Measuring Flow (Flow is a rate, typically measured as volume/ time)

Materials: bucket, stop watch, water source, and pencil/ note pad

Jobs: Member A (fills bucket with water), Member B (timer), Member C (recorder)

Note: Find an easy and SAFE place. Also make sure that this site has very similar slope to the site that you will measure head. .


  1. Member A places the bucket in front of the waterfall, waits for timer.
  2. Member B says “Go,” and starts the timer.
  3. Member A places the bucket under the waterfall, capturing all of the water
  1. When the bucket is full, the Member A says, “Stop”.
  2. Member C records time.
  3. Repeat Steps 3 times.
  4. NOTE: Here are some reasons why one might not want to accept certain data:
    1. The bucket is not capturing all of the water.
    2. The bucket overflows before the bucket holder says stop..
    3. A large piece of debris falls down the waterfall into the bucket.

Calculations

Average Time = 1st time + 2nd time + 3rd time ............

                 Total number of time measurements


Calculate the flow rate (Q). . Answer should be in volume per time (v/t)

Q = Volume of bucket
Average time


Often, flow is given in gallons per minute or liters per second.

gallons x 60 seconds = gallons OR gallons x 3.8 liters = liters

second minute minutesecond gallon second

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