HydroCAD Supports Xerxes Stormwater Tanks &
HydroChain Chambers
HydroCAD provides direct support for the Xerxes stormwater tanks, Xerxes HydroChain™ stormwater chambers, including the new Vault, plus the Aquamod stormwater modules. This allows Xerxes products to be easily used within any HydroCAD model for stormwater storage or detention. HydroCAD also includes an interactive chamber wizard, which greatly simplifies the layout, pricing, and modeling of underground storage systems.
Xerxes tanks can be modeled with HydroCAD-10.1 or later. Xerxes HydroChain requires HydroCAD 10.2-3d or later. Xerxes Aquamod requires HydroCAD 10.2-4b or later. Xerxes HydroChain Vault requires HydroCAD 10.20-7a or later. If you have an earlier version you must update your software in order to get support for Xerxes tanks, chambers, and Aquamod modules.
How chambers are modeled
In a HydroCAD model, stormwater chambers typically appear as part of the storage definition for a "pond". In the simplest case, HydroCAD calculates the available storage for use with other calculations. But more often, it is used to generate a complete inflow or runoff hydrograph and route it through the pond. The resulting analysis indicates the water levels attained throughout the rainfall event, as well as any discharge that may occur through outlet devices or infiltration into the surrounding ground.
Flexible storage options
Each pond may include an unlimited number of storage definitions as required to describe its overall storage characteristics. This makes it easy to model complex storage arrangements, such as a combination of multiple tanks, pipe storage, catch basins, or other contributing volumes.
When using the HydroCAD Chamber Wizard, Xerxes systems can be quickly configured for any desired storage capacity, and a detailed stage-storage curve is automatically calculated to facilitate a full hydrograph routing analysis. For chambers that are embedded in stone, the storage calculation includes the storage in the stone, which is automatically sized to provide the required chamber spacing and outer stone envelope.
Using Xerxes tanks or chambers
Setting up a pond to use Xerxes tanks or HydroChain chambers is a simple process: After launching the HydroCAD Chamber Wizard, select a Xerxes option from the “Model” drop-down.
When modeling Xerxes tanks, first select the tank diameter from the “Size” drop-down. Use the "Chambers per row" drop-down to set the length of the cylindrical section in feet. The domes on each end of the tank are automatically added to the specified cylinder length. Use the “Number of Rows” drop-down to model an installation that uses multiple rows of tanks. As you adjust the size parameters, the storage volume is automatically calculated, along with the backfill requirements.
When modeling HydroChain chambers, first select the chamber product from the “Size” drop-down. Each chamber differs in its dimensions and storage capacity. When modeling HydroChain Aquamod, first select the number of layers from the “Size” drop-down. Adjusting the number of layers changes the depth of the system.
Xerxes tanks and chambers can also be modeled with the classic "Prefab Chamber" option (setting the "Effective Length" to the length of the cylindrical tank section), but the Chamber Wizard is preferred for automatic handling of system layout and backfill requirements.
Detailed chamber information
For technical product details please visit the
Xerxes web site.
For more information about HydroCAD
Please see the following pages for further HydroCAD information:
Pond storage calculations
Storage chamber modeling
Exfiltration calculations
General support page
HydroCAD features and capabilities
Free evaluation program
Pricing and ordering
HydroCAD® is a registered trademark of HydroCAD
Software Solutions LLC.
Xerxes® is a registered trademark of Xerxes Corporation
HydroChain™ is a trademark of Mattr Corp.
Images courtesy of Xerxes