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EnE 301: ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

2.0 Water Quality Management

2.1 Overview of Water Bodies and Water Classification

2.2 Water Pollutants and their Sources
2.3 Water Quality Management in Rivers and Lakes
2.4 Water Quality Assessment of Philippine Water
Bodies
2.5 Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004- RA9275

Water Quality Management in Rivers

Objective of Water Quality Management

- To control the discharge of pollutants so that water quality is

not degraded to an unacceptable extent below the natural
background level.

METHODOLOGY:
• Quantifying the pollutants
• Predicting the impact of the pollutant on water quality
• Determining the background water quality which would be
present without human intervention
• Deciding the levels acceptable for intended uses of the
water.
- The impact of pollution on a river depends both on the nature of
the pollutant and the unique characteristic of the individual
river.

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IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS:

1. Volume and speed of water flowing in the river

2. Depth of river
3. Type of bottom
4. Surrounding vegetation
5. Climate of the region
6. Mineral heritage of watershed
7. Land use patterns
8. Types of aquatic life in the river

Effect of Oxygen-Demanding Wastes on Rivers

• Oxygen-demanding wastes and nutrients are common and have

a profound impact on almost all types of rivers.
• The introduction of oxygen-demanding material, either organic
or inorganic, into the river causes depletion of the dissolved
oxygen in the water which poses a threat to fish and other higher
forms of aquatic life if the oxygen falls below a critical point.

• To predict the extent of oxygen depletion, it is necessary to

know how much waste is being discharged and how much oxygen
will be required to degrade the waste.
• Oxygen-demanding materials are commonly measured by
determining the amount of oxygen consumed during degradation
in a manner approximating degradation in natural waters.

Determination of Oxygen Demand

1. Theoretical Oxygen Demand (ThOD)

- The amount of oxygen required to oxidize a substance to

carbon dioxide and water, which may be calculated by
stoichiometry if the chemical composition of the substance is
known.

Example No. 5: Compute the ThOD of 108.75 mg/L of glucose

(C6H12O6) if the atomic weights of hydrogen, carbon and
oxygen are; H=1g, C=12g, O=16g.

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2. Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD)

- A measured quantity that does not depend on knowledge of

the chemical composition of the substances in the water.
- 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 used to calculate the COD.

3. Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)

- The oxygen consumed if the oxidation of an organic

compound is carried out by microorganisms using the organic
matter as a food source.
- The actual BOD is less than the ThOD due to the incor-
poration of some of the carbon into new bacterial cells.
- The test is a bioassay that utilizes microorganisms in
conditions similar to those in natural water to measure
indirectly the amount of biodegradable organic matter present.

- A water sample is inoculated with bacteria that consume the

biodegradable organic matter to obtain energy for their life
processes.
- Because the organisms utilize oxygen in the process of
consuming waste, the process is called aerobic decomposition.
- The greater the amount of organic matter present, the
greater the amount of oxygen utilized.
- The BOD test is an indirect measurement of organic matter
because we actually measure only the change in the dissolved
oxygen concentration caused by the microorganisms as they
degrade the organic matter.
- BOD test is the most widely used method of measuring
organic matter because of the direct conceptual relationship
between BOD and oxygen depletion in receiving waters.

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- When a water sample containing degradable organic matter is

placed in a closed container and inoculated with bacteria, the
oxygen consumption typically follows the following pattern:

- During the first few days the rate of oxygen depletion is

rapid because of the high concentration of organic matter
present.
- As the concentration of organic matter decreases, the rate
of oxygen consumption also decreases.
- The rate at which oxygen is consumed is directly
proportional to the concentration of degradable organic matter
remaining at any time. BOD curve can be described
mathematically as a first-order reaction.

dLt
= − rA
dt
where, Lt = oxygen equivalent of the organics remaining
at time t, mg/L
-rA = -kLt
k = reaction rate constant, d-1

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dLt
= − kLt
dt

Lt = Loe − kt

where, Lo = oxygen equivalent of the organics at time = 0

- Rather than the Lt, our interest is in the amount of oxygen

used in the consumption of the organics (BODt).

BODt = Lo − Lt

(
BODt = Lo 1 − e − kt )
t

- Lo is often referred to as the ultimate BOD, that is the

maximum oxygen consumption possible when the waste has
been completely degraded.

(
BODt = Lo 1 − 10− Kt ) (in base 10 form)

where, k = 2.303K

Example No. 6: If the BOD3 of a waste is 75 mg/L and the

reaction rate constant, k is 0.345 day-1, what is the ultimate
BOD?

- The ultimate BOD (Lo) is defined as the maximum BOD

exerted by the waste.
- We can assume that when the BOD curve is approximately
horizontal, the ultimate BOD has been achieved. We would
take this to be at about 35 days.
- Although the ultimate BOD best expresses the concentration
of degradable organic matter, it does not, by itself, indicate
how rapidly oxygen will be depleted in a receiving water.

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- While the ultimate BOD increases in direct proportion to the

concentration of degradable organic matter, the numerical
value of the rate constant is dependent of the:

1. Nature of waste.
- Simple sugars and starches are rapidly degraded and
will therefore have a very large BOD rate constant.
- Cellulose (i.e. toilet paper) degrades much more slowly,
and hair and fingernails are almost undegradable.

Table Typical values for BOD rate constant.

k (20oC) K (20oC)
Sample
(day -1) (day -1)
Raw sewage 0.35 - 0.70 0.15 - 0.30
Well-treated sewage 0.12 - 0.23 0.05 - 0.10
Polluted river water 0.12 - 0.23 0.05 - 0.11

2. Ability of organisms in the system to utilize waste.

- In a natural environment receiving a continuous discharge
of organic waste, the population of organisms which can most
efficiently utilize waste will predominate.
- The BOD test should be conducted with organisms which
have acclimated to the waste so that the rate constant deter-
mined in the laboratory can be compared to that in the river.

3. Temperature.
- Most biological processes speed up as the temperature
increases and slow down as the temperature drops. Because
oxygen utilization is caused by metabolism of microorganisms,
the rate of utilization is similarly affected by temperature.

- Laboratory testing is done at a standard temperature of

20oC and the BOD rate constant is adjusted to the receiving-
water temperature.

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T − 20
kT = k 20 (θ )
where,

T = temp. of interest
kT = BOD rate constant at temp. of interest, d-1
k20 = BOD rate constant at 20 oC, d-1
Θ = temp. coefficient
1.135 for temp. 4 to 20 oC
1.056 for temp. above 20 oC

Example No. 7: A waste is being discharged into a river that has

a temperature of 10 oC. What is the maximum oxygen
consumption that may occur if the four day BOD is 125 mg/L
and the rate constant determined in the laboratory under
standard conditions is 0.115 d-1 (base e)?

Laboratory Measurement of BOD

• In order to have as much consistency as possible, it is

important to standardize testing procedures when measuring
BOD.
• The detailed procedures can be found in Standard Methods for
the Examination of Water and Wastewater.

Procedure:

• A special 300 ml BOD bottle is completely filled with a sample

of water that has been appropriately diluted and inoculated
with microorganisms.
Samples require dilution because the only oxygen available to
the organisms is dissolved in the water.
The most oxygen that can be dissolved is about 9 mg/L, so the
BOD of the diluted sample should be between 2 and 6 mg/L.
Samples are diluted with a special dilution water that contains
all of the trace elements required for bacterial metabolism so
that degradation of organic matter is not limited by lack of
bacterial growth.

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vol . of undiluted sample

Sample size (% ) = x 100
vol . of diluted sample

vol . of diluted sample

Dilution factor =
vol. of undiluted sample

The appropriate sample size to use can be determined by

dividing 4 mg/L (mid-point of the desired range of diluted
BOD) by the estimated BOD concentration in the sample being
tested.

Example No. 8: The BOD of a wastewater sample is estimated

to be 180 mg/L. What volume of undiluted sample should be
added to a 300 ml bottle? What are the sample size and
dilution factor using this volume? Assume that 4 mg/L BOD
can be consumed in the BOD bottle.

2. Blank samples containing only the inoculated dilution water

are also placed in BOD bottles and stoppered.

Blanks are required to estimate the amount of oxygen

consumed by the added inoculum in the absence of the
sample.

3. The stoppered BOD bottles containing diluted samples and

blanks are incubated in the dark at 20oC for the desired
number of days. For most purposes, a standard time of 5
days is used.

4. After the desired number of days has elapsed, the samples

and blanks are removed from the incubator and the dissolved
oxygen concentration in each bottle is measured. The BOD of
the undiluted sample is then calculated.

BODt = (DOb , t − DOs , t ) x dilution factor

where,
DOb,t = dissolved oxygen conc. in blank t days after
incubation, mg/L
DOs,t = dissolved oxygen conc. in sample t days after
incubation, mg/L

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Example No. 9: What is the BOD5 of the wastewater sample

of Example 8 if the DO values for the blank and diluted sample
after five days are 8.7 and 4.2 mg/L respectively?

DO Sag Curve

• The concentration of dissolved oxygen in a river is an indicator

of the general health of the river.
• All rivers have some capacity for self purification. As long as the
discharge of oxygen-demanding wastes is well within the self-
purification capacity, the DO level will remain high and a diverse
population of plants and animals will live.
• When DO drops below 4 mg/L, most fishes will have been driven
out.
• If DO is completely removed, fish and other animals are killed
and extremely noxious conditions result. The water becomes
blackish and foul smelling as the sewage and dead animal life
decompose under anaerobic condition.

• One of the major tools of water quality management in rivers is

the ability to assess the capability of a stream to absorb a waste
load. This is done by determining the profile of DO concentration
downstream from a waste discharge.
• This profile is called DO Sag Curve because the DO concen-
tration dips as oxygen-demanding materials are oxidized and
then rises again further downstream as the oxygen is replenished
from the atmosphere.

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Factors Contributing to Oxygen Depletion

1. BOD of the of the waste discharge and the BOD already
present in the river upstream of the waste discharge.
2. DO in the waste discharge is usually less than that of the river.
3. Non-point source pollution.
4. Respiration of organisms living in the sediments, which is
called benthic demand.
• On the other hand, the only significant sources of oxygen are
(1) reaeration from the atmosphere and (2) photosynthesis of
aquatic plants.

Mass-Balance Approach
• Simplified mass balances help us understand and solve the DO
sag curve problem.
• Three consecutive mass balances may be used to account for
initial mixing of the waste stream and the river.
• DO, BOD, and temperature all change as a result of mixing of
the waste and the river. Once these are accounted for, the DO
sag curve may be viewed as a non-conservative mass balance.

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Figure: Conservative mass balance diagram for DO mixing.

• The product of the water flow and the DO concentration yields a

mass of oxygen per unit of time.

Mass of DO in wastewater = QwDOw

Mass of DO in river = QrDOr
where,
Qw = volumetric flow rate of wastewater, m3/s
Qr = volumetric flow rate of the river, m3/s
DOw= dissolved oxygen concentration in the wastewater, g/m3
DOr= dissolved oxygen concentration in the river, g/m3

• The mass influx of DO in the river after mixing equals the sum of
the mass flows:
Mass of DO after mixing = QwDOw + QrDOr

• For ultimate BOD, the mass influx after mixing is:

Mass of BOD after mixing = QwLw + QrLr
where,
Lw = ultimate BOD of the wastewater, mg/L
Lr = ultimate BOD of the river, mg/L
DOw= dissolved oxygen concentration in the wastewater, g/m3
DOr= dissolved oxygen concentration in the river, g/m3

• The concentrations of DO and BOD after mixing are the respective

masses per unit time divided by the total flow rate.

Qw DOw + Qr DOr
DO =
Qw + Qr

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Qw Lw + Qr Lr
La =
Qw + Qr
where, La = initial ultimate BOD after mixing.

Example No. 10: The town of State College discharges 17,360

m3/d of treated wastewater into the Bald Eagle Creek. The
treated wastewater has a BOD5 of 12 mg/L and a k of 0.12 d-1
at 20oC. Bald Eagle Creek has a flow rate of 0.43 m3/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.

• For temperature, we must consider a heat balance rather than a

mass balance. The final temperature Tf after mixing of the
temperature of wastewater, Tw and of the river, Tr is found to be:

QwTw + Qr Tr
Tf =
Qw + Qr

Oxygen Deficit

• The oxygen deficit is the amount by which the actual dissolved

oxygen concentration is less than the saturation value.
D = DOs - DO
where,
D = oxygen deficit, mg/L
DOs= saturation concentration of dissolved oxygen, mg/L
DO = actual concentration of dissolved oxygen, mg/L

•The saturation value of dissolved oxygen is heavily dependent on

water temperature. It decreases as the temperature increases.

Initial Deficit

• The beginning of the DO sag curve is at the point where a waste

discharge mixes with the river.
• The initial deficit is calculated as the difference between saturated
DO and the concentration of the DO after mixing.

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 Q DOw + Qr DOr 
Da = DOs −  w 
 Qw + Qr 
where,
Da = initial deficit after mixing, mg/L
DOs= saturation concentration of dissolved oxygen at the
temperature of the river mixing, mg/L

Example No. 11: Calculate the initial deficit of the Bald Eagle
Creek after mixing with the wastewater from the town State
College (from Example 10, DO = 4.75 mg/L). The stream
temperature after mixing is 10 oC.

DO Sag Equation

• The DO sag equation was developed from the classical Streeter-

Phelps model.

RDOin + W + A − M − RDOout = 0

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Figure: Simplified mass balance for Streeter-Phelps model.

where,
RDOin = mass of DO in river flowing into reach
W = mass of DO in wastewater flowing into reach
A = mass of DO added from atmosphere
M = mass of DO removed by microbial degradation
of carbonaceous BOD
RDOout = mass of DO in river flowing out of reach

• Using some assumptions and by differentiation, the equation is

developed into (where the oxygen deficit is a function of the
competition between oxygen utilization and reaeration from the
atmosphere):

dD
= kd L − k r D
dt
where,
dD/dt = change in oxygen deficit D per unit of time, mg/L·d
kd = deoxygenation rate constant, d-1
L = ultimate BOD of river, mg/L
kr = reaeration rate constant, d-1
D = oxygen deficit in river water, mg/L

• By integrating the differential equation and using the boundary

conditions at t=0, D=Da, and L=La, and at t=t, D=D and L=L, the
DO Sag Equation is obtained.

k d La − k d t
D=
k r − kd
e( ) (
− e − k r t + Da e − k r t )

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where,
D = oxygen deficit in river water after exertion of BOD
for time t, mg/L
La = initial ultimate BOD after mixing, mg/L
kd = deoxygenation rate constant, d-1
kr = reaeration rate constant, d-1
t = time of travel of wastewater discharge downstream, d
Da = initial deficit after mixing, mg/L

• When the deoxygenation rate and reaeration rate constants are

equal or kr = kd, then:

(
D = (k d t La + Da ) e − k d t )
Deoxygenation Rate Constant, kd

• The deoxygenation rate constant differs from the BOD rate

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

• In general, BOD is exerted more rapidly in a river because of

turbulent mixing, large number of seed organisms, and BOD
removal by organisms on the stream bed as well as by those
suspended in the water.
• K. Bosko has developed a method of estimating kd from k using
characteristics of the stream:
υ
kd = k + η
H
where,
kd = deoxygenation rate constant at 20oC, d-1
ν = average speed of stream, m/s
k = BOD rate constant determined in laboratory at 20oC, d-1
H = average depth of stream, m
η = bed-activity coefficient

• The bed-activity coefficient may vary from 0.1 for stagnant or

deep water to 0.6 or more for rapidly flowing streams.
• After determining kd, it should be corrected for temperature if the
stream temperature is not 20 oC.

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Example No. 12: Determine the deoxygenation rate constant for

the reach of Bald Eagle below the wastewater outfall. The
average speed of the stream flow in the creek is 0.03 m/s.
The depth is 5.0 m and the bed-activity coefficient is 0.35.
(from Example 10, k = 0.12 /d, T = 10 oC)

Reaeration Rate Constant, kr

• The value of kr 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 kr than a wide,
shallow river.
3.9υ 0.5
kr =
where,
H 1 .5
kr = reaeration rate constant at 20oC, d-1
ν = average stream velocity, m/s
H = average depth of stream, m

• The factor of 3.9 includes a conversion factor to make the equation

dimensionally correct.
• The reaeration rate constant is also affected by temperature and
can be adjusted to the river temperature but with a constant
temperature coefficient (θ) of 1.024.
• For various streams, kr can range from 0.05 to greater than 18 d-1.
• To relate travel time to a physical distance downstream, one must
also know the average stream velocity.
• Once D has been found at any point downstream, the DO can be
found from D = DOs - DO

Critical Point (Critical Time, Critical Deficit and Critical DO)

• The lowest point on the DO sag curve, which is the critical point, is
of major interest since it indicates the worst conditions in the river.
• The time to the critical point or called the critical time tc can be
found by differentiating the DO sag equation, setting it equal to zero,
and solving for t using base e values for kr and kd.

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1 k  k − kd 
tc = ln  r 1 − Da r 
kr − kd  kd  k d La  

• When the deoxygenation rate and reaeration rate constants are

equal or kr = kd, then:

1  Da 
tc = 1 − 
kd  La 
• The critical deficit Dc is found by using the critical time tc in the

DO sag equation.

Example No. 13: Determine the DO concentration at a point 5 km

downstream from the State College discharge into the Bald
Eagle Creek. (from previous examples, velocity of creek =
0.03 m/s, depth = 5.0 m, temperature = 10 oC).
Determine also the critical DO and the distance downstream at
which it occurs. (from previous examples, kd at 10 oC =
0.0344 /d, DOs = 11.33 mg/L)

Management Strategy
1. Determine the minimum DO concentration that will protect the
aquatic life in the stream.
This value, called the DO standard, is generally set to protect
the most sensitive species that exist or could exist in the
particular river.
2. Find the DO at critical point.
If this value is higher than the standard, the stream can
adequately assimilate waste.
If the DO at the critical point is less than the standard, then
additional waste treatment is required.
3. Reduce the ultimate BOD of the waste discharge by increasing
the efficiency of the existing treatment processes or by adding
additional treatment steps.
Often a relatively inexpensive method for improving stream
quality is to reduce Da by adding oxygen to the wastewater to
bring it close to saturation prior to discharge. Artificial aeration
with mechanical systems is also possible under unusual
conditions.

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When using the DO sag curve to determine the adequacy of

wastewater treatment, it is important to use the river conditions
that will cause the lowest DO concentration. Usually these
conditions occur in the late summer when river flows are low and
temperature are high.
Low river flows reduce the dilution of the waste entering the
river, causing higher values for La and Da. The value of kr is
usually reduced by low river flows because of reduced velocities.
In addition, higher temperatures increase kd more than kr and
also decrease DO saturation, thus making the critical point more
severe.

Effect of Nutrients on Water Quality in Rivers

• Nutrients are the elements required by plants for their growth

which are commonly nitrogen and phosphorous.
• Nutrients can also contribute to deteriorating water quality in
rivers by causing excessive plant growth.
• Excessive plant growth can create a number of undesirable
conditions such as thick slime layers and dense growths of
aquatic weeds.

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