Water Science & Technology: Water Supply Vol 1 No 2 pp 57–65 © IWA Publishing 2001
Field measurement and modelling of two-dimensional river mixing
G Putz* and DW Smith**
*
Department of Civil Engineering, 57 Campus Drive,
University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada S7H 5A9
**
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Room 304 Environmental Engineering Building, University of Alberta,
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2M8
ABSTRACT
Wastewater treatment facilities commonly discharge effluent to large
receiving streams. An effluent plume may easily extend for many tens
of kilometres downstream of a discharge point. A characteristic of the
effluent plume is the existence of significant transverse concentration
gradients in the river as the discharged effluent slowly mixes with the
river water. Within this two-dimensional, transverse mixing zone accurate
delineation of the effluent plume is essential for water quality
monitoring and for management of the receiving stream. The capability
to mathematically model two-dimensional river mixing and to predict
effluent plume concentrations is a valuable tool for water quality
management. An overview of two-dimensional river mixing theory is
presented. Tracer methods for delineating effluent plumes resulting
from continuous or transient input to rivers are described, and the
results of tracer studies conducted on the Athabasca River in western
Canada are presented. A computer modelling procedure for simulating two-dimensional river mixing is described. Application of the model is
explained and comparison of model output to measured tracer concentrations
is presented.
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