With increased urbanisation, stormwater runoff has become an increasingly important problem to address. Stormwater pollution, protection and mitigation can only be effective if the stormwater flows themselves are monitored and quantified, not only for pollutants but also volumetrically.
Typically, stormwater is conveyed through open channels and partially full pipes. The MACE FloPro XCi, exclusively available from Thermo Fisher Scientific, is ideally suited to measure these flows. The often turbulent flows with high levels of suspended solids are perfect for MACE Doppler ultrasonic flow measurement. Combined with a downward looking ultrasonic depth sensor, storm flows up to 10m/s (33ft/s) can be accurately measured.
Moreover, stormwater quality parameters can be measured with the input/output capabilities of the FloPro (using third party sensors for DO, pH & turbidity etc), and volumetrically sampled by driving a water sampler.
In the example shown, the FloPro XCi is monitoring a typical stormwater culvert along a highway. In conjunction with a MACE Doppler ultrasonic area/velocity sensor, rainfall is measured and a sampler is also interfaced. With a MACE WebComm card installed, these readings are available 24/7 on the MACE website, and can be sent via SMS or email to any mobile phone.
