Part 6: Surface Water Quality

 Water quality in rivers

 Water quality in lakes

Water quality in Rivers:

Objective: to control the discharge of pollutants so that water quality is not

degraded to unaccepted extent below the natural background

Characteristics affecting water quality:

 Presence of O2 demanding materials: O2 demanding materials consume O2

 Types of aquatic life:
o Photosynthesis adds O2 during the day and consume O2 during the night
o Microorganisms remove O2 by respiration
 Regional Climate
o Increase temperature decreases the solubility of O2
 Volume and speed of water flowing
o Affect O2 aeration (supply) from atmosphere
 Water depth
o Affect O2 aeration from atmosphere

To model all processes is a difficult task….The simplest model of the O2

resource in river focuses on 2 processes

- O2 removal (Deoxygenation)
- O2 supply from atmosphere (Reaeration)

 Deoxygenation:

Rate..of . . Deoxygenation=K d Lt
Kd: is deoxygenation rate constant (day-1)
Lt: BOD remaining for t days after the waste enter the river (mg/L)

− Kd t
BUT
Lt =L0 e
 −K d t
Rate . .of . . Deoxygenation=K d L 0 e
L0: BOD of a mixture of stream water and wastewater (mg/L)

Qw
Qr Lw
Lr
Modeled as
Plug flow
Q w Lw + Q r Lr
L0 =
Q w +Qr

Example: A wastewater treatment plant serving a city of 200000

discharges 1.1 m3/s of treated effluent having an ultimate BOD of 50
mg/L into a stream that has a flow of 8.7 m3/s and a BOD of its own
equal to 6.0 mg/L. The deoxigination constant (Kd =0.2 /day)
A) Assuming complete mixing, estimate BOD of the river just down
stream from the outfall
B) If the stream flows a fixed speed (0.3 m/s), estimate the BOD
remaining in the stream at distance 30 000 m down stream
Solution:

Qw = 1.1 m3/s
Lw = 50 mg/L

BOD??
Qr =8.7 m3/s
Lr = 6.0 mg/L
  Reaeration

Rate. .of . . Re aeration=K r D

Kr: reaeration rate constant (1/t) ….Refer to table 5.10 page 201
D=DO S −DO
D: Dissolved oxygen deficit
DOs: saturated value of DO depends on temperature…..See table 5.11 page 201
DO: Actual DO at given location
1 /2
3 .9 u
K r = 3/2
H
u: average stream velocity (m/s)
H: average stream depth (m)
For completely mixed water (wastewater that is being discharged into stream
plus the stream itself) ….Both waters (polluted river) have O2 deficit (D)

Q w DO w +Q r DOr
D 0 =DO S −
Qw +Q r
D0: initial O2 deficit of the mixture of river and wastewater
DOS: saturated value of DO in water at river temperature
DOw: DO of wastewater
DOr: DO of river before discharge point

Example: if the wastewater DO is 2 mg/L and a discharge rate 1.1 m3/s. the
river DO is 8.3 mg/L and flow rate is 8.7 m3/s at to= 20oc. Assuming
complete mixing estimate the initial DO deficit of the mixture

Solution:

NOTE: DOs at 20oc = 9.09 …from table

 BOTH Deoxygenation and Reaeration together

∂D −K t
=K d Lt −K r D=K d L0 e d −K r D
∂t
The final solution is
K d L0
D= (e− K t −e−K t ) +D0 e−K t
d r r

K r −K d
BUT
D = DOS-DO

DO = DOs – [D]

DO=DOs−
K r −K d
( e
(
K d L0 − K d t −K r t
−e ) + D0 e
−K r t
)
This equation is known as Oxygen
Sag equation
A plot of this equation gives an oxygen Sag Curve

At the critical point downstream, dissolved oxygen reaches its minimum value and
river condition are at the worst situation. Beyond the critical point, the remaining
organic matter in the river has diminished to the point where oxygen is being added to
the river by reaeration faster than it is being withdrawn by decomposition, and the
river begins to recover
 NOTE: When Kd =Kr
−K d t
D=( K d L0 t+ D 0 )e
NOTE: t can be written in the form (x/u)
x: distance downstream
u: stream velocity
t: elapsed time between discharge and point and distance x downstream

If time is required to find……resolve to get

t c=
1
K r −K d
Ln
Kr
Kd
1−
[ (
D 0 ( K r −K d )
Kd L0 )]
tc: is critical time
Temperature effect on the oxygen sag curve

Solution:
Water quality in Lakes:
All lakes gradually accumulate silt and organic matter (OM) as they undergo
a natural aging process known as Eutrophication

A young lake is characterized by a low nutrient content and low plant

productivity (oligotrophic ≈ few food)

Lake gradually acquire nutrients from their drainage basins, increasing

aquatic growth. With time biological productivities increases causes the
water to become rich in phytoplanktons decreasing the DO in lakes. The lake
become Eutrophic (well feed)

As the accumulated sediments causes the lake to get shallower and warmer,
more plants take root along the shallow edges and the lake slowly
transformed into a marsh or bog

This is a natural process that takes thousands of years. BUT the rate can
be accelerated through human activities “Cultural Eutrophication”.

Wastewater, industrial wastes, runoff from agricultural activities add

nutrients that stimulate algae growth and degrade water quality. After they
die and decay the decomposition process uses available O2 causing O2
depletion

How we can control it?

Factors controlling Eutrophication
 Availability of sunlight which is required for photosynthesis reaction.
Here, reducing light intensities to limit the process is a hard task

 Concentration of nutrients required for growth

Decreasing concentration of nutrients is a possible way to control the
process. The focus is on the main nutrients (Nitrogen and phosphorus)
So, to control the Eutrophication, need to reduce limiting nutrients
(nitrogen and phosphorous)
A row guideline (N/P ratio)
o When concentration of N in water is 10 times more than
concentration of P [ (N/P)> 10:1], the water is phosphorus
limited while when it is less than 10 times [ (N/P)< 10:1] it is N
limited
NOTE: most marine water (N/P) < 5 are N limited
 Some researchers suggest that
Pconc> 0.015 mg/L and Nconc > 0.3 mg/L are sufficient to cause blooms of
algae , So in order to control the process, need to reduce their
concentration to below suggested values.

Simple Phosphorus model

Wastewater treatment plant effluent
S (gr/s)
Well mixed lake

Q (m3/s)
Cin (g/m3)
Q (m3/s)
A (m2) C (g/m3)
C (g/m3)
Q
A (m2)
Q

v
Settling rate ( s)

Using MB approach
Rate of addition of P = Rate of removing of P
Q Cin + S = Q C +vs A C
S: adding from point source
C: concentration in lake
Vs: settling rate velocity (m/s)
NOTE:
QC in +S
C=
Q+ v s A
To keep the Conc. of P in the lake at an acceptable level of 0.01 mg/L, we can find the
rate of P removal required at the wastewater treatment plant S
S=C [ Q+ v s A ]−QC in
Example: phosphorous loading in lake
A phosphorous –limited lake with surface area equal to 80x106 m2 is fed by a 15 m3/s
stream that has a phosphorous concentration of 0.01 mg/L. in addition, effluent from a
point source adds 1.0 gr/s of phosphorous. The phosphorus settling rate is estimated at 10
m/yr.
a) Estimate the average total phosphorus concentration
b) What rate of P removal at the wastewater treatment plant would be required to
keep the concentration of P in the lake at an acceptable level of 0.01 mg/L?

Solution: