HORTON’s EQUATION

FOR WATER INFILTRATION

Presented by: Jonathan b. Costan

BSME 4A
Presented to: Mr. Emilio Medina jr.
The Horton Equation

 One of the first attempts to describe the process of infiltration was made by
Horton in 1933. He observed that the infiltration capacity reduced in an
exponential fashion from an initial, maximum rate f0 to a final constant
rate fc.
 The Horton equation for infiltration capacity fcapac is given by equation
which shows the variation of the maximum infiltration capacity with time t.
 Examples
1) The initial rate of infiltration of a watershed is estimated as 2.1
in/hr, the final capacity is 0.2 in/hr, and the constant, k is 0.4.
Using Horton’s equation, find the infiltration capacity at t =
2hrs and if t = 6hrs.
2) Based on the given data, rain=50mm and time duration=2hrs.
Find the total infiltration during the storm period using
Horton’s equation assuming fo=1.5cm/hr and fc=0.5cm/hr, k
is 3.
3) Using Horton’s equation of infiltration, find the fo (initial
infiltration capacity) of a watershed which have infiltration
capacity of 1.5 in/hr, fc (final infiltration capacity) is 1.9 in/hr,
constant k is 0.1 and time duration of 4hrs.