CHAPTER THREE

Water Quality Engineering

 Water Quality Management

 The control of pollution from human activities so

that the water is not degraded to the point that it is
no longer suitable for intended uses.
 Effects of Pollutant in Rivers

According to their physico-chemical or biological nature:

 the addition of toxic substances;
 the addition of suspended solids;
 deoxygenation; caused by eutrophication
 the addition of non-toxic salts;
 heating the water; because it decreases the capacity of
water to hold dissolved oxygen in solution
 the effect on the buffering system;
 the addition of human, animal and plant pathogens.
 Water pollutants and their sources
Point sources Non-point sources
Domestic Industrial Agricultural Urban
Pollutant sewage wastes runoff runoff
category
Oxygen-demanding material X X X X
Nutrients X X X X
Pathogens X X X X
Suspended solids/sediments X X X X
Salts X X X
Toxic metals X X
Toxic organic chemicals X X
Endocrine-disrupting chemicals X X X
Heat X
 Water pollutants

•Oxygen-Demanding Material. Anything that can be oxidized in the

receiving water with the consumption of dissolved oxygen is termed
oxygen demanding material.
•Nutrients. Nitrogen and phosphorus, two nutrients of primary
concern, are considered pollutants because they are too much of a good
thing. Problems arise when nutrient levels become excessive and the
food web is grossly disturbed
•Pathogenic Organisms. Microorganisms found in wastewater include
bacteria, viruses, and protozoa excreted/emitted by diseased persons or
animals.
•Suspended Solids. Organic and inorganic particles that are carried by
the wastewater into a receiving water are termed suspended solids (SS).
Water quality management in Rivers

The objective: to control the discharge of pollutants so

that water quality is not degraded to an unacceptable
extent below the natural background level.
To control we need to:
 measure the pollutants
 predict the impact of the pollutants
 determine the background water quality, and
 decide the acceptable levels
 Effect of pollutants on river

The effect of pollutants on river communities

depends on:
 The type of pollutant
 Its concentration in the water
 The length of exposure to the community
 The characteristics of the river
 Total maximum daily loads (TMDL)

 A TMDL specifies the maximum amount of

pollutant that a water body can receive and still
meet water quality standards.
 Computed on a pollutant-by-pollutant basis
 TMDL=WLA + LA + MOS
 WLA = waste load allocation for point sources
 LA = waste load allocation for nonpoint sources
 MOS = margin of safety
 Effects of Oxygen-Demanding Wastes on
Rivers

 Cause depletion of dissolved oxygen (DO)

 Oxygen replenished/used from the atmosphere
and from photosynthesis by algae and aquatic
plants
 consumed by organisms
FACTOR AFFECTING DO IN RIVERS
Oxygen in air Algae in water

Re-aeration Photosynthesis Respiration

Dissolved oxygen (DO) in water

Sediment Deoxygenation
Oxygen Carboneceous Nitrogeneous
demand

CBOD NH4+

Settling NO2-

SBOD NO3-
 Biochemical Oxygen Demand

Theoretical oxygen demand (ThOD). The amount

of oxygen required to oxidize a substance to carbon
dioxide and water may be calculated by
stoichiometry if the chemical composition of the
substance is know.
 Example

Compute the ThOD of 108.75 mg/L of

glucose (C6H12O6).
 Solution
 Write balanced equation for the reaction
C66H12 O +6O226CO2 + 6 H2O
12 66

Compute the molecular weight

Glucose (6C+12H+6O)=72+12+96=180
Oxygen (12O)=192
Thus, it takes 192 g of oxygen to oxidize 180 g of glucose
The ThOD of 108.75 mg/L of glucose is
 192 gO2 

(108.75mg / L)   116 mg / L O2
 180 g glu cos e 
Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD)

 The amount of oxygen needed to oxidize

the wastes chemically.
 In the COD test, a strong chemical oxidizing
agent (chromic acid) is mixed with a water
sample and then boiled.
 The difference between the amount of
oxidizing agent at the beginning of the test
and that remaining at the end of the test is
 Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)

If the oxidation of an organic compound is carried

out by microorganisms using the organic matter as a
food source.
Organic matter + O2 Microorganisms CO2 + H2O + New Cells +Stable
Products
BOD Curve
k = 2.303(K).
 Nitrogen Oxidation

Proteins contain nitrogen that can be oxidized

with the consumption of molecular oxygen.
 Carbonaceous BOD (CBOD): oxidation of
carbon
 Nitrogenous BOD (NBOD): nitrogen
oxidation.
 Nitrification
NH4+

Nitrosomonas

Nitrification
NO2-

Nitrobacter

NO3-

Microorganisms
NH4 + 2O2
+
NO3- + H2O +
2H+
BOD Curves
DO Sag Curve
DO Sag Curve
 Mass-Balance Approach

 Three conservative mass balances may be used

to account for initial mixing of the waste stream
and the river.
 DO, CBOD, and temperature all change as the
result of mixing of the waste stream and the
river.
Mass of DO in Wastewater

Mass of DO Mass of DO in River

in River after mixing
 DO and BOD after mixing

Where Qw = volumetric flow rate of wastewater, m3/s

Qr = volumetric flow rate of river, m3/s
DOw = dissolved oxygen concentration in the wastewater, g/m3
DOr = dissolved oxygen concentration in the river, g/m3
Lw = ultimate BOD of the wastewater, mg/L
Lr = ultimate BOD of the river, mg/L
La = initial ultimate BOD after mixing mg/L
 Example

A certain college discharges 17,360 m 33/d of treated

wastewater into a nearby river. The treated
wastewater has a BOD55 of 12 mg/L and k of 0.12 d-1-1
at 20ooC. The river has a flow rate of 0.43 m 33/s and
an ultimate BOD of 5.0 mg/L. The DO of the river
is 6.5 mg/L and the DO of the wastewater is 1.0
mg/L. Compute the DO and initial ultimate BOD
after mixing.
 The temperature after mixing

 It is found by solving a heat balance equation

rather than a mass balance
 Loss of heat by hot bodies = gain of heat by cold
bodies).
 The final river temperature after mixing is thus
calculated as:
QwTw  QrTr
Tf 
Qw  Qr
 Oxygen Deficit

 The oxygen deficit is the amount by which the actual

dissolved oxygen concentration is less than the
saturated value with respect to oxygen in the air:
 D = DOss – DO
 Where D = oxygen deficit, mg/L
 DOss = saturation concentration of dissolved oxygen at the
temperature of the river after mixing, mg/L
 DO = actual dissolved oxygen concentration, mg/L
 Initial Deficit (Da)

The initial deficit = the difference between saturated DO

and the concentration of the DO after mixing:

Qw DOw  Qr DOr
Da  DOs 
Qw  Qr
 Example

Calculate the initial deficit of the river after

mixing with the wastewater from the college
(previous example). The stream temperature is
10oC and the wastewater temperature is 20oC.
 Solution

 Saturation dissolved oxygen can be read from

table. Thus at 10ooC DOss = 11.33 mg/L
 From the previous example DOmix
mix
= 4.75 mg/L
 Therefore, initial deficit DO, Daa = 11.33-4.75
 Daa=6.58 mg/L
Temperature and DO relation
 DO Sag Equation
 Taking a mass balance of DO as a reactive substance
expressed as the deficit we get the Streeter-Phelps oxygen sag
curve
Rate of increase Rate of Rate of
Of the deficit
= deoxygenation
- oxygenation
dD
k d L  kr D
dt
dD/dt = the change in oxygen deficit (D) per unit time, mg/L.d
kd = deoxygenation rate constant, d-1
kr = reaeration rate constant, d-1
L = ultimate BOD of river water, mg/L
D = oxygen deficit in river water, mg/L
 DO Sag Equation

By integrating the previous Eq., and using the initial

conditions (at t = 0, D = Daa) we obtain the DO sag
equation:

D = oxygen deficit in river water after exertion of BOD for time, t, mg/L
La = initial ultimate BOD after river and wastewater have mixed, mg/L
t = time of travel of wastewater discharge downstream, d
 DO Sag Equation
When kdd = krr we have a reduced equation:

Deoxygenation Rate Constant. It difference from the BOD rate constant

because there are physical and biological differences between a river and a
BOD bottle.

Where kd = deoxygenation rate constant at 20oC, d-1

v = average speed of stream flow, m/s
k = BOD rate constant determined in laboratory at 20oC, d-1
H = average depth of stream, m
η = bed-activity coefficient (from 0.1 to 0.6 or more.)
 Example

Determine the deoxygenation rate constant for the

reach of the river (For the previous examples)
below the wastewater outfall (discharge pipe). The
average speed of the stream flow in the river is 0.03
m/s. The depth is 5.0 m and the bed-activity
coefficient is 0.35.
 Solution
 From the previous examples we have k = 0.12d -1-1
 The deoxygenation constant at 20 ooC is
1 0.03 m / s
k d  0.12d  (0.35)  0.12 d 1
5.0 m
 The deoxygenation constant is at 20oc, but the Stream
temperature is 100c. Thus we must correct it

k d at 10 o C  (0.1221 d 1 )(1.135)10 20  0.034d 1

 Reaeration
 The value of krr depends on the degree of turbulent
mixing, which is related to stream velocity, and on the
amount of water surface exposed to the atmosphere
compared to the volume of water in the river.
 A narrow, deep river will have a much lower krr than a
wide, shallow river.
0 .5
3.9v kr = reaeration rate constant at 20oC, day-1
kr  1 .5
v = average stream velocity, m/s
H H= average depth, m
 The Critical point
 The lowest point on the DO sag curve, which is called
the critical point, indicates the worst conditions in the
river.
 The time to the critical point (tcc) can be calculated by
differentiating and setting DO sag equation to zero

 when kd = kr:
 Example

Determine the DO concentration at a point 5 km

downstream from the college discharge into the
river (for the previous examples). Also
determine the critical DO and the distance
downstream at which it occurs.
 Water Quality in Lakes
The study of lakes is called limnology
 Stratification and Turn over
 Lakes in temperate zone become stratified during
summer and overturn (turnover) in the fall.

Eplimnion (Warm, aerobic,

well mixed)
Thermocline

Hypoplimnion (Cool, poorly mixed,

Summer Temperature anaerobic)
profile
 Stratification and Turn over
 During winter there is turnover at 4ooC

Ice
0o C
Eplimnion
4o C
Thermocline

Hypolimnion Winter Temperature

profile
 Biological Zones
 Determined by availability of oxygen and light

Euphotic Zone
Littoral
Profundal Zone zone
Bentic
Zone

Light compensation level

 Lake Productivity

 Lake productivity is a measure of its ability to

support a food web.
 Generally measured by algal growth
 Increased productivity reduces water quality
 Based on productivity we can classify lakes as
 Oligothrophic: low level of productivity
 Eutrophic: high level of productivity
 Mesotrophic: intermediate productivity
 Senescent: old and shallow lakes with thick organic
 Eutrophication
Eutrophication is a natural process in which lakes
gradually become shallower and more productive
through the introduction and cycling of nutrients.

Oligothrophic Eutrophic Mesotrophic Senescent

Cultural Eutrophication is caused by human activity by

speeding up the natural process
 Algal Growth Requirement

 Carbon: from dissolved CO22 in water

 Nitrogen: usually as NO33--, comes from
atmosphere or industrial waste
 Phosphorus: from external sources as inorganic
form (PO443-3-)
 Elements Trace
 The limiting Nutrient

 Justin Liebig’s law of the minimum: “growth of a

plant is dependent on the amount of foodstuff that
is presented to it in minimum quantity.”
 Phosphorus is the limiting nutrient in lakes.
 Should be below 0.010 to 0.015 mg/L to limit
algae.
 Control of Phosphorus

 Reducing the input from the source

 Rock weathering
 Human activity
 Precipitating with alum
 Removing phosphorus-rich sediments by
dredging.
 A simple phosphorus model
 Rate of addition of P = Rate of removal of P
S (g/s)
QCinin + S = QC + vssAC

Q (m3/s)
Q (m3/s) Area, A(m2) C (g/m3)
Cin (g/m3) Concentration, C

Q
Q
A
Well-mixed lake phosphorus mass balance
Settling rate
vs
 A simple phosphorus model
QCin + S = QC + vsAC
The steady-state concentration becomes
QCin  S
C
Q  vs A

The settling rate, vs,is empirically determined quantity.

Usually it is around 10 to 16 m/yr.
 Example: Phosphorus loading

A phosphorus-limiting lake with surface area equal to 80 x

1066 m22 is fed by a 15.0 m33/s stream that has a phosphorus
concentration of 0.010 mg/L. In addition, effluent from a
point source adds 1 g/s of phosphorus. The phosphorus
settling rate is estimated at 10 m/yr.
a. Estimate the average total phosphorus concentration.
b. What rate of phosphorus removal at the wastewater
treatment plant would be required to keep the
concentration of phosphorus in the lake at acceptable
level of 0.010 mg/L?
 Solution
a. Phosphorus loading from the incoming stream
QCinin = 15 m33/s x 0.01 mg/l x (1g/L)/(mg/L)=0.15 g/s
The estimated settling rate:
10 m / yr
vs   3.17  10 7 m / s
365 d / yr  24 hr / d  3600 s / hr

The steady-state concentration of phosphorus:

QCin  S (0.15  1.0) g / s
C 
Q  vs A 15 m 3 s  3.17  10 7 m / s  80  10 6 m 2

=0.028 g/m33 = 0.028 mg/L

 Solution
b. To reach 0.010 mg/L, the phosphorus loading from
the point source must be
S = C(Q + vssA) – QCinin
= 0.010 g/m3(15 m3/s + 3.17 x 10-7m/s x 80 x 106m2)
- 15 m3/s x 0.010 g/m3
= 0.25 g/s
The point source efficiency currently supplies 1.0 g/s, so
75 % removal of phosphorus is needed.