STREAM GAUGING: THE SALT DILUTION METHOD

Theory: The salt dilution method is a way to determine stream discharge (or flowrate: m3/sec) in small
mountain streams that are often very turbulent. It works well in streams in which the flowrate is not
too high (< 10 m3/s).
The idea is to inject into the
stream a highly concentrated salt
solution. The salt solution will
slowly mix with the stream water
as it flows downstream. The
concentration can be picked up
with an electro-conductivity (EC)
meter.
By relating the salt concentration
to the measured EC values, we
can find the flowrate of a
turbulent stream by finding the
area of the salt time curve.

Equipment needed:
stopwatch
10 liter buckets
6 kg of salt
EC meter
20-mL pipette
1.75 Liter Pitcher

1x
2x
1x
1x
1x

Instructions:
Step 1: Find a suitable stretch in the stream. This is a location where:
the flow is turbulent
there is only one stream channel
No stagnant pools
No tributaries

Describe your location in your notebooks

Record:
a) type of location,
b) date,
e) flow conditions

c) time,

d) weather conditions

Step 2: Selecting the injection (IP) and measurement (MP) point

At the IP, the stream needs to accessible
At the MP, we need to be able to insert the probe roughly in the middle of the
stream and do our measurements there.
The IP (upstream) and MP (downstream) have to be at least 15x the width of the
stream apart.
Upstream we are going to inject the salt. Downstream we are going to measure the EC
of the water.
Step 3: Procedure
1. At the IP, start mixing the injection solution.
To do this fill the 2 buckets with exactly 10 liters of stream water each.
Add 3.0 kg of salt to each bucket and stir well for about 5 minutes.
2. Record background EC and water temperature at the IP
3. Set up the conductivity probe at the MP. Record background EC and stream
water temperature.
4. Start now recording the stream water EC every 5 seconds.
5. Inject your prepared salt solutions all at once into the middle of the stream.
6. Record the passage of the salt wave, continuing until EC returns to background.

Make sure that each group has at least 4 copies of the measurements.
1 copy must be submitted to Mr. Daniel before the end of the day.

Data collection sheet

Date:
Time:
Injection point
Stream water temperature:
Background EC value:
Time
(sec)

EC

Time
(sec)

Measurement point
Stream water temperature:
Background EC value:

EC

Time
(sec)

EC

Time
(sec)

EC

Time
(sec)

95

190

285

380

100

195

290

385

10

105

200

295

390

15

110

205

300

395

20

115

210

305

400

25

120

215

310

405

30

125

220

315

410

35

130

225

320

415

40

135

230

325

420

45

140

235

330

425

50

145

240

335

430

55

150

245

340

435

60

155

250

345

440

65

160

255

350

445

70

165

260

355

450

75

170

265

360

455

80

175

270

365

460

85

180

275

370

465

90

185

280

375

470

EC

Time
(sec)

EC

Time
(sec)

EC

Time
(sec)

EC

Time
(sec)

EC

Time
(sec)

475

585

695

805

915

480

590

700

810

920

485

595

705

815

925

490

600

710

820

930

495

605

715

825

935

500

610

720

830

940

505

615

725

835

945

510

620

730

840

950

515

625

735

845

955

520

630

740

850

960

525

635

745

855

965

530

640

750

860

970

535

645

755

865

975

540

650

760

870

980

545

655

765

875

985

550

660

770

880

990

555

665

775

885

995

560

670

780

890

1000

565

675

785

895

1005

570

680

790

900

1010

575

685

795

905

1015

580

690

800

910

1020

EC

Background theory: Flowrate calculation

Putting the measured EC vs time in a graph will give a nice pulse graph (when measured correctly).
The EC can be converted by: [NaCl] = (ECmeas ECbase) * 0.58

[1]

This results in a new graph that

is the NaCl concentration vs
time. It should also show a nice
pulse graph, and should start
from zero.

What we know is that the total

pulse of salt concentration was
caused by our added salt.
Our total pulse of salt conc. is
the area under the curve.
This is difficult to find, so we have to use a trick. We can
approximate the area with the help of the block method. If we
choose the block width small enough, we get a good estimate.
The formula to calculate the area of a block is:
=

( + )

( )

[2]

The total area of our pulse is:

=
The total pulse curve area has a unit of [conc] x [time] = mg/l x sec or

[3]

This pulse was created by the mass of our added salt (M) (= 6.0 kg = 6.0 x 106 mg). And by the flow
rate of our stream (Q) (in L/sec)
The relationship between pulse area, Q and M is:

So to find our flowrate (Q) we must calculate:

[4]

Background theory: Electroconductivity NaCl concentration relationship

To get the results for this method, we need to convert the measured Electro-conductivity (EC in
uS/cm) to NaCl concentration (in mg/l).
In a LAB this is often done by means of a calibration curve. It shows the relation between electroconductivity of the water and the concentration of the dissolved salt.
The relationship between EC and the salt
concentration is linear, and depends on [1]
temperature, [2] existing dissolved salts
concentration in the water, [3] the
sediment load (silt and clay fractions)
carried by the water.
The calibration should be made every time
you do this experiment, since these
conditions change all the time.
However, the calibration it is very time
consuming, and prone to error if you do
not have a proper lab around.
And last year we found that:
The dissolved mineral content of the streams is extremely low
The sediment content of the streams is extremely low
The water is near 25C.
We can therefore use the EC-salt conversion factor of 0.58 for distilled water.
Formula: [NaCl] = EC * 0.58
with: [NaCl] in mg/l
EC in S/cm
The Base EC value is caused by the existing dissolved minerals, being washed out from the forest soils.
To get the concentration of only the salt we added:
Formula:

[added NaCl] = (ECmeas ECbase) * 0.58