Field evaluation of mixing length and attenuation of nutrients and fecal coliform in a wastewater effluent plume

We present an alternative method to dye tracer studies for mapping wastewater effluent plumes in rivers. A case study of a wastewater treatment effluent plume that was mapped in two different months (October and April) showed good resolution in determining where the plume reached the opposite river...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Environmental monitoring and assessment Vol. 107; no. 1-3; pp. 45 - 57
Main Authors:	VANDENBERG, Jerald A, RYAN, M. Cathryn, NUELL, David D, CHU, Angus
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Dordrect Springer 01-08-2005 Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:	Agriculture Applied sciences Chlorides - chemistry Chlorides - metabolism Continental surface waters Domestic wastewater Earth sciences Earth, ocean, space Effluents Electric Conductivity Engineering and environment geology. Geothermics Enterobacteriaceae - growth & development Enterobacteriaceae - isolation & purification Environmental monitoring Exact sciences and technology Feces Feces - microbiology Fertilizers Natural water pollution Nitrogen - analysis Nutrients Phosphorus - analysis Pollution Pollution, environment geology Risk Assessment River banks River discharge River flow Rivers Rivers - chemistry Time Factors Wastewater treatment Water Movements Water Pollutants - analysis Water pollution Water quality Water treatment Water treatment and pollution Canada Alberta North America America Electrical conductivity Microbiology waste water coliform mixing Hydrodynamic dispersion nutrients Selfpurification Pathogenic Feces Waste water discharge Biological contamination Cartography Tracer technique Pollutant behavior Mixing process Stream discharge Plume tracer Coliforms Sewage treatment plant Domestic waste water Surface water Nutrient Water pollution river
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Summary:	We present an alternative method to dye tracer studies for mapping wastewater effluent plumes in rivers. A case study of a wastewater treatment effluent plume that was mapped in two different months (October and April) showed good resolution in determining where the plume reached the opposite river bank, the degree of mixing in a given river reach, and where the river was fully mixed with respect to the plume. Both electrical conductivity and chloride were useful in mapping domestic wastewater effluent plume mixing. Mixing lengths obtained by field mapping were consistent with previous studies. Electrical conductivity field readings facilitated real-time plume delineation and sampling locations, and identified a non-point source plume during the mapping exercise. The apparent difference in dispersion of the plume between to the two mapping dates (despite similar upstream river discharge) suggests that the calibration of a water quality model based on a single dye test may be inadequate. The river distributions of effluent nutrients and fecal coliform were also mapped. Nutrient attenuation rates were faster than that of the chloride tracer, indicating processes other than mixing occur. Substantial differences were observed in nutrient and fecal coliform distributions between the two mapping dates.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-1 ObjectType-Feature-2
ISSN:	0167-6369 1573-2959
DOI:	10.1007/s10661-005-2020-y