Water Resources Engineering

Module 1

What is water?

Water is a basic necessity for the survival of human as well as for animals and plants. It is needed for the
growth of agricultural produce which sustains life on the earth.

Water Resources Engineering as defined as engineering for water supply management, water excess
management and water quality management (environmental restoration). It is also the science which
deals with the conception, planning and design, construction and operation of structures and facilities
related with utilization of available water on the earth surface.

FIELD OF WATER RESOURCES ENGINEERING

1. Control of Water – deals with passage of high floods with out causing excessive loss or damage
to the property, loss of life and inconvenience to the public.
2. Utilization of Water – projects planned and constructed include projects for growth of
agriculture, hydropower, water supply for drinking purposes and for industries, navigation and
𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛.
3. Water quality control – the increase of population by leap and bounds is threatening the
pollution of water resources badly. Thus, the importance of quality control of water is increasing
day by day.
4. Quantity of water to be stored – the demand for all uses should be scrutinized properly and the
decision should be taken very carefully, depending on economic considerations regarding the
quantum of water to be stored and the span of life of the project.
5. Construction of hydraulic structures – for the storage of water and creation of reservoir, the
knowledge of ground geology is essential.
6. Economics of project – precipitation and stream flow vary widely from year to year. Thus, the
design of the project should be done on the basis of probability and not on the protection
against worst possible conditions.

HISTORY OF WATER RESOURCES ENGINEERING

• 3200 BC – construction of large-scale irrigation and drainage works in the Egyptian dynasty.
• Between 2950 – 2690 BC – world’s oldest dam (Sadd-el-kafara dam) was built in Egypt.
• Approximately 2000 BC – oldest known pressurized water distribution was built in ancient city of
Knossos, Crete.
• 250 BC – irrigation project was built in China.

Table 1. World Wide Distribution of Water

No. Type of Water Volume in 106 𝑚3 % of total water
1 Ocean 1,370,323 94.2
2 Ground Water (Fresh and Saline) 60,000 4.1
3 Glaciers 24,000 1.65
4 Lakes and reservoirs 280 0.019
5 Soil Moisture 85 0.006
6 Atmospheric water 14 0.001
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7 River water 1.2 0.001 Approx.

Table 2. World Wide Distribution of Fresh Water

No. Type Volume in 106 𝑚3 %
1 Glaciers 24000 85
2 Ground Water 4000 14
3 Lakes and reservoirs 155 0.6
4 Soil Moisture 83 0.3
5 Atmospheric Water 14 0.05
6 River 1.2 0.004

WHAT IS HYDROLOGY?

Hydrology is the science that treats the waters of the Earth, their occurrence, circulation, and
distribution, their chemical and physical properties, and their reaction with the environment, including
the relation to living things.

HYDROLOGIC CYCLE
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The Hydrologic cycle consists of continuous processes.

1. Water evaporates from the oceans and land surfaces to become water vapor that is carried to
earth by atmospheric circulation.
2. The water vapor condenses and precipitates on the land and oceans.
3. Precipitation – precipitated water can be intercepted by vegetation, become overland flow over
the ground surface, infiltrate to the ground, flow through the soil as subsurface runoff and
discharge as surface runoff.
4. Evaporation from the land surface comprises directly from soil and vegetation surfaces, and
transpiration through plant leaves (evapotranspiration).
5. Infiltrated water may percolate deeper to recharge groundwater and later become spring flow
or seepage into streams also to become streamflow.

Conditions for occurrence of Precipitation

a. Cooling of air masses – cooling takes place when air ascends from the earth surface to the
higher levels in the atmosphere. The decrease in temperature of the undisturbed atmospheric
air with an increase in altitude is called Lapse rate within the troposphere.
b. Formation of clouds due to condensation – Clouds are formed due to condensation of vapors.
Clouds are nothing but liquid water droplets or ice crystals floating in air.
c. Growth of water droplets – In a cloud, usually the size of water droplets is very small. The
boundary line diameter between the rain drops and water droplets usually is taken as 0.2 mm.
The diameter of most raindrops reaching the ground is much greater than 0.2 mm.
d. Accumulation of moisture

FORMS OF PRECIPITATION

a. Drizzle – consists of water droplets less than 0.5mm in diameter. The diameter varies from 0.1
to 0.5 mm. Its intensity usually is less than 1 mm per hour. The water drops are in very large
numbers and can be seen floating in air.
b. Rain – consists of water drops more than 0.5 mm in diameter. The upper limit of rain drops may
be 6.4 mm. Drops bigger than 6.4 mm in diameter break up as they fall through the air.
1. Light Rain – intensity of rain fall is less than 3.00 mm per hour. It is classified as light
rainfall.
2. Moderate rain – intensity of rain fall varies from 3.0 mm to 7.5 mm per hour. It is
classified as moderate rainfall.
3. Heavy rain – intensity of rainfall is more than 7.5 mm per hour, known as heavy
rainfall.
c. Sleet – precipitation in the form of melting snow. It is a mixture of snow and rain. The diameter
of these pallets varies from 1 mm to 4.0 mm. Sleet is also known as small hails.
d. Glaze – form of precipitation which falls as rain and freezes on striking the ground as it comes in
contact with cold objects on the ground. It is also known as freezing rain.
e. Frost – type of dew in which the water vapors in the air are transformed into the ice crystals
when they fall on the ground. It occurs in the form of needles, scales or fans.
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f. Dew – form of precipitation which does not occur due to condensation in higher layer of
atmosphere, but formed by condensation directly on the ground. Dew occurs at night when the
ground surface is cooled by radiation.
g. Snow – precipitation in the form of solid ice crystals resulting from sublimation of water vapors
directly to ice. Snow flake is made up of a number of ice crystals fused together.
h. Hail – precipitation in the form of balls or lumps of ice over 5 mm in diameter formed by
alternate freezing and melting as they carried up and down in highly turbulent currents.

TYPES OF PRECIPITATION

1. Conventional or Convective Precipitation – most common in tropics. It occurs due to heating of

air near the ground. The density of heated air decreases. It is caused by the vertical rising of air
columns. Due to heat, the hot air near the surface rises up vertically.
2. Orographic Precipitation – results from mechanical lifting of air masses over mountain barriers.
Due to the topographic barriers of mountains, the moisture ladden air is forced to rise to higher
levels. At higher levels it expands and cools, resulting to precipitation.
3. Cyclonic Precipitation – A cyclone is a circular or nearly circular area of low pressure in which
win belows anticlockwise in the Northern Hemisphere.
a. Tropical Cyclones – although tropical cyclones are relatively small (the diameter ranges
from 90 km to 500 km), but very violent storms. The center of such storms known as the
eye is an area of very light wind and clear sky. These types of cyclones always develop
over water and move west ward with the trade winds of the equatorial belt and east
ward in extra tropical belt.
b. Typical Cyclone – a large whirling mass of air ranging from 800 to 1600 km or more in
diameter and having a wind velocity of about 50 km/hr. At the center of this mass, the
barometric pressure is low. The central portion acts like a chimney through which the air
rises, expands, cools dynamically ad produces condensation, usually precipitation.
4. Frontal Precipitation – a type of cyclonic precipitation. A front or frontal surface is a surface
which separates a warm air mass and a cold air mass.
a. Warm Front Precipitation – warm air replaces the cold air mass. It is spread over a large
area extending from 300 to 500 km ahead of the warm front. The precipitation is usually
light to moderate.
b. Cold front Precipitation – the cold air mass replaces the warm air mass. The advancing
cold air wedge pushes the warm air mass upwards. It occurs in small area pf the extent
of 100 to 150 km ahead of the front. This precipitation usually is intense.
5. Precipitation due to turbulent ascent – this type of precipitation takes place when air mass is
forced to rise up due to friction of the earth surface. The friction of the earth surface is greater
that of water surface. The air mass after travelling over the ocean rises up due to increased
turbulence and friction. After cooling and condensation, the precipitation occurs. Winter rainfall
in Tamilnadu mainly is of turbulent ascent type. Actually in nature various methods of cooling
get mixed up, hence it is difficult to identify the type of precipitation.