Openchannelflow products

The Parshall flume is an economical and accurate way of measuring the flow of water in open channels and non-full pipes. The flume was originally developed to measure surface waters, water rights apportionment, and irrigation flows, but its use has expended to include measuring the flow of sewage (both in pipe and treatment plants), industrial discharges, and seepage from dams. As a class of 22 standard sizes, the Parshall flume is the most commonly used and widely recognized flow measurement flume. 

Unlike most other flume styles developed for irrigation flows and then applied to other uses, the Palmer-Bowlus Flume was specifically designed to measure sanitary sewage / wastewater flows from the outset. The Palmer-Bowlus Flume is widely used to measure industrial discharges, municipal sewer flows, and influent / effluent at wastewater treatment plants and is second only to the Parshall Flume in popularity.

The Dust Bowl experienced by the United States during 1930’s saw the establishment of the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) on April 27, 1935. The SCS was established as a permanent agency the US Department of Agriculture with a mission to conserve the nation’s soil and water resources. With this mandate, researchers at the SCS began the investigation and development of a class of flumes suitable for use in measuring agricultural flows. The H Flume, so called because it was the eighth in a series of flumes investigated, combined the flow sensitivity of a narrow angle V-notch weir with the flat floor and self-cleaning properties of a flume.