Department of Civil Engineering

Faculty of Engineering, Zarqa University

Water Losses
Chapter 3

Dr. Omar Asad

 Evaporation into a gas ceases Evaporation : The process by which
when the gas reaches saturation liquid water is transformed into a
gaseous state.

Precipitation
Evaporation
Evaporation
Evapo-transpiration

Ocean
Infiltration
Recharge runoff

Aquifer Precipitation
The hydrologic equation states that:
Evaporation/ET
Surface Water
Rainfall-Losses = Runoff
Groundwater
 Water Losses

Water Losses
Interception loss: due to
surface vegetation, i.e., held by plant Evaporation:
leaves.
from soil surface, from water
Transpiration appreciably when surface, i.e.,
the ground water reservoirs, lakes,
from plant leaves. table is very near ponds, river
the soil surface. channels, etc.
Evapotranspiration:
for consumptive use—from irrigated
or cropped land. Infiltration
into the soil at the ground surface.
Watershed leakage
ground water movement from one
basin to another or into the sea.
 Interception loss

Interception loss
The precipitation intercepted by foliage
(plant leaves, forests) and buildings and
returned to atmosphere (by evaporation
from plant leaves) without reaching the
ground surface is called interception loss.
Interception loss is high in the beginning of
storms and gradually decreases; the loss is
of the order of 0.5 to 2 mm per shower and
it is greater in the case of light showers
than when rain is continuous.
Fig. shows the Horton's mean curve of
interception loss for different showers.

Effective rain = Rainfall - Interception loss

 EVAPORATION

Evaporation from water surfaces (Lake evaporation)

ew = saturated vapour pressure at the temperature of
The factors affecting
water
evaporation are: ea = vapour pressure of the air (about 2 m above)
air and water temperature K = a constant.
relative humidity
wind velocity the Dalton's law states that the evaporation
surface area (exposed) is proportional to the difference in vapour
pressures ew and ea. A more general Equation is
barometric pressure
given by
salinity of the water. E  K ' (e w  e a )( a  bV )
The rate of evaporation is a function of K', a, b = constants and V = wind
the differences in vapour pressure at the velocity.
water surface and in the atmosphere, and Higher the temperature and wind
the Dalton's law of evaporation is given velocity, greater is the evaporation, while
by greater the humidity and dissolved salts,
E  K (e w  e a )
smaller is the evaporation.
E = daily evaporation
 Methods of Estimating Lake
Evaporation
Evaporation from water surfaces can be determined from
the following methods :
 SOIL EVAPORATION

The evaporation from a wet soil surface immediately after rain or escape of water
molecules with more resistance when the water table lies within a meter from the
ground is called soil evaporation. This, expressed as a percentage of evaporation
from free water surface is called evaporation opportunity.
Actual Evaporation from the land ( soil ) at given land
Evaporation Opportunity   100
Evaporation from an equivalent water surface

Soil evaporation will continue at a surface almost flush with the ground
high rate for some time after the cessation Fig. To measure the evaporation from a
of rainfall, then decreases as the ground soil whose surface is within the capillary
surface starts drying, until a constant rate fringe, tanks equipped to maintain the
is reached which is dependent on the water table at any desired elevation may
depth of the water table and nature of the be used. The soil evaporation is
soil in addition to meteorological determined by weighing the tanks at
conditions. Measurement of soil stated intervals and knowing the amount
evaporation can be done with tanks of water that was added in the interim.
(lysimeters) filled with earth and with the
 UNSATURATED FLOW

Soil moisture in the unsaturated zone moves under the influence of the
gravitational force and the force due to the difference in capillary potential. The
capillary flow is given by Darcy's law. Z h
Q  K u iA i  
l l
Q = capillary flow Ku = coefficient of unsaturated permeability
A = area of cross section of capillary flow l= length of travel
i = sum of the gradients of capillary potential and gravitational force
ΔZ = difference in elevation of the two points A and B (if the flow is from A to B).
Δh= difference in capillary potential of the two points A and B
when the capillary potential becomes greater than the gravitational potential there is
upward movement of soil moisture resulting in loss of water due to soil evaporation.
When the flow is upward, the gravitational component of ‘i' must be subtracted from
the capillary potential component. For horizontal flow the gravitational component
is zero.
zero For downward flow the two motivating forces act in the same direction.
direction The
coefficient of unsaturated permeability increases as the soil moisture increases.
 TRANSPIRATION
Transpiration is the process by which the water vapour escapes from the living
plant leaves and enters the atmosphere. Various methods are devised by botanists for
the measurement of transpiration and one of the widely used methods is by
phytometer.
Phytometer consists of a closed water tight tank with sufficient soil for plant
growth with only the plant exposed; water is applied artificially till the plant growth
is complete. The equipment is weighed in the beginning (W1) and at the end of the
experiment (W2). Water applied during the growth (ω) is measured and the water
consumed by transpiration ( Wt ) is obtained as

Wt =( W1 + ω) - W2

The experimental values (from the protected growth of the plant in the
laboratory) have to be multiplied by a coefficient to obtain the possible field results.
 EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
Evapotranspiration (Et ) or consumptive use (U) is the total water lost from a
cropped (or irrigated) land due to evaporation from the soil and transpiration by the
plants or used by the plants in building up of plant tissue. Potential
evapotranspiration (Ept) is the evapotranspiration from the short green vegetation
when the roots are supplied with unlimited water covering the soil. It is usually
expressed as a depth (cm, mm) over the area.

Estimation of Evapotranspiration
The following are some of the methods of estimating evapotranspiration:
(1) Tanks and lysimeter experiments
(2) Field experimental plots
(3) Installation of sunken (Colorado) tanks
(4) Evapotranspiration equations as developed by Lowry-Johnson, Penman,
Thornthwaite, Blaney-Criddle, etc.
(5) Evaporation index method, i.e., from pan evaporation data as developed by
Hargreaves and Christiansen.
 Estimation of Evapotranspiration

Blaney-Criddle method. U = seasonal consumptive use (cm in

This method is used throughout the metric units)
world for the consumptive use t = mean monthly temperature (°F in
determinations and is given by : FPS units and °C in metric units)
kp( 4.6t  81.3) p = monthly percentage of hours of
U   100 bright sunshine (of the year)
U   kf  k  f  KF k = monthly consumptive use
coefficient determined from
p( 4.6t  81.3) experimental data
f 
100 f= monthly consumptive use factor
K, F = seasonal values of consumptive
use coefficient and factor, respectively
∑- refers for the summation for all the
months of the growing season.
 Estimation of Evapotranspiration

Evaporation Index
Analyses method.
of data on consumptive use indicate a high degree of correlation
between pan evaporation values and consumptive use. The relationship between
the evapotranspiration (Et) and pan evaporation (Ep) is usually expressed as:

Et = k E p
where k is a coefficient (i.e., Et / Ep ratio) and is found to vary according to the
stage of growth of the crop. The values of k for different crops at 5% increments
of the crop growing season are presented by G.H. Hargreaves.
Climatological factors like percentage sunshine hours,
wind speed, mean monthly temperature and humidity.
Factors
Affecting The moisture level in the soil.
Evapotranspiration
Crop factors like the type of crop and the percentage
growing season.
 INFILTRATION
Definitions
Infiltration - The downward entry of water into the immediate surface of
soil or other materials.

Infiltration Capacity- The maximum rate at which water can infiltrate

into a soil under a given set of conditions.

Infiltration Rate- The rate at which water penetrates the surface of

the soil and expressed in cm/hr, mm/hr, or inches/hr.
The rate of infiltration is limited by the capacity of the soil and rate at which water
is applied to the surface. This is a volume flux of water flowing into the profile per
unit of soil surface area (expressed as velocity).

Percolation -Vertical and Lateral Movement of water through

the soil by gravity.
 INFILTRATION
Water entering the soil at the ground surface is The infiltration rate ( f ) at any time t is
called infiltration. It replenishes the soil
moisture deficiency and the excess moves given by Horton's equation.
downward by the force of gravity called deep f ( t )  f c  ( f 0  f c )e  kt
seepage or percolation and builds up the
ground water table. The maximum rate at f  fc
k  0
Fc
which the soil in any given condition is capable
of absorbing water is called its infiltration
capacity ( fp ). Infiltration ( f ) often begins at a
high rate (20 to 25 cm/hr) and decreases to a
fairly steady state rate ( fc ) as the rain
continues, called the ultimate fp (= 1.25 to 2.0
cm/hr) (Fig.).
 INFILTRATION INDICES
The infiltration curve expresses the rate of infiltration (cm/hr) as a
function of time. The area between the rainfall graph and the infiltration curve
represents the rainfall excess, while the area under the infiltration curve gives
the loss of rainfall due to infiltration. The rate of loss is greatest in the early
part of the storm, but it may be rather uniform particularly with wet soil
conditions from antecedent rainfall.
Estimates of runoff volume from
large areas are sometimes made by the
use of infiltration indices, which
assume a constant average infiltration 1)Φ-index
rate during a storm, although in actual
practice the infiltration will be varying 2)W-index
with time. This is also due to different
states of wetness of the soil after the 3)f -index
ave
commencement of the rainfall. There
are three types of infiltration indices;
 INFILTRATION INDICES
Φ-index
• The value of -index can be derived from the rainfall hyetograph and the
resulting surface runoff volume by trial and error.

basin recharge
  index 
duration of rainfall

• The unshaded area below the horizontal

line is assumed that all losses are due to
infiltration only.
• For determination of - index, a horizontal line is drawn on the hyetograph
such that the shaded area above that line is equal to the volume of surface
runoff.
runoff
• If the shaded area is not equal to the volume of measured surface runoff, the
horizontal line is shifted upwards or downwards till this condition is satisfied.
 INFILTRATION INDICES

W-index- The W-index is the average infiltration rate during the time
rainfall intensity exceeds the infiltration capacity rate, i.e., FP PQ S
W  index  
tR tR

P = total rainfall tR = duration of storm during which i > fp

Q = surface runoff Fp = total infiltration
S = effective surface retention fp = infiltration capacity
The W-index attempts to allow for depression storage, short rainless periods during a
storm and eliminates all rain periods during which i < fp. Thus, the W-index is essentially equal
to the Φ- index minus the average rate of retention by interception and depression storage, i.e.,
W < (Φ).
Q  CP
Information on infiltration can be used to estimate the runoff
i W
coefficient C in computing the surface runoff as a percentage of C 
i
rainfall i.e.,
 SUPRA RAIN TECHNIQUE
f -index.
ave In this method, an average infiltration loss is assumed
throughout the storm, for the period i > f.

Due to complex conditions antecedent and during the rain, and complex
catchment characteristics, the use of infiltration method is usually limited to small
areas with well-established values of infiltration.
The rainfall in excess of a particular value of (Φ)-index for the entire pattern of
storm rainfall is called supra rain. Allowance for areal variation of rainfall and
f-capacity is made by dividing into sub areas in the case of large areas. The mean
hourly net rains over the whole catchment can be obtained as
A1, A2 ... are the sub-areas.
Pnet  mean 
A P 1 net  1 Pnet-1,Pnet-2, ……….are the net rain in the sub areas
A 1 ∑A1 =A = total area of the catchment
 SUPRA RAIN TECHNIQUE
When a large number of sub-areas
are involved the hourly net rains over
the whole catchment can be derived by
constructing a supra-rain-curve, in
which the supra-rain is plot­ted against
hypothetical values of the (Φ)-index,
Fig.
The supra-rain-curve thus obtained
is valid only for that particular storm
from which it is derived. For other
storms, new supra rain curves must be
prepared.