Example

• A city of 200,000 people discharges 37.0

cfs of treated sewage having an ultimate
BOD of 28.0 mg/L and 1.8 mg/L DO into a
river with a flow of 250 cfs and velocity of
1.2 ft/sec. Upstream of the discharge point,
the river has a BOD of 3.6 mg/L and a DO
of 7.6 mg/L. The saturation DO is 8.5
mg/L, kd = 0.61 day-1, and kr = 0.76 day-1.
Determine a) the critical DO and critical
distance, and b) the DO at 10 miles
downstream.
 1. Determine Initial
Conditions
a. Initial dissolved oxygen concentration

Qw DOw  Qr DOr
DO 
Qw  Qr

DO 
1.837.0  7.6250
 6.85
mg
250  37 L

b. Initial dissolved oxygen deficit

D  DOs  DO
mg
Da  8.5  6.85  1.6
L
 1. Determine Initial
Conditions
c. Initial ultimate BOD concentration
Qw Lw  Qr Lr
La 
Qw  Qr

La 
2837.0  3.6250 
 6.75
mg
250  37 L
 Step 1. Variations
• Flow given in cfs, not m3/s – does not
matter for mixing calculations
• Saturation DO given – no need to look up
• Ultimate BOD given – no need to calculate
from BOD5
2. Determine Reaeration Rate
• kr = 0.76 day-1 given
• no need to calculate from stream geometry
• assume given value is at the stream
temperature (since not otherwise specified),
so no need to correct
3. Determine the Deoxygenation
Rate
• kd = 0.61 day-1 given
• no need to calculate corrections from
stream geometry
• assume given value is at the stream
temperature (since not otherwise specified),
so no need to correct
 5. Calculate Critical time and DO

1  kr  k r  k d 
tc  ln  1  Da 
kr  kd  kd  k d La 

1  0.76  0.76  0.61 

tc  ln  1  1.6 
0.76  0.61  0.61  0.616.75 
tc  1.07 day
 5. Calculate Critical time and DO

• Problem asked for critical distance

 ft  s  hr  1 mi 
xc  1.07 d1.2  3600  24  
 s  hr  d  5280 ft 
xc  20.9 mi
 5. Calculate Critical time and DO
• Minimum DO
k d La  kd tc  kr tc
Dc 
kr  ka
e  e 
 Da e  k r tc

Dc 
0.616.75 0.611.07  0.76 1.07 
e e 
0.76  0.61
 0.76 1.07 
 1.6e
mg
Dc  2.58
L
5. Calculate Critical time and DO
DOc  DOs  Dc
mg
DOc  8.5  2.58  5.7
L
 4. DO as function of time (at 10
miles)
 ft 
10 mi  5280 
 mi 
t10 miles   0.51 d
 ft  s  hr 
1.2  3600  24 
 s  hr  d

Dc 
0.616.75 0.611.07  0.76 1.07 
e e 
0.76  0.61
 0.76 1.07 
 1.6e
4. DO as function of time (at 10
miles)
mg
D10 miles  2.58
L
mg
DO10 miles  8.5  2.58  5.9
L