SWMM6 & SWMM5 Enablement

Stormwater modeling notes, decoded.

SWMM5, SWMM6, XPSWMM, InfoSWMM, InfoSewer, OpenSWMM, and ICM — engine internals, error messages, calibration, and hard-won field wisdom from Robert Dickinson.

Browse error-message fixes EPA SWMM downloads

What Folders and Files you should see for every InfoSWMM project

· June 25, 2020

What Folders and Files you should see for every InfoSWMM project

  1. A valid name – not Untitled
  2. A ISDB folder with DBF Model Network and Ancillary Data
  3. MXD file for either Arc GIS 10.3, 10.4, 10.5, 10.6, 10.7, 10.8 etc.
  4. Other files such as TIF’s
  5. OUT folder for model Output from your scenarios.

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Steps in modeling Sediment in InfoSWMM

· October 14, 2019

Steps in modeling Sediment in InfoSWMM:
  1. Use the Water Quality Tab in Run Manager and pick Sediment
  2. Select a predefined pollutant from the Operations Tab of the Attribute Browser (AB) or TSS in this example,
  3. Define the TSS or Sediment Particle Setting Velocity or Limiting Flow Velocity
  4. The Nodes will show the TSS or Sediment Concentrations,
  5. The Links will show the deposition in kg,
  6. The help file shows other information

It’ll take a while, but small, casual, daily, social microinvesting into digital assets will be the new microblogging.

· May 05, 2019

How to Use Population for DWF in SWMM5 and InfoSWMM

· January 27, 2019
The SWMM5 engine uses mean flow as the dry weather flow value (DWF) and not population but does allow weekday, weekend, daily and monthly patterns.  You can use these many pattern options to actually use population in the SWMM5 and InfoSWMM dry weather flow tables.  Here are the steps as shown in the embedded image:
  1. Population in the Value field,
  2. Per Capita flow in the Monthly Pattern field,
  3. Weekday pattern
  4. Weekend pattern
  5. Conversion (if needed) from the per capita units to the current units of SWMM5 or InfoSWMM
  6. This can make SWMM5 and InfoSWMM more like Innovyze products XPSWMM, InfoWorks ICM and InfoSewer.


Runoff Coefficient and Time of Concentration for InfoSewer

· January 11, 2019
Runoff Coefficient and Time of Concentration for InfoSewer
Runoff coefficient is loosely defined as the ratio of runoff to rainfall, and is a function of watershed characteristics including land use, soil type, and slope of the watershed. The value of runoff coefficient ranges between 0.0 and 1.0. A value of 0.0 means that all of the rainfall is lost in the form of abstractions such as infiltration, interception, and evaporation and none of the rainfall is converted to runoff. The value of 1.0 implies that all the rainfall is converted to runoff and is discharged from the watershed. As an example, most of the rain that falls on impervious areas such as pavement and roof would be immediately converted to runoff. A value of C for such land uses is close to 1.0. Runoff coefficient values recommended by the American Society of Civil Engineers and Water Environment Federation for return periods not exceeding 10 years are given below for various land uses, soil types, and slope conditions.
For return periods that exceed 10 years, the runoff coefficient from the table should be multiplied by a frequency adjustment factor, Cf , given below.
For a subwatershed composed of multiple land uses, a composite runoff coefficient Cw should be determined by weighting C values of each of the land uses by their corresponding area according to Equation 35.
                
where Ci   =  runoff coefficient for individual land use in the subwatershed.
Ai   =  area of the individual land use in the subwatershed.
N   =   total number of land uses in the subwatershed.

Stormwater Runoff and the Rational  Method  from Innovyze H2OCalc for Reference
For storm sewer loading, the focus shifts to hydrologic analysis of excess precipitation and associated runoff. Common techniques for analysis include the rational method and unit hydrograph methods, as well as the use of more advanced hydrologic models.
For small drainage areas, peak runoff is commonly estimated by the rational method. This method is based on the principle that the maximum rate of runoff from a drainage basin occurs when all parts of the watershed contribute to flow and that rainfall is distributed uniformly over the catchment area. Since it neglects temporal and spatial variability in rainfall, and ignores flow routing in the watershed, collection system, and any storage facilities, the rational method should be used with caution only for applications where the assumptions of rational method are valid.
Rational  Method  from Innovyze H2OCalc for Reference
The rational formula is expressed as
                                                                                                                             
where  Qp          =         peak runoff rate (m3/s, ft3/s)
                 C          =         dimensionless runoff coefficient (see Table 3-9)
                  I           =         average rainfall intensity (mm/hr, in/hr) for a duration of the time of concentration (tc)
                  A         =          drainage area (km2, acres)
                  K         =          conversion constant (0.28 in SI, 1 in English)
The time of concentration tc used in the rational method is the time associated with the peak runoff from the watershed to the point of interest. Runoff from a watershed usually reaches a peak at the time when the entire watershed is contributing; in this case, the time of concentration is the time for a drop of water to flow from the remotest point in the watershed to the point of interest. Time of concentration, tc (min), for the basin area can be computed using one of the formulas listed in Table 3-10.

Table:  Runoff Coefficients for 2 to 10 Year Return Periods
Description of drainage area
Runoff coefficient
Business
Downtown
0.70-0.95
Neighborhood
0.50-0.70
Residential
Single-family
0.30-0.50
Multi-unit detached
0.40-0.60
Multi-unit attached
0.60-0.75
Suburban
0.25-0.40
Apartment dwelling
0.50-0.70
Industrial
Light
0.50-0.80
Heavy
0.60-0.90
Parks and cemeteries
0.10-0.25
Railroad yards
0.20-0.35
Unimproved areas
0.10-0.30
Pavement
Asphalt
0.70-0.95

Concrete
0.80-0.95

Brick
0.75-0.85
Roofs

0.75-0.95
Lawns
Sandy soils
Flat (2%)
0.05-0.10


Average (2-7%)
0.10-0.15


Steep (≥7%)
0.15-0.20

Heavy soils
Flat (2%)
0.13-0.17


Average (2-7%)
0.18-0.22


Steep (≥7%)
0.25-0.35
         Source: Nicklow et al. (2006)

Table 3-10: Formulas for Computing Time of Concentration
Method
Formula
Kirpich (1940)
L = length of channel (ft)
S = average watershed slope (ft/ft)
California Culverts Practice (1942)
 L = length of the longest channel (mi)
H = elevation difference between divide and outlet (ft)
Izzard (1946)
i = rainfall intensity (in/h)
c = Retardance coefficient
Retardance factor, c, ranges from 0.007 for smooth pavement to 0.012 for concrete and to 0.06 for dense turf; product i times L should be < 500
Federal Aviation Administration (1970)
C = rational method runoff coefficient (see Table 3.9)
Kinematic wave
n = Manning’s roughness coefficient
SCS lag equation
CN = SCS runoff curve number (see Table 3.11)
SCS average velocity charts
V = average velocity (ft/s)
Yen and Chow (1983)
KY = Coefficient
N = Overland texture factor
       (see Table 3.13)

KY ranges from 1.5 for light rain (i<0.8) to 1.1 for moderate rain (0.8<i<1.2), and to 0.7 for heavy rain (i>1.2)
Source: Nicklow et al. (2004)

Table 3-11: Runoff Curve Numbers for Urban Land Uses
Land use description
Soil Group
A
B
C
D
Lawns, open spaces, parks, golf courses:




    Good condition: grass cover on 75% or more area
39
61
74
80
    Fair condition: grass cover on 50% to 75% of area
49
69
79
84
    Poor condition: grass cover on 50% or less of area
68
79
86
89
Paved parking lots, roofs, driveways, etc
98
98
98
98
Streets and roads:




    Paved with curbs and storm sewers
98
98
98
98
    Gravel
76
85
89
91
    Dirt
72
82
87
89
    Paved with open ditches
83
89
92
93
Commercial and business areas (85% impervious)
89
92
94
95
Industrial districts (72% impervious)
81
88
91
93
Row houses, town houses and residential with lot sizes of 1/8 ac or less (65% impervious)
77
85
90
92
Residential average lot size:




    1/4 ac (38% impervious)
61
75
83
87
    1/3 ac (30% impervious)
57
72
81
86
    1/2 ac (25% impervious)
54
70
80
85
    1 ac (20% impervious)
51
68
79
84
    2 ac (12% impervious)
46
65
77
82
Developing urban area (newly graded; no vegetation)
77
86
91
94
Adapted from SCS (1985)
  
Table 3-12: Description of NRCS Soil Classifications
Group
Description
Min. infiltration (in/hr)
A
Deep sand; deep losses; aggregated silts
0.30-0.45
B
Shallow loess; sandy loam
0.15-0.30
C
Clay loams; shallows sandy loam; soils low in organic content; soils usually high in clay
0.05-0.15
D
Soils that swell significantly
0-0.05
Adapted from SCS (1985)

Table 3-13: Overland Texture Factor N
Overland flow surface
Low
Medium
High
Smooth asphalt pavement
0.010
0.012
0.015
Smooth impervious surface
0.011
0.013
0.015
Tar and sand pavement
0.012
0.014
0.016
Concrete pavement
0.014
0.017
0.020
Rough impervious surface
0.015
0.019
0.023
Smooth bare packed soil
0.017
0.021
0.025
Moderate bare packed soil
0.025
0.030
0.035
Rough bare packed soil
0.032
0.038
0.045
Gravel soil
0.025
0.032
0.045
Mowed poor grass
0.030
0.038
0.045
Average grass, closely clipped sod
0.040
0.055
0.070
Pasture
0.040
0.055
0.070
Timberland
0.060
0.090
0.120
Dense grass
0.060
0.090
0.120
Shrubs and bushes
0.080
0.120
0.180
Land use
Low
Medium
High
Business
0.014
0.022
0.35
Semi-business
0.022
0.035
0.050
Industrial
0.020
0.035
0.050
Dense residential
0.025
0.040
0.060
Suburban residential
0.030
0.055
0.080
Parks and lawns
0.040
0.075
0.120
Adapted from Yen and Chow (1983)