3.

1 Flow Balance
As described in the last section, Q2K’s most fundamental unit is the element. A steady-state flow
balance is implemented for each model element as (Figure 9)

Qi  Qi 1  Qin ,i  Qout ,i (1)

where Qi = outflow from element i into the downstream element i + 1 [m3/d], Qi–1 = inflow from
the upstream element i – 1 [m3/d], Qin,i is the total inflow into the element from point and
nonpoint sources [m3/d], and Qout,i is the total outflow from the element due to point and nonpoint
withdrawals [m3/d]. Thus, the downstream outflow is simply the difference between inflow and
source gains minus withdrawal losses.

Qin,i Qout,i

Qi1 Qi
i1 i i+1

Figure 9 Element flow balance.

The total inflow from sources is computed as

psi npsi
Qin,i   Q ps ,i , j   Qnps,i, j (2)
j 1 j 1

where Qps,i,j is the jth point source inflow to element i [m3/d], psi = the total number of point
sources to element i, Qnps,i,j is the jth non-point source inflow to element i [m3/d], and npsi = the
total number of non-point source inflows to element i.

The total outflow from withdrawals is computed as

pai npai
Qout,i  Q
j 1
pa ,i , j  Q
j 1
npa ,i , j (3)

QUAL2K 12 December 16, 2008

where Qpa,i,j is the jth point withdrawal outflow from element i [m3/d], pai = the total number of
point withdrawals from element i, Qnpa,i,j is the jth non-point withdrawal outflow from element i
[m3/d], and npai = the total number of non-point withdrawal flows from element i.

The non-point sources and withdrawals are modeled as line sources. As in Figure 10, the non-
point source or withdrawal is demarcated by its starting and ending kilometer points. Its flow is
then distributed to or from each element in a length-weighted fashion.

Qnpt

25% 25% 50%

1 1 2
start end

Figure 10 The manner in which non-point source flow is distributed to an element.

3.2 Hydraulic Characteristics

Once the outflow for each element is computed, the depth and velocity are calculated in one of
three ways: weirs, rating curves, and Manning equations. The program decides among these
options in the following manner:

 If weir height and width are entered, the weir option is implemented.
 If the weir height and width are zero and rating curve coefficients are entered (a and ),
the rating curve option is implemented.
 If neither of the previous conditions is met, Q2K uses the Manning equation.

3.2.1 Weirs

Figure 11 shows how weirs are represented in Q2K. Note that a weir can only occur at the end
of a reach consisting of a single element. The symbols shown in Figure 11 are defined as: Hi =
the depth of the element upstream of the weir [m], Hi+1 = the depth of the element downstream of
the weir [m], elev2i = the elevation above sea level of the tail end of the upstream element [m],
elev1i+1 = the elevation above sea level of the head end of the downstream element [m], Hw = the
height of the weir above elev2i [m], Hd = the drop between the elevation above sea level of the
surface of element i and element i+1 [m], Hh = the head above the weir [m], Bw = the width of the
weir [m]. Note that the width of the weir can differ from the width of the element, Bi.

QUAL2K 13 December 16, 2008