ENV3105 Hydrology 2012

Assignment 2

Due date: 19 October 2012

Weighting: 30% (300 marks)

1. Overview
This assessment is designed to test your achievement of selected learning objectives of Modules 6 to
9. In particular, the assignment involves estimation of urban design discharges, reservoir routing and
water balance. It is intended to reinforce and extend your knowledge on urban hydrology, using a
residential subdivision located in Townsville as a case study.

The assignment is divided into three parts:

 Part A – Estimation of Minor and Major design flows for an urban subdivision.
 Part B – Analysis of a detention basin proposed for the subdivision.
 Part C – Preliminary water balance analysis of a stormwater harvesting pond for the
subdivision

2. Part A – Minor and Major Design Discharges

2.1 Proposed Townsville residential subdivision

A drainage scheme is to be designed for a 16 lot residential subdivision near Townsville, Queensland.
Prreliminary layout plans can be downloaded from StudyDesk. The Minor system is to cater for the 2
year ARI storm and the Major system for the 100 year ARI storm. Topographic contours are shown
on the plan. The flowpath arrows shown on the plan are indicative – assume that there will be no
overland flow across boundaries between individual lots.
Pits will be based on Brisbane City Council standard drawings. Assume all pits will be ‘kerb lip in
line’ with the exception of field inlets at 1A, 2A and 1F. Initial design information at pit locations (as
well as other locations) are given in Table 1.
Table 1: Initial design details at pit locations
Pit/Location Road level (m LD) Lots draining to pit
1A 53.2
1B 53.0 Lots 1, 2, 3, 4
1C 51.1 Lots 5,6,7
1D 50.4 Lots 8,9
1E 49.2 Lots 10,11
1F 48.0
2A 49.3 Lots 12, 13, 14, 15, 16
X 58.0
Y 51.8
Note: m LD = metres above local datum
Your task is to prepare a Minor system design of the pits based on the preliminary layout and then a

1|Pa g e
ENV3105 Hydrology 2012

Major system check. The subdivision is situated near the Townsville Airport. Use the following
information:
1. The road kerbs are vertical and are 200mm high, 300mm gutter width with a 1:30 crossfall.
The street in the subdivision will have a 10m wide carriageway with a single crossfall of 1:30
(ie no central crown).
2. The street has a 20m wide road reserve. Adopt 80% impervious for the road reserve.
3. The area upstream of the subdivision (‘tributary area’ on the plan) is public open space and
will not be developed. Runoff from this area needs to be allowed for in the hydrologic
calculations.
4. The proposed lots will be developed to ‘urban residential – low density’ with an expected %
impervious within the lot area of 55%.
5. For partial area calculations, assume a critical duration of 5 minutes
6. The minimum travel time to a pit is 5 minutes with a maximum of 20 minutes.
7. The minimum longitudinal grade of grass swales and catch drains is 0.5%.
8. Gutter flows in the street are not to exceed 3.3m for the Minor system. The maximum flow
depth at the road kerb during the Major storm is not to exceed 0.35m to contain flooding to
within the road reserve.
9. Select a gully pit as required based on the 2400 to 4800 mm lintel range. Include an
appropriate blockage factor for the gully pits.
10. Unless otherwise defined, the drainage design will be in accordance to the Queensland Urban
Drainage Manual (QUDM)
11. The capacity of field inlets shall be estimated based on QUDM 7.05.4
12. Undertake the Major design flow checks for the roadway at Pits 1B, 1D and 1E.

2.2 Scope of Part A

The scope of Part A is to undertake a Minor and Major analysis of the proposed subdivision drainage
system by completion of Hydrologic Design Sheets 1, 2 and 3 (as per Module 7 of the Study Book).

The design sheets shall be supported by:

1. Design assumptions (refer to report template)
2. A worked example of how an (arbitrarily) selected row of each design sheet was determined,
by providing the calculations in more detail.
3. An output summary – giving the pit size at each pit location, the Minor discharge in each pipe
reach and the Major flow characteristics (discharge, flow width, dV product) at the selected
road locations.

2.3 Useful materials for Part A

The following materials have been provided and can be downloaded from StudyDesk or from external
websites:

1. Subdivision layout plans (Assignment2Plans.docx, Figures 1 and 2)

2. Gully pit designs and hydraulic capacity charts can be downloaded from
http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/planning-building/planning-guidelines-and-tools/standard-
drawings/index.htm
3. QUDM can be downloaded from
http://www.derm.qld.gov.au/water/regulation/pdf/guidelines/flood_risk_management/qudm_1
.pdf
4. Refer to Bureau of Meteorology website for online IFD tool.

The lot areas have been predetermined and are provided in Table 2.

2|Pa g e
ENV3105 Hydrology 2012

Table 2: Lot areas

Lot Area (m2)
1 1080
2 980
3 940
4 1010
5 970
6 1090
7 1080
8 1110
9 1130
10 950
11 1140
12 1100
13 1100
14 1050
15 1120
16 1040

2.4 Part A Hints

Some hints to complete the hydrological analysis are provided in Table 3.

Table 3: Part A hints (by design sheet)

Sheet Hints
1 For the purpose of the assignment, it is acceptable to scale off lengths and areas based on
the layout plan (Figure 1). After marking the subcatchment boundaries, the areas can be
determined by any of several methods. These methods include 1) manually overlying a
grid over the plan and counting the grid squares (an inaccurate method), 2) using a
planimeter available for oncampus students by contacting Clinton Caudell (Technical
Officer – Spatial Science), 3) importing the plan into a GIS or CAD package and using the
area computation features of this software. Road slope can be estimated from the road
surface levels (Table 1) and distances scaled off Figure 1. Make sure that you have
allowed for drainage of the road reserve, the upstream public open space and developed
lots in the pit discharge computations. Lots draining to the same pit can be grouped
together in the calculations. Provide partial area checks at all pits. QUDM 4.06 provides
guidance on determination of flow travel times – refer to QUDM 4.06.7 for estimation of
travel time along open drains and swales. Flows to some pits include different types of
flowpaths (eg overland + catch drain), so define each flowpath component on the
‘remarks’ column of Sheet 1.
2 As for Sheet 1, the longest travel time is used to determine the full area design discharge.
3 Remember the roadway has a single, one-way cross fall to the kerb. It is acceptable to
scale up the CA values based on the frequency factor ratio F100/F2– this will simplify the
calculations

3. Part B – Detention Basin Analysis

3.1 Proposed OSD basin

An onsite detention basin is indicated on Figure 1 at Pit 1F. The purpose of the basin is to reduce the

3|Pa g e
ENV3105 Hydrology 2012

peak 100 year ARI discharge from the proposed development catchment (including the public open
space) to at least the ‘pre-developed’ peak 100 year ARI discharge.

For the purpose of analysis, the proposed basin has the following characteristics:
1. The basin floor is rectangular (28m x 17m) and is assumed to be level (a floor slope draining
to Pit 1F would be required, but assume this to be zero)
2. The internal batters of the basin are 4H:1V
3. The basin is drained by Pit 1F, which also acts as a surcharge pit if the Minor system pipe
capacity is exceeded.
4. The basin can overflow to the street, controlled by a broadcrested weir with a crest level 1.2m
above the basin floor level. The weir crest length is 4m.
5. The maximum flow depth over the weir should not exceed 0.25m in the Major storm.

3.2 Scope of Part B

The scope of Part B is to undertake a hydrologic analysis to answer the following questions:
Q1. What is the estimated 100 year ARI peak discharge for the pre-developed catchment,
assuming that it is rural with no urban development?
Q2. What is the estimated 100 year ARI peak discharge for the developed catchment at the basin
site?
Q3. Is the proposed basin adequate to achieve the desired peak discharge reduction?
Q4. Do you think the inflow discharge that you used is the critical duration for the detention basin
(i.e the duration that gives the largest outflow from the basin)? What approach would you use
to obtain a better estimate of the critical duration?

3.3 Part B Hints

Some hints to complete the hydrological analysis are provided in Table 4.

Table 4: Part B hints (by question)

Questions Hints
Q1 Assume the catchment outlet is at Pit 1F. Some redrawing of the catchment boundary is
required to define the ‘pre-developed’ catchment (as the proposed development as
modified flow paths due to catch drains and lots). QUDM 4.06.11 has guidance on rural
time of concentration. However, for reasons of consistency use the same overland time of
concentration methods adopted in Part A. Note the differences in the time of
concentration associated with the QUDM 4.06.11 recommended methods.
Q2 For simplicity, assume that Pit 1F is fully blocked, the Minor pipe system has adequate
capacity to handle discharges up to 2 year ARI – so the basin receives road surface flow
only and the only basin outlet is the weir.
Q3 Use reservoir routing to make the assessment. This requires adopting an inflow
hydrograph to use in the analysis. Assume that the hydrograph has a symmetrical
triangular shape. To define the hydrograph, round off the time of concentration estimate
to the nearest minute – this will simplify your computations. Interpolation of data within
the storage curve is preferred to obtain more accurate results, rather than using Excel
‘look-up’ functions.
Q4 A discussion on critical duration can be found on page 115, Study Book.

4|Pa g e
ENV3105 Hydrology 2012

4. Part C – Pond Water Balance Analysis

4.1 Proposed stormwater harvesting option

A stormwater harvesting pond is also being considered as an option at the proposed subdivision. This
will take the location, size and geometry of the Part B detention basin. A preliminary water balance
analysis is required to provide an initial feasibility evaluation of harvesting stormwater from the open
pond for non-potable reuse within the subdivision.

Several assumptions have been made to simplify the analysis:

1. The stormwater drainage will be reconfigured such that all runoff from the subdivision will be
directed to the pond
2. Assume that the pond will have a plastic liner and thus seepage will be minimal
3. The soil type within the residential catchment is ‘loamy clay’.
4. Adopt a target non-potable demand for the subdivision of 5 kL/day and is constant throughout
the year.
5. Use daily rainfall and pan evaporation data (suitably adjusted) for Townsville Airport over a 2
year period (2009 and 2010 calendar years).
6. Adopt a constant pond surface area (equal to base area) to simplify the evaporation loss and
rainfall gain
7. Use the simple volumetric runoff coefficient approach to estimate daily runoff from the
residential catchment. Take into account how the runoff coefficient may change with rainfall.
AWBM runoff estimates are not required.
8. To be conservative, assume that the pond is empty at the start of the analysis
9. The pond is considered as an alternative to household rainwater tanks, so exclude the effect of
tanks or any other flow reduction practice on the harvesting potential.

4.2 Scope of Part C

The scope of Part C is to undertake a hydrological analysis to answer the following questions:
Q1. Is the proposed harvesting pond of adequate size to provide sufficient water to be used for
non-potable uses within the subdivision at a reliability of at least 80%?
Q2. What would you do to provide a more accurate water balance analysis?

4.3 Useful materials for Part C

The following materials have been provided and can be downloaded from StudyDesk:

1. Daily rainfall and pan evaporation data as a spreadsheet TownsvilleDailyData.xlxs

4.4 Part C Hints

Some hints to complete the rainfall analysis are provided in Table 5.

Table 5: Part C hints (by question)

Questions Hints
Q1 Account for the runoff contributions from both impervious and pervious areas within the
residential catchment. Consider how the runoff coefficient may change with the amount
of rainfall.

5|Pa g e
ENV3105 Hydrology 2012

Q2 Consider how more sophisticated methods could be used and how the simplistic
assumptions may impact on the results.

5. Submission
Your submission for Assignment 2 should include:

 A report that documents the hydrological analyses that have completed. A marking scheme is
provided as Table 5. Use this marking scheme to check that you have addressed the full
scope of the work. If an element of the assignment has not been documented in the file
report than no marks will be given for that element. For reasons of consistency, a report
template (ENV3105Report2Template.docx) must be downloaded from Study Desk and used
to report your work. Complete each section of the report.

 An EXCEL spreadsheet containing your hydrological computations. Multiple spreadsheets

will not be accepted – instead put your workings in separate sheets within the one EXCEL
file. Include a list indicating the contents of each sheet to aid marking in the above report.

Part of the available marks has been allocated to reward reporting that is well set out and easy to
follow. Submissions that are untidy and/or poorly structured and thus difficult to assess will attract
less marks for this element.

Electronic submission of this assignment is required. One ZIP file will be accepted containing:
1. A single Office Word document based on the template provided (rename the file based on the
convention below)
2. A single EXCEL spreadsheet

The following filename convention shall be used: *Ass2.zip, *Ass2.docx and *Ass2.xlsx, where * is
your student number.

6. Marking Scheme
Table 6: Assignment 2 Marking Scheme

Assignment element Marks

Part A Minor and Major Design Discharges (Technical work)
Design assumptions and output summary 30
Sheet 1 and worked calculation 30
Sheet 2 and worked calculation 20
Sheet 3 and worked calculation 20
Part B Detention Basin Analysis (Technical work)
Q1 20
Q2 10
Q3 50
Q4 10

6|Pa g e
ENV3105 Hydrology 2012

Part C Pond Water Balance Analysis (Technical work)

Q1 70
Q2 10
Reporting
Assignment report 15
Assignment EXCEL spreadsheet 15
TOTAL MARKS 300

7|Pa g e