How to trace water through project area (Water Overlay)

Track flow in a hydrological system over time

To track water in a hydrological system, i.e. find where water from a specific point flows to, it is possible to artificially add a chemical emitter in the water system. Any water passing through that construction will pick up the chemical. By having a result type added which highlights that chemical, the flow of the water can be tracked quite accurately.

For the purposes of this scenario, a simple hydrological model will be assumed, although the same technique can be used for breaches and other calamitous scenarios. We will also assume we can use the CHLORIDE particle as our "tracker". We will track any water flowing in from outside the system through a specific inlet.

How to set up water flow tracking:

1. Configure a base hydrological system. For the specified scenario, use the groundwater overlay.
2. Ensure the simulation is set up to output a reasonable amount of timeframes. For most simulation durations, 25 to 50 timeframes will suffice.
3. Also ensure the hydrological system has at least one inlet configured to simulate flow into the hydrological system.
4. Also ensure the hydrological system has a CHLORIDE result type, either as main result or as a child result type.
5. Find the inlet, the water of which you want to track, in the 3D world.
6. Add the "CHLORIDE" attribute to the inlet, with a value of "1".
7. Ensure the overlay is recalculated.
8. Inspect the "Chloride" result overlay. The greater the concentration of chloride in any given location, the more water from the inlet has flowed there.
9. Select the "play" option in the overlay's legend. The animation will show the flow of the water from the inlet.

To track water from different sources (different inlets, or other hydrological constructons), add the chemical attribute to the construction of which you wish to track the water.

To track water from different sources collectively, each source can be configured with the same chemical attribute. (In the specified example, multiple sources can be provided with the CHLORIDE attribute.)

To track water from different sources with the ability to differentiate between what water came from which specific source, each source can be given a different chemical to produce.