Available Pond Seepage (infiltration) and evaporation methods per solver

Product(s): CivilStorm, SewerGEMS
Version(s): CONNECT Edition
Area: Modeling

Problem

How can I model infiltration (seepage, flow loss) of water from a pond into the surrounding soil? Which seepage methods are available for each numerical solver? Is evaporation modeling supported?

Solution

Ponds can lose water by seepage (infiltration/exfiltration into the groundwater) or by evaporation. Any water lost by seepage or evaporation does not show up in downstream links and the flow is considered as lost from the system. In the properties of a pond element you will see the attribute called "Pond Seepage Method" in the "Infiltration/Inflow & Seepage" section. You can choose between a few different methods depending on which numerical solver you are using. 

By default, "None" will be selected which means no flow loss/seepage is modeled.

Implicit and GVF-Convex solvers:

  • Constant Flow: Models a Constant infiltration Flow rate, as specified in the "Constant Flow" field.
  • Average Seepage Loss: An Average Infiltration rate in depth per unit time which is multiplied by the area of the pond surface at that time step to determine the infiltration rate.
  • Evaporation is not supported. See more here: Using the Average Infiltration (Seepage) method for ponds

Note: Pond Infiltration is ignored when the pond is not connected to an outlet structure. See: No seepage results from pond in SewerGEMS or CivilStorm

In applying either method, the models also has a stability filter when the pond water depth is below 0.5 ft so that the seepage loss rate will linearly reduce to zero as the depth decreases to zero.

Explicit (SWMM) solver:

  • Green-Ampt: The Green- Ampt infiltration method is used to compute the pond seepage loss, in which suction head, conductivity and initial deficit data are required.
    • Suction Head: Average value of soil capillary suction along the wetting front (inches or mm)
    • Conductivity: Soil saturated hydraulic conductivity (in/hr or mm/hr)
    • Initial Deficit: Fraction of soil volume that is initially dry (i.e., difference between soil porosity and initial moisture content) The initial deficit for a completely drained soil is the difference between the soil's porosity and its field capacity. Typical values for all of these parameters can be found in the Soil Characteristics Table.

  • Evaporation loss is supported, a few evaporation types can be defined in the climatology data (under Components - SWMM Extensions) and a user specified evaporation factor for the pond. See more here: Modeling evaporation in a pond?

Reporting flow or volume loss from seepage

Pond infiltration losses can be viewed in a few different ways. First, you can view or graph the attribute "Flow (Seepage Loss)" for your pond. Alternatively, you can view the volume of infiltration loss in the "Ponds" tab of the Hydraulic Reviewer.

User Defined Rating Table as an alternative approach

If none of these methods are suitable for your situation, you can use the approach of modeling the infiltration/seepage with a user defined rating table (varying flow as a function of headwater elevation) on a separate pond outlet structure. Meaning, a pond outlet node connected to the pond, with a downstream conduit connected to a free outfall, and the composite outlet structure for the pond outlet node configured with the User Defined Rating Table component.

See Also

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