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Galvanized steel is commonly used for flumes and (somewhat less so) weirs in irrigation and water rights applications. Galvanized steel is economical and can provide a good useful lifespan.

At its simplest, a weir box is a fabricated channel into which a weir plate has been installed.

While the Parshall flume is the most commonly used flow for measuring the flow of water in open channels, the flume does have some distinct disadvantages: The Parshall flume is an empirical device and the flow equations / discharge characteristics must be determined through…

Flat-bottomed Trapezoidal Flumes were first developed in the early 1960’s to be placed in canals. Their shape was chosen to more closely match that of the typical small canal shapes.

Stilling wells are chambers isolated from, but still connected to, a main flow of water. In clean water applications, the connection or pipe between the flume or weir pool and the stiling well is typically 1/10th the diameter of stilling well. This is usually large enought to…

While they are one of the more modern styles of flumes (developed in the 1960's), the Trapezoidal flume has been shown to have a nubmer of distict advantages, making it well suited to a variety of industrial and surface water measurement applications.

Submergence in a flume occurs when downstream conditons combine to reduce free-flow out of the flume to the point where the free-flow discharge equations are no longer suitably accurate. While submergence corrections can be made for some flumes (Parshall, USGS Portable Parshall,…

We have worked with Water Rights Consultants, Ditch Riders, and Water Commissioners over the years and below are the most common problems that they encounter out in the field. The examples below use Parshall and Cutthroat flumes, but these problems are common to all flume types…

In our usual cruising of the internet we came across a novel solution to dampening turbulence and straightening flow lines in open channels. Now the solution is only suitable for clean flow streams, but other than that restriction, it seems to work well and could be particulalry…

Long-throated Ramp Flumes like the Palmer Bowlus and the RBC can cause maintenance challenges when used on flow with high suspended solids contents or low flows. The problem is the way in which the flumes accelerate the flow from a sub-critical (Fr1) – whereby the level to flow…

In some applications (i.e. flat grades or the growth of vegitation) it is impossible or impractical to install a Cutthroat Flume so that it can operate under free-flow conditions. When such a conditon exists, the flume may need to be set so that it operates under submerged flow…

For a Flume to operate accurately, the flow surfaces must be kept free of debris and biological growth. In surface water applications, the growth of algae can present a considerable problem in trying to keep the flume clean. If a sufficient amount of algal growth is allowed to…

It is with great pleasure that Openchannelflow announces that Technology Sales Associates have partnered for representation in the New England area. Already strong process equipment resentatives, Technology Sales' recent addition of Rick Nash (formerly of New England…

When it comes to ventilating fiberglass equipment shelters we have two options: active and passive. With each option, however, we have a number of choices and considerations.

Originally developed in the 1930’s as a simple and effective way to accurately measure sanitary flows in pipes and conduits, the Palmer Bowlus flume has the second most popular open channel flow measuring flume. The developers of the Palmer Bowlus flume – Harold Palmer and…

A Packaged Metering Manhole (PMM) is a factory-integrated fiberglass manhole that mounts a flume, weir, mag meter, or other primary device to allow a user to measure or sample flows from full or non-full pipes. The manhole tube can also be supplied with a range of accessories,…

The use of Fiberglass Reinforced Plastics (FRP) in wastewater applications has grown since their introduction in the 1960’s. Their increasing use can be attributed to six key factors:

A flow measuring weir is simply a structure over which water flows in such a way that volumetric flow rate can be calculated….it lets you know how much water is flowing. Many times a flow measuring weir is simply a thin plate across a flow stream, but weirs can also be broad,…

Weirs are often described as “simple” and “low cost” ways of measuring open channel flows and, made of some materials they really are low cost. But this low cost comes at a price. Steel plate is frequently used to keep costs down and, when it is new, it’s a perfectly…

As we reach our 300th blog, we were looking for a topic that went to the core of who we are at Openchannelflow. Then the idea came to us: Let's talk about who we are and what we stand for! Openchannelflow is a skilled manufacturer of devices for the measurement, conditioning, and…