Demonstrating Reservoir Routing In The Classroom: Physical And Mathematical Modeling

Reservoir routing is a fundamental topic in engineering hydrology, with applications to flood routing and detention basin design, among others. It is an excellent vehicle for demonstrating basic principles of mass balance, and topics in applied hydraulics (e.g., stagedischarge relationships). In the context of mass balance, reservoir routing provides a focus on the fluid itself, without the complications of multiple transport mechanisms that may control the fluxes of dissolved or suspended chemical constituents. Students often have difficulty with mass balance concepts – relating mass accumulation in a system to inflow and outflow. In reservoir design applications, it is necessary to visualize the relationships among the inflow hydrograph, the outflow hydrograph (as governed by changes in the water surface elevation over time and the hydraulic characteristics of the chosen control structure), and reservoir storage volume (as governed by the water surface elevation and reservoir surface area). A physical bench-scale inclass demonstration using a model reservoir was designed to help students visualize these relationships and develop a deeper understanding of mass balance principles. The model was used to separately demonstrate how to measure elevation-storage and stage-discharge relationships. The scale of the model makes it suitable for real-time, in-class demonstrations and experiments. All required equipment fits on a standard laboratory cart, and can be easily transported to the classroom.