Uses & Applications of Hydrology in Engineering

In hydrology we apply scientific knowledge and mathematical principles to solve water-related problems in society: problems of quantity, quality and availability. Mathematical models of all Hydrological phenomena are made.

They may be concerned with finding water supplies for cities or irrigated farms, or controlling river flooding or soil erosion. Or, they may work in environmental protection: preventing or cleaning up pollution or locating sites for safe disposal of hazardous wastes.

Applications of Engineering Hydrology

1. Hydrology is used to find out maximum probable flood at proposed sites e.g. Dams.

2. The variation of water production from catchments can be calculated and described by hydrology.

3. Engineering hydrology enables us to find out the relationship between a catchments’s surface water and groundwater resources

4. The expected flood flows over a spillway, at a highway Culvert, or in an urban storm drainage system can be known by this very subject.

5. It helps us to know the required reservoir capacity to assure adequate water for irrigation or municipal water supply in droughts condition.

6. It tells us what hydrologic hardware (e.g. rain gauges, stream gauges etc) and software (computer models) are needed for real-time flood forecasting

7. Used in connection with design and operations of hydraulic structure

8. Used in prediction of flood over a spillway, at highway culvert or in urban storm drainage

9. Used to assess the reservoir capacity required to assure adequate water for irrigation or municipal water supply during drought

10. Hydrology is an indispensable tool in planning and building hydraulic structures.

11. Hydrology is used for city water supply design which is based on catchments area, amount of rainfall, dry period, storage capacity, runoff evaporation and transpiration.

12. Dam construction, reservoir capacity, spillway capacity, sizes of water supply pipelines and affect of afforest on water supply schemes, all are designed on basis of hydrological equations.