WATER QUALITY

MANAGEMENT

„ Water quality management is the science

that predicts how much waste is too much
for a body of water

„ Assimilated amount of waste that can be

Assimilated-
tolerated by a body of water

„ Determined by knowing the type of pollutants

discharged and their effect on water quality

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 Major classes of
Wastewater constituents
„ Suspended solids (TSS, VSS, NVSS, etc.)
„ Biodegradable organics (BOD, COD)
„ Pathogens (bacteria, viruses, protozoa, etc.)
„ Nutrients (N, P)
„ Organics that don’t biodegrade (refractory)
„ Heavy metals (Cd, Zn, Pb, Hg, Cu)
„ TDS
„ Temperature

Oxygen-Demanding Materials
„ Biodegradable Organic Content
BOD5 is the amount of dissolved oxygen consumed by
microorganisms during the biochemical oxidation of
organic and inorganic matter to carbon dioxide in 5-
5-day
standard test at 20°
20°C.

„ Total Oxidizeable (Organics & Some Inorganics)

COD is the amount of dissolved oxygen consumed by
chemical oxidizing reagents (K2Cr2O7) during the reaction
with organic and inorganic matter to produce carbon
dioxide in a standard test at 20°
20°C.

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 Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)
„ BOD: Oxygen is removed from water when organic matter is
consumed by bacteria.
„ Low oxygen conditions may kill fish and other organisms.

Sources of organic matter

„ Natural inputs--
inputs-- swamps, leaf fall and vegetation aligning
waterways.
„ Human inputs--
inputs-- pulp and paper mills, meat-
meat-packing plants, food
processing industries, and wastewater treatment plants.
„ Non-
Non-point inputs--
inputs-- runoff from urban areas, agricultural areas,
and feedlots.

Purpose of BOD and COD tests

„ Test the water quality in lakes and rivers
„ Determine the amount of oxygen required to
oxidize the organic matter in wastewater

„ Determine the size of treatment system needed

(a design factor)

„ Assess the efficiency of the treatment process by

monitoring influent and effluent

„ Determine compliance with wastewater

discharge permits

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 Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)

„ Establishes biological “strength” based on

oxygen uptake by microbes during aerobic
metabolism of organics in waste

„ 5-day (BOD5) and 20-day (BOD20)

„ Carbonaceous (CBOD)
„ Nitrogenous (NBOD)
„ Ultimate (UBOD)

Carbonaceous & Nitrogenous BOD

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 Influent & Effluent BOD & TSS

„ Influent „ Effluent standards

(avg 30-
30-d)

„ TSS 100 to 300

„ TSS 30 mg/L
mg/L
„ BOD5 30 mg/L
„ BOD5 100 to 300
mg/L

NOTE: BOD is always less (ca. 0.5) than COD

BOD test
•Standardized
•Needs:
Incubator
Bottles
DO meter
Dilution water
Seed (opt.)
Expressed in
mg/L

BOD bottles

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 BOD test
1) A special 300 mL BOD bottle is filled with a sample of
water that has been appropriately diluted and
inoculated with microorganisms

2) Blank samples containing only the dilution water are

also placed in BOD bottles and sealed

3) The sealed BOD bottles containing diluted samples and

blanks are incubated in the dark at 20°
20°C for the
desired number of days

4) After five days has elapsed, the samples and blanks

are removed from the incubator and the dissolved
oxygen concentration in each bottle is measured.

BOD test
P is volume fraction of
1 liter used in test
D0 – D5 (dilution factor = 1/P)
BOD5 (mg/l) = __________

P D is dissolved oxygen
concentration at Time=0
and Time = 5 days

Example:
Determine the BOD5 for a 15 ml sample that is diluted
with dilution water to a total volume of 300 ml when the initial
DO concentration is 8 mg/l and after 5 days, has been reduced
to 2 mg/l.
D0 = 8
D5 = 2
P = 15 ml/300ml = 0.05
Dilution factor = 300/15 = 20
8-2
BOD5 (mg/l) = _______ = 120
0.05

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 Nutrients: N & P
„ Nitrogen is often the limiting nutrient in ocean
waters and some streams

„ Nitrogen can exist in numerous forms, but

nitrate (NO3-), nitrite (NO2-), ammonia (NH3) are
most commonly measured

„ Sources: primarily from fertilizers and acid

deposition

Nutrients
„ Nitrogen

„ Urea mineralizes rapidly to NH4+

„ NH4+ oxidizes to NO3 - (NBOD)
„ Nitrifying bacteria use CO2-C (HCO3-
alkalinity)
„ Influent N ranges (mg/L as N):

„ Total: 20 – 70
„ Organic: 8 – 25

„ Ammonia: 12 – 45

„ No nitrate or nitrite typically

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 Forms of nitrogen in wastewater
„ TKN = 40% Organic + 60% Free Ammonia

Typical concentrations:
Ammonia-
Ammonia-N = 10-
10-50 mg/L
Organic N = 10 – 35 mg/L

„ No nitrites or nitrates

„ Forms of nitrogen:
Organic N
TKN
Ammonia Total
Nitrite N
Nitrate

Nutrients (cont’
(cont’d)

„ Phosphorus
„ Raw wastewater contains 4 – 16 mg/L as P

„ Effluent may restrict to less than 1 mg/L as P

„ Forms are

„ Orthophosphate: PO43-, HPO42-, H2PO4-,

H3PO4
„ Polyphosphate (polymerized; important in
biological phosphorous removal)
„ Organic phosphorous (low in raw
wastewater)

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 Nutrients
„ Phosphorus is typically the limiting nutrient in
lakes, and algae growth is linked to phosphorus
inputs.

„ P Sources
„ fertilizers
„ Detergents

„ P can exist in a variety of chemical forms, so

total P in normally measured

Effects of nutrient loadings

„ Algae blooms
„ DO changes, fish kills

„ Hasten eutrophication of water

bodies
„ Aesthetics (color, clarity, smell)

„ Uptake and release of toxics

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 POINT SOURCES OF POLLUTANTS
„ Point sources include domestic sewage and
industrial wastes
„ Point sources - collected by a network of pipes
or channels and conveyed to a single point of
discharge in receiving water
„ Municipal sewage - domestic sewage and
industrial wastes that are discharged into
sanitary sewers - hopefully treated
„ Point source pollution can be controlled by
waste minimization and proper wastewater
treatment

NONPOINT SOURCES
„ Urban and agricultural
runoff that are
characterized by
overland discharge
„ This type of pollution
occurs during
rainstorms and spring
snowmelt
„ Pollution can be
reduced by changing
land use practices

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 OXYGEN- DEMANDING MATERIAL

„ Dissolved Oxygen (DO)-(DO)- fish and other higher forms

of aquatic life that must have oxygen to live
„ Oxygen-
Oxygen- Demanding Material-
Material- anything that can be
oxidized in the receiving water resulting in the
consumption of dissolved molecular oxygen - BOD, COD
„ Almost all naturally occurring organic matter contributes
to the depletion of DO

NUTRIENTS
„ Nitrogen and phosphorus are considered
pollutants when too much present in high conc.
„ High levels of nutrients cause disturbances in
the food web
„ Organisms grow rapidly at the expense of others
„ Major sources of nutrients (N, P):
„ Phosphorus-based detergent

„ Fertilizer and agricultural runoff

„ Food-processing wastes

„ Animal and human waste

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 WATER QUALITY
MANAGEMENT IN RIVERS
„ Main goal is to control the discharge of
pollutants so that water quality is not degraded
above the natural background level
„ Controlling waste involves:
1) Measuring pollutants levels (x,z, t)
2) Predicting their effect on the water quality
3) Determining background water quality that
would be present without human
intervention
4) Evaluate the levels acceptable for intended
uses of the water

RIVER POLLUTION IMPACTS

Waste Input Receptor

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 SIMPLE MASS BALANCE
Input rate - Output rate - decay rate =
Accumulation rate
Steady state conservative system

Stream
Qs, Cs
C = Qw Cw + Qs Cs
Qs + Qw

Waste Input Qw, Cw

SIMPLE MASS BALANCE

Input rate - Output rate - decay rate =
Accumulation rate
Steady state conservative system

Qs = 10 m3/s
26.67 mg/L
Cs = 20 mg/L
C = 20 (10) + 40 (5)

(10 + 5)
Waste Input Qw = 5 m3/s
Cw = 40 mg/L

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 TRANSPORT CHARACTERISTICS
THAT AFFECT CONCENTRATION
• Velocity
• Dilution (mixing) v
• Dispersion
• Degradation (mass loss)
• Adsorption (to soils)
• Sedimentation (to bottom)
• Aquatic Life (attached)

EFFECT OF OXYGEN-DEMANDING
WASTES ON RIVERS
„ Depletes the dissolved oxygen in water
„ Threatens aquatic life that require DO
„ Concentration of DO in a river is determined by
the rates of photosynthesis of aquatic plants and
the rate of oxygen consumed by organisms

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 BOD KINETICS
„ Aerobic decomposition- when organisms use
oxygen to consume waste
„ The rate at which oxygen is consumed is directly
proportional to the concentration of degradable
organic matter remaining at any time
„ BOD is a first order reaction Lo-Lt = BODt

dL/dt = -kL
Lt = Lo e-kt where Lo = ultimate BOD

TEMPERATURE EFFECT
„ The BOD rate constant is adjusted to the
temperature of receiving water using this:
kT=k20(θ)T-20
• T= temperature of interest (in °C)
• kT= BOD rate constant at the temperature of
interest(in days -1)
• k20= BOD rate constant determined at 20 °C
(in days -1)
• θ= temperature coefficient.

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 BOD
„ Ultimate BOD-
maximum amount of
oxygen consumption
possible when waste has
been completely
degraded
„ Numerical value of the
rate constant k of BOD
depends on:
„ Nature of waste and T

„ Ability of organisms in
the system to use the
waste

NATURE OF THE WASTE

„ Materials that are rapidly degraded have
large BOD constants
„ Materials that degrade slowly are almost
undegradable in the BOD test
„ BOD rate constant depends on the relative
proportions of the various components
„ Easily degradable organics are more
completely removed than less readily
degradable organics during wastewater
treatment

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 ABILITY OF ORGANISMS TO
USE WASTE
„ Many organic compounds can be degraded by
only a small group of microorganisms
„ The population of organisms that can most
efficiently use wastes predominates
„ BOD test should always be conducted with
organisms that have been acclimated to the
waste
„ This created a rate constant that can be
compared to that in the river

TEMPERATURE
„ Oxygen use speeds up as the
temperature increases and
slows down as the
temperature decreases
„ Oxygen use is caused by the
metabolism of microorganisms
„ BOD rate constants depend
on:
1) Temperature of receiving water
throughout the year
2) Comparing data from various
locations at different T values

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 DISSOLVED OXYGEN DO
„ If the discharge of oxygen-
demanding wastes is within the
self-purification capacity, the DO
is high
„ If the amount of waste
increases, it can result in
detrimental changes in plant and
animal life
„ Aquatic life cannot survive
without DO
„ Objective of water quality
management is to assess the
capability of a stream to absorb
waste

DO SAG CURVE
„ DO concentration dips as oxygen-demanding
materials are oxidized and then rises as oxygen is
replenished from atmosphere and photosynthesis
„ Major sources of oxygen:
„ Reaeration from the atmosphere

„ Photosynthesis of aquatic plants

„ Factors of oxygen depletion:

„ BOD of waste discharge
„ DO in waste discharge is less than that in the river
„ Nonpoint source pollution
„ Respiration of organisms and aquatic plants

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 Use of Ponds for Water Quality

Oxygen Deficit Equation

Define deficit D = DOs - DO in mg/L
L = ultimate BOD (mg/L)
V (dD/dx) = kd L - kr D
Where kd = deoxygenation rate constant (day-1)
kr = reaeration rate constant (day-1)
Since t = x / V, can write the above in time as

dD/dt = kd L - kr D (reaeration vs oxygen use)

Solution to this eqn gives the DO sag curve

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 Oxygen Deficit Equation
At t = 0, D = Da and L = La - Initial values
Solving the equation for Dt = deficit at any time t

Dt = kdLa e-kd t - e-kr t + Da e-kr t

Kr - kd
Dt = DOs - DO Critical DO

DO

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