Mass Curve Analysis

MASS CURVE ANALYSIS
Mass curve method is a part water and waste water engineering. Mass
curve method is a mass diagram to plot accumulated inflow (supply) or
outflow (demand) versus time. The mass curve of supply is first drawn and is
superimposed by the demand curve. Procedure to construct the mass curve
diagram is as follows:
From the past records, determine the hourly demand for all 24 hours
for typical days (maximum, average and minimum).
Calculate and plot the cumulative demand against time, and thus plot
the mass curve of demand.
Read the storage required as the sum of the two maximum ordinates
between demand and supply line.
Repeat the procedure for all the typical days (maximum, average and
minimum), and determine the maximum storage required for the worst
day.
The mass curve method of estimating storage capacity to meet a specified

demand pattern, described that it has different forms of use in its practical
application. This method is widely used for the analysis of reservoir capacity
demand problems. However, there are many variation of basic method to
facilitate graphical plotting, handling of large data. From this research, we
got a few types of mass curve which are double mass curve, flow mass curve
and residual mass curve. All these type of mass curve have its analysis
purposes.
The flow mass curve is a plot of the cumulative discharge volume against
time that plotted in chronological order. The residual mass curve is plotted
graph of the cumulative departures from a given reference such as the
arithmetic average as a function of time or date. The double-mass curve can
be used to adjust inconsistent precipitation data. It is the graph of the
cumulative data of one variable versus the cumulative data of a related
variable is a straight line so long as the relation between the variables is a
fixed ratio.
Above figure is the typical flow mass curve.

Above figure is an example of residual mass curve.
RESERVOIR
Reservoir is a word from French that is store house and is likely to store
fluids. A reservoir usually means an enlarged natural or artificial, storage
pond or impoundment created using a dam or lock to store water. The
reservoir can be created by controlling a stream that drains an existing body
of water. It also can be constructed in river valleys using a dam. A reservoir
can be built by excavating flat ground or constructing retaining walls and
levees.
Reservoir consist of three types that in use today. Those three types
are reservoir dammed in valleys, bank side reservoir and service reservoir.
The first type is reservoir dammed in valleys. This dam constructed in a
valley relies on the natural topography to provide most of the basin of the
reservoir. Next, is bankside reservoir. This reservoir may be built to store the
water. This reservoir is usually formed partly by excavation and partly by
building a complete encircling bund and embankment, which may exceed 6
km in circumstances. Last one is service reservoir. This reservoir store fully
treated water close to the point of distribution.
Function of reservoir also to control watercourses. It is as downstream water

supply. Water may be released from an upland reservoir so that it can be
abstracted for drinking water lower down the system, sometimes hundreds
of miles further downstream. Next is the irrigation, water in an irrigation
reservoir may be released into networks of canals for use in farmlands or
secondary water systems. Irrigation may also be supported by reservoirs
which maintain river flows, allowing water to be abstracted for irrigation
lower down the river. Flood control also known as attenuation or balancing
reservoirs, flood control reservoirs collect water at times of very high rainfall,
and then release it slowly during the following weeks or months. Some of
these reservoirs are constructed across the river line, with the onward flow
controlled by an orifice plate. When river flow exceeds the capacity of the
orifice plate, water builds up behind the dam; but as soon as the flow rate
reduces, the water behind the dam is slowly released until the reservoir is
empty again. In some cases such reservoirs only function a few times in a
decade, and the land behind the reservoir may be developed as community
or recreational land. A new generation of balancing dams is being developed
to combat the possible consequences of climate change. They are called
"Flood Detention Reservoirs". Because these reservoirs will remain dry for
long periods, there may be a risk of the clay core drying out, reducing its
structural stability. Recent developments include the use of composite core
fill made from recycled materials as an alternative to clay.
ESTIMATION A RESERVOIR CAPACITY
Reservoir system consist of three stages that is
Flood control storage

Active storage
Dead storage
For estimation of reservoir capacity, we take Newell Creek Dam and Loch
Lomond Reservoir, Santa Cruz, California as example. The topographic
survey was done as a supplement to the bathymetric survey to obtain
information about temporal changes in the upper reach of the reservoir
where the water is shallow or the reservoir may be dry, as well as to obtain
information about shoreline changes throughout the reservoir. Results of a
combined bathymetric and topographic survey using a new, state of the art
method with advanced instrument technology indicate that the maximum
storage capacity of the reservoir at the spillway altitude of 577.5 feet was
8,646 85 acre-feet in March 2009, with a confidence level of 99 percent.
This picture above is the new method which is a combination of bathymetric

scanning using multibeam side scan sonar, and topographic surveying using
laser scanning (LiDAR), which produced a 1.64 foot resolution grid with
altitudes to 0.3 foot resolution and an estimate of total water storage
capacity at a 99 percent confidence level. Result of this investigation the
maximum reservoir storage capacity in 2009 is 8,646 acre feet.
There are several methods have been used to monitor the storage
capacity in Loch Lomond Reservoir over the years . First one is bathymetry.
Bathymetry is the measurement within the instrument capabilities of the
depth of the wetted reservoir bed below the water surface. These surveys
are often supplemented with some type of topographic survey to obtain land
surface altitude data, above those determined from the bathymetric survey
to the spillway crest altitude or higher. As instrumentation and data
processing methods have improved, the survey method used at Loch
Lomond Reservoir has changed.
Storage capacity
The average end area method is better suited for application to reservoirs
having fairly uniform width throughout its length and ranges are established
normal to the stream as possible.
-Vanoni (2006)-
This statement was found to be true in the analysis of the 1998 and
2009 investigation results. A comparison of the volumes calculated for both
years by using this method showed a loss of storage capacity of about 25.5
acre feet. This average end area method assumes that the volume between
two consecutive transects, or end areas, is the average of their areas
multiplied by the distance between them. This method, however, does not
represent the diverse features found in Loch Lomond Reservoir because the
characteristics of the reservoir bed surface between the transects are not
considered.
To accurately measure the storage capacity, all available data are

needed to represent the reservoir bed surface as accurately as possible. Loch
Lomond has a steep and rough reservoir bed surface with many features that
could add or subtract substantial volumes to or from the total storage
capacity. A greater amount of data spatially distributed throughout the
reservoir-bed surface was observed in 1998 by using a depth echo sounder
enhanced with GPS. This previous investigation utilized 28,000 data points
throughout the reservoir-bed surface, along with an estimated water-surface
contour to create an altitude model of the reservoir surface.
To most accurately represent the reservoir-bed surface using the

available data, a triangulated irregular network (TIN) model was created by
using ArcInfo geographic information system (GIS) software. A TIN model is a
surface representation derived from irregularly spaced points with an x, y
coordinate and a z value or surface value. The ArcInfo GIS software has the
ability to quickly perform volumetric calculations from these surface models.
Given a set of points, many possible triangulations can be created. ArcInfo
uses the Delaunay triangulation algorithm to optimize the surface model.
This algorithm creates triangles that collectively are as close to the
equilateral shapes as possible. This method of interpolation keeps altitudes
at new points as near as possible to known input points. These TIN models
were used to create surface areas for each of the previous and the most
current investigations, which were then used for storage-capacity
calculations and comparisons.
During the 2009 bathymetric and topographic survey, more than

13 million data points were measured and used in the TIN model. This
procedure resulted in an extremely complex surface model with a fine
resolution from which to determine the storage capacity from the reservoir-
bed surface up to the spillway altitude.
Stage capacity calculation
By using the modeled reservoir-bed surface from the 2009 bathymetric

and topographic survey data, storage capacity of Loch Lomond Reservoir was
calculated for 2 feet water surface altitude intervals or stage up to the
maximum water storage capacity of the reservoir which is at stage of 577.5
feet as referred in Table 1. The estimated maximum capacity of the reservoir
in March 2009 was 8,646 acre-feet.
A plot of the relation between water storage capacity at 2 feet stage

intervals to the maximum capacity of the reservoir and water surface area in
figure 8 illustrates that capacity has been reduced fairly consistently, with
the greatest reduction at the high altitudes and zero reduction at the bottom
of the reservoir. The plot of water-surface area and water surface stage or
altitude shows that some erosion or reservoir bed changes may have
occurred from 577.5 to about 566 feet. These changes could be an indication
of wind wave erosion, erosion near the inlet of Newell Creek, or simply the
presence of features that were not mapped adequately in the 1998
investigation. This curve also shows that the water surface area decreased
most from the bottom of the reservoir to an altitude of about 470 feet, likely
indicating where sedimentation has been greatest.
Orange dotted represent data location

Mass Curve Analysis

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What are the different types of mass curves discussed in the document?

What are the different types of reservoirs mentioned and what are their purposes?

MASS CURVE ANALYSIS

The mass curve method of estimating storage capacity to meet a specified

Above figure is the typical flow mass curve.

Function of reservoir also to control watercourses. It is as downstream water

ESTIMATION A RESERVOIR CAPACITY

Reservoir system consist of three stages that is

Flood control storage

This picture above is the new method which is a combination of bathymetric

To accurately measure the storage capacity, all available data are

To most accurately represent the reservoir-bed surface using the

During the 2009 bathymetric and topographic survey, more than

Stage capacity calculation

By using the modeled reservoir-bed surface from the 2009 bathymetric

A plot of the relation between water storage capacity at 2 feet stage

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