FLOW MEASUREMENT

MHP SITE MEASUREMENT

Identify the safe site for
To find Forebay Level - Intake location
- Measure the Intake Level - Forebay Location
- Find the Canal Drop - PH Location
- Find the Forebay Level Intake Level

Canal drop
Forebay Location Canal Bed Slope

Measure the Gross Head

( Level Difference from Forebay to PH Level)
HGross

PH location
PH Level
To find PH Level
Safe height
-Mark the maximum flood level
Max. Flood Level - Measure the safe height from the
flood level
HEAD : VERTICAL HEIGHT THROUGH WHICH THE WATER DROPS
Forebay

GROSS HEAD (HG)

NET HEAD (HN)
FRICTIONAL HEAD LOSS (HF)

Head
(Meter)

Turbine

HEAD (GROSS)= (FOREBAY LEVEL – TURBINE LEVEL)

NET HEAD HG= AVAILABLE HEAD
HF= HEAD LOSSES
HN= NET EFFECTIVE
HEAD
 FLOW MEASUREMENT
• THE PURPOSE OF FLOW MEASUREMENT IS TO FIND OUT QUANTITY OF
WATER FLOW (M3/S OR LTR/S) AVAILABLE IN THE RIVER OR STREAM TO
GENERATE POWER FROM WATER AT PARTICULAR SITE.
• FLOW CAN BE PREDICT USING HYDROLOGICAL STUDY DATA. THE
HYDROLOGY STUDY DATA SHOULD BE BASED ON MANY YEARS STUDY
OF DAILY RECORDS. THIS INCLUDES:

1. FLOW PREDICTION BY AREA-RAINFALL METHOD

2. FLOW PREDICTION BY CORRELATION DATA

• THE OTHER METHODS ARE TO MEASURE THE FLOW DIRECTLY AT RIVER

USING DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES. IN OUR CONTEXT, HYDROLOGICAL
DATA ARE NOT READILY AVAILABLE. THEREFORE, THE FLOW IS
GENERALLY MEASURED USING SOME OF THE FOLLOWING METHODS.
1. BUCKET METHOD
2. FLOAT METHOD
3. PROPELLER DEVICE (CURRENT METER)
4. WEIR METHOD
5. SALT GULP METHOD (SALT DILUTION METHOD)
HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE

CATCHMENT AREA
 AREA- RAINFALL METHOD
Volume of Flow/ Year (Q) (m3/yr) = [Annual Rainfall
(m/yr)*Catchment Area (m2)]

Runoff (Volume) = [(Rainfall - Evaporation - Surface Absorption)*Catchment Area]

If rainfall data for the proposed site is not available, then

rainfall data of nearby sites can be used as weightage
average basis.
 FLOW PREDICTION BY CORRELATION METHOD

• OBTAIN THE DISCHARGE RECORDS OF GAUGED RIVER SITE AVAILABLE TO

THE NEARBY RIVER.

• TAKE THE NO. OF FLOW MEASUREMENT FOR THE UNGAUGED SITE.

• FIND THE CORRESPONDING FLOW AT THE GAUGED RIVER.

• DRAW A CORRELATION OF FLOW BETWEEN TWO RIVERS.

Estimating of Flow (MIP Method)
• Developed by
M. Mac Donald
consulting firm)
in 1990.
• Country divided
into 7 hydrological
regions.
 Prediction of mean monthly flow: MIP
Method

The lowest discharge (assumed for mid of April) of river is measured and
same is used as prediction of mean monthly flow factor for all other months
 BUCKET METHOD
 THIS IS A VERY SIMPLE METHOD IN WHICH
WHOLE FLOW TO BE MEASURED IS DIVERTED
INTO A BUCKET OR ANY CONTAINER OF
KNOWN CAPACITY (VOLUME).
 TIME IT TAKES TO FILL THE CONTAINER IS
RECORDED. FLOW RATE, Q CAN BE OBTAINED
SIMPLY DIVIDING THE VOLUME OF CONTAINER
BY TIME TAKEN TO FILL IT UP.

EXAMPLE: IN A PARTICULAR SITE A 50 LITER BUCKET IS USED TO MEASURE THE

FLOW. THE TIME TAKEN TO FILL THE BUCKET IS 5 SECONDS. FIND FLOW RATE
Q?

-This method is suitable only for a small streams to measure around 20 ltr/s flow.
- Disadvantage of this method is difficulty in channeling whole flow to a container
 FLOAT METHOD
• THE FLOW IN THIS METHOD IS
MEASURED ON THE BASIS OF AREA -
VELOCITY METHOD (I.E. Q = A X V)
To find area:
Select river section with uniform parallel
width of around 10 to 20m long distance, L.
Where:
Divide this distance as the first point L1, the
W= Top width of river at water level (m)
mid point, L2 and the last point, L3 . Take
d1,d2,d3.. = Depth of water at different
width at point L1 = W1(m) To measure the
points (m)
depth, the river width is divided into no. of
A1,A2,A3 = Cross-sectional area at points
points (1,2,3,....) of small width. from these
1,2 and 3 (m2)
point depth is measured as d1, d2, .... . .The
L1,L2,L3 = Point where width is measured
average depth (d(1)ave.) is calculated using
as W1, W2 and W3
the relation
L = Distance between points L1 and L3
D(1) Avg = (d1+d2+d3+……dn)/n

Average Cross sectional area of river, A avg= (A1 +A2+A3)/3

 FLOAT METHOD
To find velocity:
Divide top surface of river in 3 section, Channel-
1, Channel-2 and Channel-3.
Drop a float at the mid point of each channel
and record the time taken by float to travel the
distance, L meter as t1, t2 and t3 seconds. Find
average time taken as:

The velocity of flow of water varies as maximum just below the

top surface to minimum zero at bottom level of the river. The
Vmax
correction factor (c.f.) is used to find the mean velocity of flow.

VMean
VMean = V x c.f.

Q (m3/s)= Aave (m2)x Vmean (m/s)

Q (ltr./s)= Q (m3/s) x 1000
 CURRENT METER
• IN THIS METHOD, THE CURRENT METER
IS USED TO MEASURE THE VELOCITY
OF FLOW AT VARIOUS SECTIONS AT
UNIFORM DISTANCE AND DEPTH (OR
AT 0.6D) ACROSS THE CROSS-SECTION
OF RIVER AND AVERAGE MEAN
VELOCITY IS CALCULATED.

• THE CROSS SECTIONAL AREA (A) OF THE RIVER IS CALCULATED TAKING

AVERAGE DEPTH (AS EXPLAINED IN FLOAT METHOD) AND WIDTH (W)
ACROSS THE LINE WHERE VELOCITY IS MEASURED.

Q (m3/s)= Aave (m2) x VMean (m/s)

 WEIR METHOD
RECTANGULAR WEIR
In this method, the whole stream of water is
made to flow through a Rectangular weir.
The thickness of water being dropped from
the weir is measured as "h" (m). The flow rate,
Q can be found by using the relation
Q (m3/s) = 1.8 x (L-0.2h) x h1.5
Where,
Q = Flow rate (m3/s)
L = Width of the notch (m)
h = height or Thickness of water falling from notch of weir

The size of the weir should be as shown in the

figure, in proportionate to thickness of water, h
 WEIR METHOD
"V"- NOTCH WEIR (900)
• In this method, the whole stream of
water is made to flow through a "V"-
notch weir.
• The thickness of water being dropped
from the weir is measured as "h" (m).
The flow rate, Q can be found by using
the relation

Q = 1.4 x h2.5 ; For Ө=900

Q = 1.4 x h2.5x tan (Ө/2) ; For Ө= Other than 900

Where,
Q = Flow rate (m3/s)
h = height or Thickness of water at notch of weir
 SALT GULP / SALT DOSING METHOD
• In this method a known quantity of salt (solution) is thrown into the stream
and its conductivity is measured at a certain distance downstream, so as to
allow to mix it up completely and uniformly with stream water.
• The basic idea behind this method is that, as salt mixed on water its
conductivity increases as per the amount of salt added in it. For a fixed quantity
of salt, the conductivity will be high for water of strong concentration indicating
low quantity of water. Similarly, the conductivity will be low for weak
concentration indicating the high quantity of water in the stream.
• The increase in conductivity due to mixing of salt and time taken to pass all
this salt cloud is plotted on graph, The area of the graph is then converted into
concentration of the solution by multiplying suitable conversion factor.
• The concentration so obtained with mixing of known quantity of salt in water
is used to determine the flow.
 SALT GULP / SALT DOSING METHOD .........
Procedure:
1. Select the spot on the stream where there is no stagnant pool of water and locate the
upstream point to mix salt and downstream point to take the conductivity reading.
2. Decide quantity [Mass = M (mgs)] of salt to be used (Approx. 1 gram for 1 liter flow)
and mix it with water on a bucket carefully without spilling it out.
3. Get one person at upstream point with bucket of salt solution and the another person
at downstream with conductivity meter and data recording sheet.
4. Take a record of temperature and base conductivity of water.
5. Pour all the salt into the stream at upstream point
6. As soon as the conductivity start rising, take reading of conductivity at every 5 seconds
of time interval until the conductivity comes down to its base reading..
7. Take a graph paper and plot a graph of conductivity against time and find the area
under the curve. [Area = A (micro siemens . seconds)].
8. Find the correct conversion factor for the temperature measured in the stream.
[Conversion factor = k (micro-siemens/mgs/ltr.)]
9. Now, find quantity of flow, Q (ltr./s) using the relation:
Salt Gulp / Salt dosing Method .........
Following data were obtained during flow measurement of a stream using salt gulp
method. Fine flow of the stream

Base Temperature = 220 No. of Square count = 118

Amount of salt = 100 gms No. of ½ Square 40 = 20
Base conductivity = 20 μS Total = 138

Area = 138 x 5 x 5 = 3450 (μS-

seconds)
At 220C,
k = 2.04 μS/mg/ltr.

= (100*1000*2.04)/3450
= 59.13 Ltr/sec
 HEAD MEASUREMENT
• HEAD IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR IN HYDRO POWER DESIGN AND
COSTING, IT MUST BE MEASURED ACCURATELY AT THE SITES BEING
CONSIDERED.

• AN ACCURACY OF 3% IS REQUIRED.

• AT LEAST SEPARATE THREE MEASUREMENTS SHOULD BE TAKEN AT EACH

SITE AND AT LEAST TWO SHOULD INVOLVE QUITE DIFFERENT METHODS
OF MEASUREMENTS.

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THE METHODS ARE:
1. WATER FILLED TUBE (WITH RODS OR PERSON)
2. WATER FILLED TUBE AND PRESSURE GAUGE
3. SPRING LEVEL AND PLANK (OR STRING)
4. ALTIMETER
5. SIGHTING METERS(ABNEY LEVEL /DUMMY LEVEL)
6. MAP

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 WATER FILLED TUBE
Head measured (h1) with first set of readings (A1 & B1) h1 =( A1 – B1)

Total Head, H= Σ(h1+h2+.......)

B1

A1

h1
Equipment:
-Clear plastic pipe
-Wooden rod
-Marker pen
-Measuring tape/
Scale
 Procedures
• Take a 10m long clear plastic pipe of 6-10 mm dia and fill it with water, hold
the two ends vertically and fill the water at least 200mm below the top.
• Take a measuring rod and start measurements from the top (or bottom).
Taking an example for measurement from top level.
• One person (A) holds one end of the tube while the other person (B) walks
downhill. (A) and (B) maintain the level raised/ lower in the tube so that the
water does not spill over the tube. At a certain level (A) and (B) takes their
respective measurement of the water levels. Next, (A) walks at (B)'s position
and (B) moves further down and (A) and (B) take next set of readings. Repeat
the same activities until the final point (power-house or forebay level).
 WATER FILLED TUBE AND PRESSURE GAUGE
• It consists of small diameter transparent plastic pipes
with filled water. The pressure gauge is placed at the
one end of the pipes and other end open. The height
is given in the form of pressure.

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 SPRING LEVEL AND PLANK

Equipment:
-Spirit Level
-Plank or String
-Wooden rod
-Measuring tape

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Place one end of the plank at the straight point and hold the other end of the
plank to the rod. Raise or lower plank or string to obtain level and take reading
on the rod. The second reading is taken by moving the plank to the lower end
and moving the rod to new position. Repeat the same process to take other
readings.
 ALTIMETER
• New digital altimeters are easier to use and increasingly safe
in inexperienced hands.
• The principle of the altimeter is that it measures the
atmospheric pressure.
• Atmospheric pressure changes by 9 mm head of mercury for
every 100 meter change in elevation.
• The readings of altimeter are affected by changes of
temperature and humidity.
• The changes must also be carefully measured and used to
correct the altimeter readings.

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Measuring head by Abney level
 Procedure
• Take an Abney level and a measuring tape and a staff (rod) with level marked at
surveyor eye level height.
• Start at Top (or bottom) point. Surveyor stand at the Forebay level. Assistance
moves certain distance downhill and hold the staff showing the marked level to the
surveyor.
• Surveyor adjust focusing of Abney level so as to see clearly the reading on staff and
move the Indexing knob clockwise or counter-clockwise seeing bubble within focus.
• Now, the surveyor fix the cross hair at the point of marked height of the staff and
align the bubble at the perfect center of cross hair and at the same time take the
degree reading.
• Measure the diagonal distance between the surveyor and assistance with the help
of measuring tape. Move surveyor to assistance’s position and assistance to further
down at new point. Repeat the same process to take next set of data until the
complete head is measured.
 MAP
• It is easy and low expense method of head measurement.
• Map reading needs skilled manpower.
• It is suitable for high heads only.
• Reliability of map must be checked otherwise wrong site
may be identified.
• The accuracy of the measurements highly depends on
quality and scale of map used.

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