Transcript No Slide Title

Surface Water Quality
Engineering
Urban and Auer Aboard
the R/V Laurentian
New York City
Reservoir System
The R/V Laurentian
on Lake Superior
Surface Water Quality
Engineering
Definition: the application of
scientific principles to the
study of water quality in
rivers, lakes and reservoirs
and to the development of
engineered works for the
protection, remediation, and
restoration of those systems.
Beneficial Uses
• Transportation
• Power
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Water supply
Waste disposal
Recreation
Aesthetics
Scientists and engineers are typically sought for
assistance when ‘beneficial uses are impaired
Use Impairment
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Oxygen
Turbidity
Pathogens
Toxics
Taste and Odor
Exotic Species
pH
Color
What types of human activities might lead to
these ‘beneficial use impairments’?
Regulatory Basis
Clean Water Act of 1972 (since amended)
• NPDES: permitting system
• TMDLs: watershed loads
Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 (since amended)
• MCLs: 1 and 2  for organics, metals, etc.
• SWTR: coliforms, protozoans, turbidity, DBPs
Surface Water Quality
Management
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Watersheds
Point sources
In-lake controls
Aeration
Biomanipulation
Dredging
These are some of the scientific and engineering
approaches used to manage water quality in
lakes, reservoirs, and rivers.
Surface Water Quality Modeling
Reactor Analogs
Plug Flow Reactor
(rivers)
Completely Mixed
Flow Reactor (lakes)
Cin
Cout 
1 k  
Cout  Cin  exp k  t
Modeling  Management
WWTP
A model of treatment plant
performance is used to guide
design and operation for the
required effluent quality.
Receiving Water
A model of the receiving water
(river or lake) is used to
establish the effluent quality
required to protect water
quality.
Case Study - Lake Huron
Cladophora is a green algae which
grows attached to solid substrate in
the nearshore waters of the Great
Lakes. Excessive phosphorus
discharges to the lakes has led to
nuisance growths of the alga, leading
to beachfront deposition, with
subsequent decay and loss of
beneficial uses. We worked with
U.S. EPA to determine the level of
phosphorus control required to
eliminate nuisance growth and
implemented a demonstration project
of P-removal at the Harbor Beach,
Michigan wastewater treatment plant.
The project led to elimination of
nuisance conditions at the adjacent
beach areas on Lake Huron.
Case Study - Green Bay
Green Bay is highly polluted due
to the discharge of agricultural
runoff and treated waste effluents
from municipal and industrial
sources. A marked gradient in
water quality exists between the
mouth of the Fox River and the
boundary with Lake Michigan
near Escanaba. Under a grant
from U.S. EPA, we quantified
pollutant inputs to the bay and
studied their subsequent fate and
transport. We developed a
mathematical model which
demonstrated the response of
water quality conditions in the bay
to changes in the discharge of
pollutants from the Fox River.
Case Study - Onondaga Lake
For more than 100 years,
Onondaga Lake has received the
municipal and industrial waste
discharges of the city of Syracuse,
NY. The lake has been identified
in the Congressional Record as
the most polluted lake in the U.S.
Since 1986, we have worked with
Upstate Freshwater Institute in
exploring options for lake cleanup,
including advanced treatment at
the 125 million gallon per day
Syracuse Metropolitan Treatment
Plant (METRO) and diversion of
the METRO effluent to the
adjoining Seneca River.
Case Study - NYC Reservoirs
The New York City drinking water
supply system is composed of 19
reservoirs and three controlled
lakes located in southeastern
upstate New York. The system has
a usable capacity of 580 billion
gallons and supplies an average of
1.4 billion gallons per day to 9
million people. Since 1992, we
have been working with the NYC
Department of Environmental
Protection to assure a high quality
source water despite increasing
land use and pollution pressures in
the watershed.
Case Study - Lake Superior
Lake Superior is the largest lake in the world by surface area and the most
pristine of the Great Lakes. It is also the least well known of these precious
resources. Because of its relatively undeveloped watershed, most pollutants
reach the lake from the atmosphere. Under a grant from the National Science
Foundation, we have been working to better understand how pollutants reaching
the lake are transported from site to site and cycled within the food web.
Coursework
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CE3610 - Hydrology
CE4505 - Surface Water Quality Engineering
CE5504 - Surface Water Quality Modeling
CE5508 - Biogeochemistry
• BL4451 - Aquatic Ecology
• FW4220 - Wetlands
Students have the option of
building a ‘concentration’ in
surface water quality as part of
the B.S. in Environmental
Engineering at Michigan Tech.
Employment
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Government (NYC DEP, MPCA, U.S. EPA)
Industry (Detroit Edison, Kodak, GM)
Consulting (Limno-Tech, Hydroqual, Earthtech)
Graduate Study & Research (MTU, UFI, NOAA)
Check out the web pages of these organizations for professional opportunities.
Study Question
Describe the manner in which the regulatory
environment, mathematical modeling, and
engineering design interact to support the
management of water quality in lakes and rivers.
Reading Assignment
Read the Executive Summary of the Natural Resources
Defense Council’s report, “Testing the Waters 2001: A
Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches.”
http://www.nrdc.org/water/oceans/ttw/exesum.asp