Factors Affecting the Quantity of Stormwater

The surface run-off resulting after precipitation contributes to the stormwater. The quantity
of stormwater reaching to the sewers or drains is very large as compared with sanitary
sewage. The factors affecting the quantity of stormwater flow are as below:

i. Area of the catchment

ii. Slope and shape of the catchment area
iii. Porosity of the soil
iv. Obstruction in the flow of water as trees, fields, gardens, etc.
v. Initial state of catchment area with respect to wetness.
vi. Intensity and duration of rainfall
vii. Atmospheric temperature and humidity
viii. Number and size of ditches present in the area

Measurement of Rainfall
The rainfall intensity could be measured by using rain gauges and recording the amount of
rain falling in unit time. The rainfall intensity is usually expressed as mm/hour or
cm/hour. The rain gauges used can be manual recording type or automatic recording rain
gauges.

Methods for Estimation of Quantity of Storm Water

1. Rational Method
2. Empirical formulae method
In both the above methods, the quantity of storm water is considered as function of intensity
of rainfall, coefficient of runoff and area of catchment.

Time of Concentration: The period after which the entire catchment area will
start contributing to the runoff is called as the time of concentration.
• The rainfall with duration lesser than the time of concentration will not
produce maximum discharge.

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 • The runoff may not be maximum even when the duration of the rain is more than
the time of concentration. This is because in such cases the intensity of rain reduces
with the increase in its duration.
• The runoff will be maximum when the duration of rainfall is equal to the time
of concentration and is called as critical rainfall duration. The time of
concentration is
equal to sum of inlet time and time of travel.

Time of concentration = Inlet time + time of travel

Runoff from a given catchment

Inlet Time: The time required for the rain in falling on the most remote point of the
tributary area to flow across the ground surface along the natural drains or gutters up to inlet
of sewer is called inlet time. The inlet time 'Ti' can be estimated using relationships similar
to following. These coefficients will have different values for different catchments.

Where,
Ti = [0.885 L3/H]0.385
Ti = Time of inlet, minute
L = Length of overland flow in Kilometer from critical point to mouth of drain
H = Total fall of level from the critical point to mouth of drain, meter

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Time of Travel: The time required by the water to flow in the drain channel from the mouth
to the point under consideration or the point of concentration is called as time of travel.
Time of Travel (Tt) = Length of drain/ velocity in drain
Runoff Coefficient: The total precipitation falling on any area is dispersed as
percolation, evaporation, storage in ponds or reservoir and surface runoff. The runoff
coefficient can be defined as a fraction, which is multiplied with the quantity of total rainfall
to determine the quantity of rain water, which will reach the sewers. The runoff coefficient
depends upon the porosity of soil cover, wetness and ground cover. The overall runoff
coefficient for the catchment area can be worked out as follows:

Overall runoff coefficient, C = [A1.C1 + A2.C2 + ….+ An.Cn] / [ A1 + A2 + …+ An]

(3) Where, A1, A2, ….An are types of area with C1, C2, …Cn as their coefficient of
runoff, respectively.

The typical runoff coefficient for the different ground cover is provided in the Table

6.1. Runoff coefficient for different type of cover in catchment

Type of Cover Coefficient of runoff

Business areas 0.70 - 0.90
Apartment areas 0.50 - 0.70
Single family area 0.30 - 0.50
Parks, Playgrounds, Lawns 0.10 - 0.25
Paved Streets 0.80 -0.90
Water tight roofs 0.70 - 0.95

Rational method
Storm water quantity can be estimated by rational method as below:
Storm water quantity, Q = C.I.A / 360
Where,
Q = Quantity of storm water, m3/sec
C = Coefficient of runoff
I = intensity of rainfall (mm/hour) for the duration equal to time of concentration, and

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 A = Drainage area in hectares
OR
Q = 0.278 C.I.A
Where, Q is m3/sec; I is mm/hour, and A is area in square kilometer

Empirical Formulae
Empirical formulae are used for determination of runoff from very large area. Various
empirical relationships are developed based on the past observations on specific site
conditions suiting a particular region. These empirical formulae can be used for prediction
of storm water runoff for that particular catchment.

6.3.3 Empirical formulae for rainfall intensities

These relationships between rainfall intensity and duration are developed based on long term
experience in field (Figure 6.2). Under Indian conditions, intensity of rainfall in design

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is usually in the range 12 mm/h to 20 mm/h. In general, the empirical relationship
has the following forms:
I = a/ (t + b) OR I = b / tn

Where, a, b, and n are constants.

Relationship of rainfall duration and intensity

British Ministry of Health formula

I = 760 / (t + 10) (for storm duration of 5 to 20 minutes)

I = 1020 / (t + 10) (for storm duration of 20 to 100 minutes)

Where, I is intensity of rainfall, mm/h and t is duration of storm, minutes.

Examples

1. Determine designed discharge for a combined system serving population of 50000

with rate of water supply of 135 LPCD. The catchment area is 100 hectares and the
average coefficient of runoff is 0.60. The time of concentration for the design rainfall
is 30 min and the relation between intensity of rainfall and duration is I = 1000/(t + 20).

Solution
Estimation of sewage quantity
Considering 80% of the water supplied will result in wastewater generation,
The quantity of sanitary sewage = 50000 x 135 x 0.80 = 5400 m3/day = 0.0625 m3/sec
Considering peak factor of 2.5, the design discharge for sanitary sewage = 0.0625 x 2.5
= 0.156 m3/sec

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 Estimation of storm water discharge Intensity
of rainfall, I = 1000/(t + 20) Therefore, I =
1000/(30 + 20) = 20 mm/h Hence, storm water
runoff, Q = C.I.A/360
= 0.6 x 20 x 100/(360) = 3.33 m3/sec
Therefore, design discharge for combined sewer = 3.33 + 0.156 = 3.49 m3/sec

2. The catchment area is of 300 hectares. The surface cover in the catchment can
be classified as given below:
Type of cover Coefficient of runoff Percentage
Roofs 0.90 15
Pavements and yards 0.80 15
Lawns and gardens 0.15 25
Roads 0.40 20
Open ground 0.10 15
Single family dwelling 0.50 10

Calculate the runoff coefficient and quantity of storm water runoff, if intensity of rainfall
is30 mm/h for rain with duration equal to time of concentration. If population density in
the area is 350 persons per hectare and rate of water supply is 200 LPCD, calculate
designdischarge for separate system, partially separate system, and combined system.

Solution
Estimation of storm water discharge for storm water drain of separate system

Overall runoff coefficient C = [A1.C1 + A2.C2 + ….+ An.Cn] / [ A1 + A2 + …+ An]

= (0.15 x 0.90 + 0.15 x 0.80 + 0.25 x 0.15 + 0.20 x 0.4 + 0.15 x 0.1 + 0.10 x 0.5)
0.15 + 0.15 + 0.25 + 0.20 + 0.15 + 0.10
= 0.44

Therefore quantity of storm water, Q = C.I.A/360

= 0.44 x 30 x 300/360
= 11

Estimation of sewage discharge for sanitary sewer of separate system

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Quantity of sanitary sewage = 300 x 350 x 200 x 0.80 = 16800 m3/day = 0.194 m3/sec

Considering peak factor of 2, the design discharge for sanitary sewers = 0.194 x 2

= 0.389 m3/sec

Estimation of discharge for partially separate system

Storm water discharge falling on roofs and paved courtyards will be added to the
sanitary sewer. This quantity can be estimated as:
Average coefficient of runoff = (0.90 x 45 + 0.80 x 45) / 90 = 0.85

Discharge = 0.85 x 30 x 90 / 360 = 6.375 m3/sec

Therefore total discharge in the sanitary sewer of partially separate system = 6.375 + 0.389 =
6.764 m3/sec, and the discharge in storm water drains = 11 - 6.375 = 4.625 m3/sec

Questions
1. Explain the factors affecting the storm water discharge.
2. What is time of concentration? What is its role in determination of the storm
water runoff?
3. Explain critical rainfall duration. Why rainfall of this duration will generate
maximum runoff?
4. Write short notes on the estimation of storm water runoff.
5. What is coefficient of runoff?
6. A catchment is having total area of 60 hectares. The rainfall intensity relation
with duration for this catchment is given by the relation I = 100/(t+20), where I is
in cm/h and t is duration of rain in min. (a) Draw the graph of rainfall intensity
relation with duration at 10 min interval? (b) What will be the storm water
runoff from this catchment if the average imperviousness factor is 0.63, and time of
concentration is 35 min? (c) If population density of the area is 350 persons per
hectare and water consumption is 170 LPCD, what will be the design discharge for
separate system and combined system?

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