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Freestanding staff gauges are a good solution to the need to measure level in a flume, weir, or channel.  They are also useful in stream gauging or as replacements for other gauges that are damaged or no longer readable. Openchannelflow fiberglass freestanding staff gauges…

Reinforced weir boxes are a convenient way of measuring seepage flows out of a dam when the pipe is just below grade.  Reinforcing the sidewalls of a weir box can allow the structure to withstand the pressures exerted by the soil in shallow burial applications. In these…

Flumes of all styles are used in the measurement and treatment of wastewater.  Wastewater applications can be municipal or industrial in nature and their content can be sanitary (including mixed) or non-sanitary.

H Flumes are widely used to measure edge-of-field flows.   The ability of the H Flume to pass sediments easily and the wide range of flows that it can accurately measure make the flume uniquely suited to the application.   Here a time-lapse video…

Stainless steel is often viewed as the material of choice for Parshall flumes when severe corrosion is expected or when abrasion is a concern.   For Parshall flumes, the split between T-304 and T-316 stainless steel is about 60 / 40, with more flumes being constructed…

Although initially developed to measure runoff from watersheds and experimental plots, the H Flume has proven to be quite flexible in its mounting configurations. H Flumes can be a part of a fiberglass packaged metering manhole, free-standing, or embedded in concrete or earthen…

Feedlots are an economical way to feed and raise a variety of livestock, but they generate large quantities of runoff, which can impact ground and surface water supplies.  Accurate flow measurement is important as part of a BMP approach to the problem and both flumes and…

Edge-of-field (sometimes referred to as catchment) monitoring is where flow from a particular field is routed to a monitoring station located at the edge of the field to for allow the characterization of the runoff flows.  Edge-of-field monitoring is used to in a number of…

The H flume was developed to measure runoff in small experimental plots and agricultural watersheds.   Like a weir, the H flume develops a backwater effect at higher flow rates.  In low gradient applications, this backwater effect can cause flooding.  To minimize…

H flumes are commonly used in catchment and runoff studies. For a variety of reasons it is not always feasible to provide a full-length approach section at the inlet of an H flume. When shortening the approach section of a H flume, there is always the concern of how the…

H Flumes have proven to be well suited to measuring watershed runoff from agricultural plots and pastures.  The USDA Agricultural Research Service – J. Phil Campbell Sr. Natural Resources Conservation Center (JPCNSRCC) in Watkinsville, GA details the installation of a…

Over the years 22 standard sizes of Parshall flume have been developed.  Sized by throat width, these standard flumes range from 1-inch all the way up to 50-feet. With so many sizes available you would think that there wouldn’t be a call (or need) for intermediate…

Salt and pepper.  Peanut butter and jelly.  Trapezoidal flumes and flow measurement in ditches.  What do they have in common?  They each go great together! Originally developed to measure flow in irrigation channels, the Trapezoidal flume has become the flume…

A common problem we encounter in talking to customers about using weirs is lack of understanding of where the correct point of measurement is. Unlike a flume, where the point of measurement is integral or fixed in the structure, for a weir, the point of measurement is upstream of…

Monitoring surface waters presents a unique set of problems not encountered when measuring sanitary or industrial discharges. Chief among these is vegetative matter and the need for flume maintenance. Even flumes that pass solids and debris well can experience flow channelization…

In selecting a material of construction for a flume or a weir, it is not uncommon for the decision to be made “go with stainless” without a consideration of the grade of stainless that best fits the application.  Both T-304 and T-316 stainless steels are…

Stainless steel flumes offer the ultimate in abrasion and chemical resistance when measuring open channel flows.  While other materials of construction can provide some of these benefits, they either do so only partially (e.g. PVC for chemical resistance but not abrasion) or…

Fiberglass packaged metering manholes are an innovative solution to the problem of needing to measure piped flow below grade. Packaged metering manholes factory integrate a flow element (usually a flume, but weirs and magnetic flow meters can also be integrated) directly into a…

Fiberglass Parshall flumes are the standard for measuring influent and effluent flows at wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in North America.  Widely used in surface water / irrigation applications, the Parshall flume adapts well to sanitary applications while fiberglass…