATIONS( DEPENDING ON CHANNEL SHAPE) FOR
CALCULATING AREA AND HYDRAULIC RADIUS.

MANNINGS EQUATION METHOD

MANNINGS EQUATION METHOD

MANNINGS EQUATION METHOD

DISCHARGE IS CALCULATED FROM THE EQUATION

TAKING THE MEASUREMENT (FOR PARTIALLY ROUND PIPES)

1. MEASURE THE DIAMETER OF THE PIPE (D) AND DEPTH OF THE
DISCHARGE (d). DIVIDE THE DISCHARGE DEPTH BY THE PIPE DIAMETER
(d/D) AND USE TABLE A-3 PROVIDED IN THE APPENDIX TO CALCULATE A
AND R.
2. ONCE A,R AND S ARE CALCULATED, THE VALUES CAN BE PLACED INTO
THE EQUATION TO DETERMINE THE DISCHARGE.

MANNINGS EQUATION METHOD

MANNINGS EQUATION METHOD

MANNINGS EQUATION METHOD

EXAMPLE:
A 2 FOOT DIAMETER PIPE CARRIES STORMWATER
DISCHARGE FROM A SITE. THE CONCRETE PIPE WAS
DESIGNED WITH A SLOPE OF 0.8 FOOT PER 100 FEET. AT
THE TIME OF MEASUREMENT, THE PIPE HAS 0.8 FEET OF
DISCHARGE FLOWING IN IT.

FLOW METER METHOD

STREAM FLOW HAZARDS

Flood Events
Flood events, particularly flash floods, often occur as a consequence of a
storm with heavy or sustained rainfall. Statistical andmathematicalmethods
have been developed to estimate volume, lag time, and duration of a flood
based on the size (magnitude) of a rainfall event. These estimates depend on
the characteristics of an individual basin.
The volume of a given event can be estimated as the amount of rainfall
minus the amount of water lost in saturating the soil, minus the amount lost
through a combination of evaporation to the atmosphere and transpiration
from plants. (The combination of evaporation and transpiration collectively
are called evapotranspiration.)

STREAM INTERACTION TO THE

ENVIRONMENT
As the river moves and flows, it interacts with its environment,
both geologic and organic. When the stream is shallow and the
debris is large, the water moves around the obstacles. As the
volume of water increases, and the river becomes deeper, it has
a greater ability to erode, and begins to cut into the underlying
soils and pick up smaller particles. When and where this happens
depends on factors like the rock type, rock or sediment size, and
the cohesiveness of the streambank materials.
Runoff of water in channels is responsible for transport
ofsediment,nutrients, andpollutiondownstream.