The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Department of Civil and Structural Engineering

Hydraulics Laboratory

Experiment: Storm Hydrographs

Objective: To determine the hydrographs and runoff characteristics of a laboratory
catchment.

Theory
During the early stage of a rain storm, rainwater will infiltrate into the ground and
reach the groundwater zone. When all the voids are filled the excess water must flow
over the surface and enter the streams directly as surface runoff. This surface flow
will reach the gauging station first, giving rise to a marked increase in the discharge
rate recorded in the hydrograph. The starting point of the sharp rise in the hydrograph
can be used to separate the baseflow contribution from the direct runoff.

If the rainfall continues for a sufficient length of time, the steady state condition will
be achieved and the hydrograph will level off at a peak value. The time period
between the starting time of the sharp rise of the hydrograph and the time to reach the
steady state condition is called the time of concentration. The peak discharge will
continue for a period after the end of the storm, the surface runoff will begin to
diminish.

Description of apparatus
The catchment basin is represented by a shallow tank filled with sand which can be
formed into any desired profile. The rainfall is provided by the rows of spray nozzles
above the tank and the runoff is collected with flow rate measured by a weir. The
discharge head relationship of the weir is given by

q=0.001269 h
2.353
lit/min

Where q=discharge rate, h=weir head in mm.

Experimental Procedure
1. Start the ground water pump and run the pump at slow speed. Open the right
hand header tank supply valve to admit water to the right hand header tank for
the sole purpose of priming the header tank discharge pipe and weir tank.
Switch the ground water pump off as soon as possible and close the right hand
header supply valve.
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering
2. During the experiment observe the surface of the sand bed and record
observations on the formation of puddles and the occurrence of surface runoff.
3. Start the rain water pump and run it at full speed. Simultaneously start the
stopwatch. Record the rainwater flow rate.
4. Every half-minute from the start of the rainfall, record the Header Discharge
weir manometer readings.
5. Continue to record the time and header discharge manometer readings until a
steady state has been achieved and held for a period of at least two minutes.
6. Switch the rain water pump off.
7. Continue to record the time and header discharge weir manometer readings for
a period of at least five minutes after the end of the storm to obtain
information for the recession line of the hydrograph.
8. Repeat the experiment for a shorter duration storm by restarting the rain water
pump and running it at the same speed as before to give the same flow rate.
Record time and header discharge weir manometer reading. Allow the storm to
last for approximately 75% of the time taken for the first storm to reach its
maximum discharge.
9. Determine the catchment discharge rate by converting the header discharge
weir manometer readings into flow rate using the weir calibration graph or
formula.

Conclusion / Discussions
1. Draw the storm hydrograph by plotting graphs of catchment discharge rate
against time. Mark on the graph the duration of the two rain storms.
2. Determine the time of concentration.
3. Determine the runoff coefficient of the catchment using the rational formula.