What flow reporting is for
Flow data and concentration data are used together to calculate mass loadings, which in turn drive surcharge calculations and any discharge limit expressed in pounds. Flow reporting gives flow its own place to live: you define what flow to collect on the sample report configuration, and the industrial user enters it in its own section of the sample report.
Flow is set up in two places, and this article covers both:
On a sample report configuration — you define which flow measurements are required
On a sample report — those requirements appear as a Flow Reporting section for data entry
Video walkthrough
Adding flow reporting to a sample report configuration
Flow is configured on the Report Requirements step — the second of the three steps, between Report Details and Review — alongside sampling specifications and calculated results.
On the requirement, choose to add a Flow Reporting specification.
The Add Flow Reporting window opens.
Select Add Flow Specification to add a row, and set both:
Flow Type — what kind of flow measurement this is
Flow Units — the unit it's reported in
Add as many flow specifications as the requirement needs, then save.
Both Flow Type and Flow Units have to be set — at least one complete row is required before the window will let you save.
To change one later, reopen it and the window becomes Edit Flow Specification.
Compliance Determinant
If the requirement is assigned to the industrial user, each flow row also gets a Compliance Determinant toggle. Turn it on when that measurement is one the compliance determination should be based on. On requirements that aren't assigned to the industrial user, the toggle isn't shown at all.
Loading flow types from existing limits
If the industrial user already has flow limits, you don't need to retype them. Use Add Flow Specification from Limits to pull in the flow types those limits already use, so the configuration matches what you're measuring against.
Flow types and units have to match
Flow Type and Flow Units are linked. Choosing one narrows the other, in both directions — pick a flow type and only compatible units are offered; pick units first and only compatible flow types are offered. This is deliberate: a total and a rate aren't interchangeable.
There are two families.
Volume totals
Measure a quantity of flow over a period. Reported in gal, kGal, MGal, L, CCF, or ft³.
Flow type |
Daily Total (Volume) |
Weekly Total (Volume) |
Monthly Total (Volume) |
Quarterly Total (Volume) |
Annual Total (Volume) |
4 Day Consecutive Total (Volume) |
Flow rates
Measure how fast flow is moving, or an average of that. Reported in gpd, gpm, or MGPD.
Flow type | Flow type |
Instantaneous | Weekly Average |
Range | Monthly Average |
Daily Maximum | Annual Average |
Daily Minimum | 6 Month Average |
Daily Average | 30 Day Average |
4 Day Consecutive Average | 4 Quarter Rolling Average |
Two more things that limit the choices
Beyond the volume/rate pairing, two rules can remove options or block a save:
The requirement's sampling frequency caps the flow period. Only flow types whose period is no longer than the requirement's own frequency are offered. A monthly requirement won't offer an Annual Average, because the requirement isn't sampled often enough to produce one. The frequency used is the effective one, with any interval folded in — monthly sampled every 6 intervals counts as semi-annual.
A requirement carrying a mass-based calculated result can have only one flow specification. Mass calculations depend on a single unambiguous flow, so if the requirement already has a mass or mass-rate calculated result, adding a second flow is blocked.
💡 If a flow type or unit you expect isn't offered, work through the three filters in order: the units you've already chosen, the requirement's sampling frequency, and whether the requirement has a mass-based calculated result.
Moving an older configuration over to flow specifications
Before this change, flow was recorded as an ordinary analyte on a sampling specification, or as a flow calculated result. Flow specifications replace both, and a configuration can't use the old and the new approach at the same time.
Configurations already active are unaffected — nothing in service changes.
For a configuration you're still working on, flow has to be moved across before it can be activated. If it isn't, activation is blocked with a message telling you what's outstanding:
What's still there | What activation tells you |
Flow analytes on a sampling specification, no flow specifications yet | sampling configurations have flow analytes but no flow specifications; please add flow specifications and remove the flow analytes |
Flow analytes on a sampling specification, flow specifications already added | flow analytes must be removed from sampling configurations when flow specifications are configured |
Flow on a calculated result, no flow specifications yet | calculated result configurations have flow analytes but no flow specifications; please add flow specifications and remove the flow calculated results |
Flow on a calculated result, flow specifications already added | calculated result configurations have flow analytes; please remove flow calculated results and use flow specifications instead |
So the move is two steps, in either order: add the flow specifications, and remove flow from the sampling specification and from any calculated results. Once neither of the old forms remains, the configuration activates normally.
💡 Being blocked at activation isn't a fault — it's the system making sure flow is recorded in exactly one place, so mass and surcharge calculations can't read it twice.
Entering flow data on a sample report
A Flow Reporting section appears on the sample report, below the sampling events.
Flow reporting events are generated from the requirement's schedule, the same way calculated results are. Each one arrives with its flow type, units, and due date already filled in from the configuration.
Select Enter Results on the flow reporting row to open the data entry grid.
Fill in Flow Value, which is required, plus Start Date/Time and End Date/Time where those apply.
Select Save, or Save and Exit to close the grid at the same time.
The grid's columns are Flow Type, Flow Value, Flow Units, Start Date/Time, End Date/Time and Due Date/Time. Which of them you can edit depends on where the row came from:
Flow Type and Flow Units are read-only on rows the configuration generated — they're inherited from it, so they're changed there rather than here. On a row you added yourself, both are editable.
Due Date/Time is read-only on every row, including ones you add.
Read-only cells are grayed out, so you can tell at a glance which is which.
Once a report has been submitted, the same button reads See Results — the data is still viewable, just no longer editable.
Adding flow data that wasn't scheduled
If you have flow data worth including that the configuration didn't ask for, add a row at the bottom of the grid. Because it isn't tied to the configuration, you set its Flow Type and Flow Units yourself.
⚠️ Rows you add this way can be deleted. Rows generated by the sample report configuration cannot — their delete control stays grayed out. If a scheduled flow requirement shouldn't be there, it has to be changed on the configuration.
Sample reports that already exist
Submitted reports and the flow results attached to them are unchanged. Nothing already filed is altered.
On a report that hasn't been submitted yet, flow appears wherever the configuration puts it. Once its configuration uses flow specifications, flow shows up in the Flow Reporting section rather than among the sampling analytes — including on the printed report, where flow is deliberately kept out of the sampling results so the two aren't confused.
If a flow row arrives without a flow type or units, set both when you enter the data.
FAQ
Why can't I delete this flow row?
It was created by the sample report configuration. Only rows added manually on the report can be deleted. To stop a scheduled flow requirement from appearing, change the configuration.
Why is the flow type grayed out when I'm entering data?
Because that row came from the sample report configuration, which is where its flow type and units are set. Rows you add yourself stay editable. Due Date/Time is read-only on every row.
The flow type or unit I need isn't available.
Three things narrow the options. A volume total only accepts volume units (gal, kGal, MGal, L, CCF, ft³) and a rate only accepts rate units (gpd, gpm, MGPD), so check what you've already selected. The requirement's sampling frequency also caps how long a flow period can be. And if the requirement has a mass-based calculated result, it's limited to a single flow specification.
A flow row has no flow type or units. Why?
The older structure recorded flow as a sampling analyte, which didn't carry a flow type or a unit — so there's nothing for those fields to inherit. Set both when you enter the data.
Why won't my configuration activate?
Most likely flow is still recorded the old way somewhere on it. Activation is blocked while flow exists both as a sampling analyte or calculated result and as a flow specification, or where flow analytes remain with no flow specifications at all. The message names which of the two applies.
Does flow still show up with the sampling results?
No. Flow appears only in the Flow Reporting section, including on the printed report — it's deliberately kept out of the sampling results so the two aren't confused.