Effect of Long Internal Waves on the Quality of Water Withdrawn from a Stratified Reservoir
Publication: Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 132, Issue 11
Abstract
The properties of water withdrawn from a stratified reservoir are investigated in a field study conducted in Lake Burragorang, Australia. It is shown that temperature and turbidity fluctuations of the extracted water are directly correlated to the vertical displacement of the thermal structure of the reservoir immediately in front of the offtake and the thickness of the selective withdrawal layer. Scaling of the unsteady withdrawal revealed that the timescale associated with the formation of selective withdrawal is an order of magnitude smaller than the typical period of the internal wave. This means the withdrawal layer is acting as a filter, extracting water of a particular quality as it is swept past the outlet by the internal seiches; the steady-state theory of the selective withdrawal can be used to predict outflow temperature fluctuations in reservoirs where long internal waves are present. To correctly interpret other outflow water parameters, such as turbidity or dissolved oxygen, it is important not only to know the stratification conditions in front of the offtake, but also to understand the local flow dynamics in the lower reaches of the reservoir.
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Acknowledgments
The first writer was the recipient of an International Postgraduate Research Scholarship and a University of Western Australia Postgraduate Award. The outflow data were supplied by the Sydney Catchment Authority (SCA) as part of a project entitled “Limnological Modeling Systems for Lake Burragorang and Prospect Reservoir.” The writers particularly wish to thank the field operation group of the Center for Water Research for their contribution in acquiring and processing the field data. Special thanks are extended to Graeme Hocking, Geoffrey Wake, and the anonymous reviewers for their comments on the later version of this manuscript. This paper represents Center for Water Research reference number ED-1684-VA.
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Information & Authors
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Published In
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 132 • Issue 11 • November 2006
Pages: 1134 - 1145
Copyright
© 2006 ASCE.
History
Received: May 5, 2005
Accepted: Oct 17, 2005
Published online: Nov 1, 2006
Published in print: Nov 2006
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