Ch-12-Quality_XII Surface Water Quality Modeling.pdf

  • View

  • Download

Embed Size (px)

Text of Ch-12-Quality_XII Surface Water Quality Modeling.pdf

  • 8/20/2019 Ch-12-Quality_XII Surface Water Quality Modeling.pdf



    XII Surface Water Quality Modeling

    1. Introduction

    2. Establishing ambient water quality standards

    2.1 Water use criteria

    3. Water quality model use

    3.1 Model selection criteria

    3.2 Model chains

    3.3 Model data

    4. Stream and river models

    4.1 Steady-state models

    4.2 Design streamflows

    4.3 Temperature

    4.4 Sources and sinks

    4.5 First-order constituents

    4.6 Dissolved oxygen

    4.7 Nitrogen cycle

    4.8 Eutrophication

    4.9 Toxic chemicals

    5. Lake and reservoir models

    5.1 Downstream characteristics

    5.2  Lake quality models

    5.3 Stratified impoundments 6. Sediment

    6.1 Cohesive sediment

    6.2 Non-cohesive sediment

    6.3 Process and model assumptions

    6.4 Non-cohesive total bed load transport

    7. Simulation methods

    7.1 Numerical accuracy

    7.2 Traditional approach

    7.3 Backtracking approach

    8. Model uncertainty

    9. Conclusions

    10. References




    The most fundamental human needs for water are for drinking, cooking, and personal

    hygiene. To meet these needs the quality of the water used must pose no risk to human

    health. The quality of the water in nature also impacts the condition of ecosystems that all

    living organisms depend on. At the same time humans use water bodies as convenient

    recepticals for the disposal of domestic, industrial and agricultural wastewaters which of

    course degrade their quality. Water resources management involves the monitoring and

    management of water quality as much as the monitoring and management of water

    quantity. Various models have been developed to assist in predicting the water quality

    impacts of alternative land and water management policies and practices. This chapter

    introduces some of them.

    1. Introduction

    Water quality management is a critical component of overall integrated water resources

    management. Most users of water depend on adequate levels of water quality. When these levels

    are not met, these water users must then either pay an additional cost of water treatment or incur

    at least increased risks of some damage or loss. As populations and economies grow, more

     pollutants are generated. Many of these are waterborne, and hence can end up in surface and

    ground water bodies. Increasingly the major efforts and costs involved in water management are devoted to water quality protection and management. Conflicts among various users of water are

    increasingly over issues involving water quality as well as water quantity.

     Natural water bodies are able to serve many uses. One of them is the transport and assimilation

    of waterborne wastes. But as natural water bodies assimilate these wastes, their quality changes.

    If the quality of water drops to the extent that other beneficial uses are adversely impacted, the

    assimilative capacities of those water bodies have been exceeded with respect to those impacted

    uses. Water quality management measures are actions taken to insure that the total pollutant

    loads discharged into receiving water bodies do not exceed the ability of those water bodies to

    assimilate those loads while maintaining the levels of quality specified by quality standards set

    for those waters.




    What uses depend on water quality? Almost any use one can identify. All living organisms

    require water of sufficient quantity and quality to survive. Different aquatic species can tolerate

    different levels of water quality. Regretfully, in most parts of the developed world it is no longer

    ‘safe’ to drink natural surface or ground waters. Treatment is usually required before these

    waters become safe for humans to drink. Treatment is not a practical option for recreational

     bathing, and for maintaining the health of fish and shellfish and other organisms found in natural

    aquatic ecosystems. Thus standards specifying minimum acceptable levels of quality are set for

    most ambient waters. Various uses have their own standards as well. Irrigation water must not

     be too saline nor contain various toxic substances that can be absorbed by the plants or destroy

    the microorganisms in the soil. Water quality standards for industry can be very demanding,

    depending of course on the particular industrial processes.

    Pollutant loadings degrade water quality. High domestic wasteloads can result in high bacteria,

    viruses and other organisms that impact human health. High organic loadings can reduce

    dissolved oxygen to levels that can kill parts of the aquatic ecosystem and cause obnoxious odors.

     Nutrient loadings from both urban and agricultural land runoff can cause excessive algae growth,

    which in turn may degrade the water aesthetically, recreationally, and upon death result in low

    dissolved oxygen levels. Toxic heavy metals and other micropollutants can accumulate in the

     bodies of aquatic organisms, including fish, making them unfit for human consumption even if

    they themselves survive.

    Pollutant discharges originate from point and non-point sources. A common approach to

    controlling point source discharges, such as from stormwater outfalls, municipal wastewater

    treatment plants or industries, is to impose standards specifying maximum allowable pollutant

    loads or concentrations in their effluents. This is often done in ways that are not economically

    efficient or even environmentally effective. Effluent standards typically do not take into account

    the particular assimilative capacities of the receiving water body.

     Non-point sources are not as easily controlled and hence it is difficult to apply effluent standards

    to non-point source pollutants. Pollutant loadings from non-point sources can be much more




    significant than point source loadings. Management of non-point water quality impacts requires

    a more ambient-focused water quality management program.

    The goal of an ambient water quality management program is to establish appropriate standards

    for water quality in water bodies receiving pollutant loads and then to insure that these standards

    are met. Realistic standard setting takes into account the basin’s hydrologic, ecological, and land

    use conditions, the potential uses of the receiving water body, and the institutional capacity to set

    and enforce water quality standards.

    Ambient-based water quality prediction and management involves considerable uncertainty. No

    one can predict what pollutant loadings will occur in the future, especially from area-wide non-

     point sources. In addition to uncertainties inherent in measuring the attainment of water quality

    standards, there are uncertainties in models used to determine sources of pollution, to allocate

     pollutant loads, and to predict the effectiveness of implementation actions on meeting water

    quality standards. The models available to help managers predict water quality impacts (such as

    those outlined in this chapter) are relatively simple compared to the complexities of actual water

    systems. These limitations and uncertainties should be understood and addressed as water quality

    management decisions are made based on their outputs.

    2. Establishing ambient water quality standards


    Identifying the intended uses of a water body, whether a lake, a section of a stream, or areas of an

    estuary, is a first step in setting water quality standards for that water body. The most restrictive

    of the specific desired uses of a water body is termed a designated use. Barriers to achieving the

    designated use are the presence of pollutants or hydrologic and geomorphic changes that impact

    the quality of the water body.

    The designated use dictates the appropriate type of water quality standard. For example, a

    designated use of human contact recreation should protect humans from exposure to microbial

     pathogens while swimming, wading, or boating. Other uses include those designed to protect

    humans and wildlife from consuming harmful substances in water, in fish, and in shellfish.

    Aquatic life uses include the protection and propagation of fish, shellfish, and wildlife resources.




    Standards set upstream may impact the uses of water downstream. For example, small headwater

    streams may have aesthetic values but they may not have the ability to support extensive

    recreational uses. However, their condition may affect the ability of a downstream area to

    achieve a particular designated use such as be “fishable” or “swimmable.” In this case, the

    designated use for the smaller upstream water body may be defined in terms of the achievement

    of the designated use of the larger downstream water body.

    In many areas human activities have sufficiently altered the landscape and aqu