AutoSalt Installations
I’ve been meaning to put together a photo gallery of installations. So here it is (if the stand looks off-kilter, it’s just the photographer and not the stand). Please note that Rating Curves have not been developed for all sites. Where RCs are presented, they are the most recent RC from the Salt Portal, and may contain only a few days of data, or a few years. Where multiple rating curves have been developed over time, a more elaborate figure is presented. All sites are a bit different and we will work with you to find the best solution for your site, including finding a local supplier of tank and the best telemetry solution.
Carnation Creek Weir C for BCMoE near Port Renfrew BC, Canada (2022)
The T-HRECS is shown on the left bank. The second T-HRECS on the right bank is upstream.
AutoSalt at Weir C (show in the back left). This site used 260l of 9.4% brine, which should have only been 2% or 5% since we are aiming to dose at a rate of 100-200 g/cms. At this rate, there are about 1000 measurements (gah).
This curve is drawn in our Salt Portal with 1 transition at 0.42m. Probably it could use another transition at 0.54m. This is going up and down a hydrograph on a metal v-notch weir. I want to get a few more points before deciding on a transition.
The noise at the lower end of the curve is due to noise in the new flow meter for small volumes, but we know how to fix that. If we use 5% NaCl solution instead of the 9.4% currently used, we could inject more than 0.5 l of brine and get above the noise floor of the flow meter. We have a cellular modem and raspberry pi handling the transfer of the data from the AutoSalt to our Kronos Time Series online data portal now.
Boulder Creek, BC Hydro, Near Jones Lake, B.C. 2021
This system was installed on Oct 13, 2021, and achieved complete mixing at lower flows, but above 2cms the LB and RB derived Q diverged.
The RB probe needed to be upstream of the intake site.
The LB_Q is larger than the RB_Q above flows of 2cms. This is because the AQ injects on the RB, so more salt was coming down unmixed on the RB. The very large flood on Nov 11 washed away the Hydrometric station and scoured the entire channel. The AutoSalt was reinstalled upstream in November. Only the LB_Q was measured after Dec 8 because the SD Card was removed and reinserted with power on.
There are two distinct rating curves here, prior to Nov 11, 2021 on the left, and after Nov 25 on the right. Both RCs diverge above 2cms due to incomplete mixing. The client was only interested in flows below 2cms.
Nooklikonnik Creek for Nuxalk First Nation near Bella Coola, BC, Canada (2021)
Downstream Left Bank ECT Probe and Cool Big A$$ boulder.
The “BackPack” Version of AutoSalt is a 200L tank that straps to a backpack frame, but that’s where the convenience ends. I don’t envy the mighty Vincent who crawled under blowdown to get this to the intake site.
Nooklikonnik AutoSalt RC after 2 months of operation
Introducing… Kronos Time Series! This is the first image of the AutoSalt stage, converted to a hydrograph using the Rating Curve -> Discharge tool for multiple, compound Rating Curves. Interactive! Powerful! Fun!
Eskay Creek in Northern BC, Canada (2021)
Notice the new improved stand has a cage to protect the flow measurement equipment and serves as a handy place to put your coffee. The titlable top shelf allows hortizontal, vertical, or angled orientation to mount a solar panel.
The AutoSalt is installed on a smaller tributary of Tom Mackay, which then flows into Ketchum, thus allowing us to make measurements at 3 locations from a single injection. The orange box is the AutoSalt control box, the yellow is Unidata NRT Telemetry.
H9-Resulting hydrograph showing measurements from up and downstream probes. We measured up to 56 cms with only 5.5kg and 3.7km downstream. The PT from another consultant became dewatered in July 2021, However we were able to use the same EC-T sensors to derived a Water Quality Mixing Model (WQMM) and Water Quality Transit Time (WQTT) model to estimate the low flows.
In the WQTT(v) model, the Q is estimated as a function of the transit time. While this is not very accurate above 5cms at this site, we are seeing excellent agreement between the WQMM results and the WQTT results, both derived completely independently from one another.
In the WQMM, a smaller higher EC.T trib is measured and the downstream change in EC.T is used to calculate the total flow at the downstream site.
H9-Rating Curve. We can inject a higher dose than 100g to achieve a higher SNR at this site, which is 3.7km downstream.
H8 Rating Curve which has identified a strange shoulder in the rating curve. It seems to be legit, because the points before and after freshet agree.
H8 Hydrograph showing measurements, unsure of the validity of the shoulder yet.
At Eskay, there are 7 AT units logging temperature and conductivity continuously. This allows us to make Salt Dilution Instream Q (SDIQs) at 3 locations and build 3 rating curves from a single AutoSalt. Additionally, using the Water Quality Mixing Model, we can independently estimate the flow at a downstream site from a controlled outflow of significantly different EC water.
Stawamus River for WSC Highway 99 (08GA076)
This AutoSalt tank near the Sea To Sky Highway has adopted a spirit animal to protect it from harm.
The WSC Q is problematic at the lower range, but the AQAc derived Q generally agrees above 2 m3/s.
Stawamus RC from December 16 2020 to March 9, 2021
Martelltal in the Autonomous Province of South Tyrol, Italy (2020) for the TUM
Markus is stirring the pot here with 24 other international TUM students, Michael, Florentin, Brenda, and Dr Gabriele Chiogna, third from right, top row with a classic Italian hand gesture.
Michael and Florentin pose with their newly installed AutoSalt in the Italian Alps.
Martelltal RC so far
Downstream Right Bank Gauge site and Conductivity probe.
Finstertal in North Tirol, Austria (2020) for TUM
Michael is the head of Health & Safety and here’s he’s demonstrating the effect of a high voltage electric fence.
Creek PT and injection site
Downstream mixing reach.
MacKay Creek at Montroyal Boulevard (08GA061), North Vancouver, B.C. Canada (2020) for WSC
Lyssa blends in with her surroundings and the LB DS T-HRECS
2m Physical Distance AutoSalt Installation
Upstream Probe to monitor BGECT
Injection System
AutoSalt system showing tank and injection system (left) and control box (grey, right)
The story at MacKay is not so straight forward. The mixing is no complete at higher flows. However, we can get a much better curve using WSC Stage and QComposite from the three downstream probes.
After processing, the QComposite flows agree well with the established WSC RC published on the WSC Realtime site. The Thalweg probe actually is very close to the RC.
Harvey Creek at Lion’s Bay, B.C. Canada (2019) for UBC
Dr. Steven Weijs Happy with his new AutoSalt system with LTE Modem capability, then slowly realizing he has been replaced by a stick.
Harvey Creek RC Sep 17, 2020
Winchie Creek near Tofino, B.C. Canada (2019) for Barkley Project Group
Winchie Creek Injection site looking downstream. The injection system injects into the tailrace flow, which then mixes with the mainstem flow and the T-HRECS are installed further downstream to measure the total flow in the Mainstem+Tailrace
Winchie Creek Powerhouse. This is a compliance monitoring site where the salt is injected into the tailrace, but the total flow is measured downstream of the confluence with the mainstem.
Dan Valliquette Crooning Softly by Firelight
First storm to come through and AutoSalt Injections. Recorded on Unidata Neon Sat Telemetry
Resulting Winchie Creek RC developed in Salt Portal from first storm
Lowhee Creek near Barkerville, B.C. Canada for Barkerville Gold Mine
Injection site looking upstream
Downstream EC.T Measurement sites on LB and RB. These eventually were covered with sediment, not a great site.
At this site, the AutoSalt measurements were able to track the changing hydraulic control over time. So far, 5 RCs have been developed a Grade B rating achieve. Grade A was not possible due to the nature of the mobile bed. Normally a mobile bed sounds like an intriguing invention, but not in the case of hydrometrics. Compare to the scatter seen in the Flow Tracker 2019 measurements.
Horizons Regional Council installation at Kumeti Teruhunga, New Zealand (2018)
Installation of Injection Tank at Kumeti Teruhunga
Kumeti Teruhunga DS site showing the LB and RB SDI-12 T-HRECS EC.T probes. These are connected to Campbell Scientific telemetry.
NIWA Rollergate Station, New Zealand (2018)
Rollergate Injection site. The 500 L tank and plumbing was sourced locally. The AutoSalt pressure transducer is housed in the existing stilling well. All telemetry is via satellite UniData NRT
Rollergate Injection Site
Rollergate Rating Curve
WSC Nordic Creek at the Outlet of Nordic Glacier (08NB020) near Golden B.C. Canada (2018)
Nordic Glacier and Creek Catchment
Aerial view of Nordic Creek AutoSalt installation
Nordic Creek Injection site
The points Post July 18, 2018 and Post Aug 10,2018 represent two independent RCs developed from AutoSalt Points. WSC Measurements as triangles.
University of Saskatchewan Peyto Glacier, near Canmore, AB, Canada (2018)
Eric Courtin and I at Peyto Glacier injections site.
Peyto Glacier injection site looking downstream
Two RCs were defined in 2018 for the Peyto site. This was a very difficult site with significant storage between the injection point and the only downstream point where complete mixing occurred.
Culliton Creek Injection Station, near Squamish B.C. Canada (2016)
Culliton Creek Injection Station
Culliton Creek showing RC prior to installation of AutoSalt (ARDRC005.1) and after (ARDRC006)
Wedge Creek near Whistler, B.C. Canada (2016)
Wedge Creek injection site looking upstream
Wedge Creek AutoSalt points
