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Pollution based real time control of wastewater systems.
L P Risholt1, W Schilling, V Erbe
1Statkraft Grøner AS, Trondheim, Norway. lpr@trh.statkraftgroner.no
Summary
Real-time control (RTC) of wastewater systems, specifically pollution-based RTC, can significantly reduce pollutant discharges during wet weather. This approach optimizes system operation without needing infrastructure expansion.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Engineering
- Water Resource Management
- Wastewater Treatment
Background:
- Traditional wastewater systems operate statically, leading to suboptimal performance, especially during high-flow wet weather events.
- Existing infrastructure often fails to match dynamic real-world loads, resulting in inefficient operation and increased pollutant discharge.
- Combined sewer overflows (CSOs) and wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents are significant contributors to receiving water pollution during wet weather.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the potential of pollution-based real-time control (PBRTC) for reducing pollutant loads discharged to receiving waters during wet weather.
- To assess the benefits of PBRTC without requiring expansion of existing transport or storage capacities.
- To evaluate the effectiveness of PBRTC for both CSO discharges and WWTP effluents.
Main Methods:
- Simulation of three distinct cases to evaluate the benefits of PBRTC.
- Prioritization of highly polluted wastewater for treatment and storage within branched interceptor systems.
- Analysis of PBRTC's impact on different types of WWTPs, including biological (activated sludge) and chemical precipitation plants.
Main Results:
- PBRTC can reduce CSO discharge loads by over 20% by prioritizing polluted wastewater for treatment and storage.
- Biological WWTPs, particularly activated sludge plants, show greater potential benefits from PBRTC compared to chemical precipitation plants due to their complexity and sensitivity to load variations.
- Receiving waters susceptible to acute impacts from intermittent discharges stand to gain more from PBRTC than those facing long-term pollution accumulation issues.
Conclusions:
- Pollution-based real-time control offers a viable strategy for enhancing wastewater system performance and reducing pollutant discharges during wet weather.
- PBRTC demonstrates significant potential for improving the management of both CSO and WWTP discharges, especially for sensitive receiving waters.
- The benefits of PBRTC are particularly pronounced for complex biological treatment systems operating under variable hydraulic and pollutant loads.