CE 384

Introduction to
Environmental Engineering





Problems





Dr. Crist Khachikian
Department of Civil Engineering







2006
2
1. Units, Unit Conversions and Concentrations
1.1. The air quality standard for ozone (O
3
) is 0.08 ppm. Express the standard in g/m
3

at 1 atm pressure and T = 20
o
C. [160 g/m
3
]
1.2. A volume of 1 L (liter) of water (H
2
O) contains 10 g of dissolved salt (NaCl).
Express the concentration of salt in the following units:
a. mg/L [10
4
mg/L]
b. ppm (mass of salt per mass of total solution [10
4
ppm]
c. moles/L (M or molarity) [0.17 moles/L]
1.3. A 100 mL sample of water is found to contain 1 mg of dissolved arsenic. Express
the concentration of arsenic as:
a. mg/L [10 mg/L]
b. ppm (mass of arsenic per mass of solution). Actually do the unit conversion and
do not use the fact that 1 mg/L ~ 1 ppm in water. [10 ppm]
c. gram-moles/L [1.3 x 10
-4
g-mole/L]
1.4. Suppose the average concentration of SO
2
in an air sample is measured to be 400
g/m
3
at 25
o
C and 1 atm pressure. Does this exceed the (24 hour) air quality
standard of 0.14 ppm? [0.153 ppm; exceeds the standard]
1.5. A nitrogen analysis of a wastewater sample gives the following results:
Ammonia 30.0 mg/L of NH
3

Nitrite 0.10 mg/L of NO

2

Nitrate 1.50 mg/L of NO

3
Organic nitrogen 15.0 mg/L of nitrogen
Find the concentration in mg/L of total nitrogen in the sample. [40.08 mg/L]
1.6. The following is from a laboratory test to determine the suspended solids
concentration of a sample of untreated wastewater. A 100 mL sample is filtered
through a filter pad that removes all the suspended solids. The dry and cool weight
of the pad and crucible before filtration is 48.610 g. After filtration, drying, and
cooling, the weight of the crucible, filter pad, and dried solids is 48.903 g. What is
the concentration of suspended solids in the wastewater sample, expressed in mg/L?
[2,930 mg/L]
1.7. In Contra Costa County, CA, the median indoor airborne concentration of
chloroform (CHCl
3
) was found to be 0.4 g/m
3
.
a. Convert this concentration to a mole fraction in parts per billion.
b. A typical adult inhales about 20 m
3
of air each day. Calculate the amount of
chloroform (in g) swallowed by an adult each day.
3
2. Chemical Mass Balances
2.1. A total mass of 500 lbs of ethanol (C
2
H
5
OH) is accidentally spilled into a river,
where it is degraded by microbes. The degradation reaction involves the ethanol
reacting with oxygen (O
2
) to form carbon dioxide (CO
2
) and water (H
2
O).
a. How many kilograms of oxygen are consumed? [474 kg O
2
consumed]
b. How many kilograms of CO
2
are produced? [434 kg CO
2
produced]
2.2. The use of petroleum as a fossil fuel accounts for about 1.4 x 10
20
Joules/year of
world-wide energy generation. Petroleum has an approximate chemical formula of
C
2
H
3
and an energy content of about 43 x 10
6
Joules/kg. The combustion process
consists of petroleum combining with oxygen (O
2
) to form carbon dioxide (CO
2
)
and water vapor (H
2
O). Estimate the total mass of carbon dioxide emitted to the
atmosphere each year by the burning of petroleum. [1.1 x 10
13
kg CO
2
/yr]
2.3. Pond water contains 15 mg/L of algae which can be represented by the chemical
formula C
6
H
15
O
6
N. The decomposition of algal biomass uses oxygen according to
the following reaction:
C
6
H
15
O
6
N+8O
2
6CO
2
+NO

3
+ H
+
+ 7H
2
O

Calculate the biological oxygen demand (BOD) expressed as mg of O
2
consumed
by each liter of pond water assuming that all of the algae are decomposed. [19.5
mg/L O
2
consumed; this is the total BOD]
4
3. Mass Balances (no reactions)
3.1. Each year, a total of 600,000 acre-feet (one acre-foot is the volume equivalent to
one foot of water covering one acre of land) of water from the Colorado River is
diverted for use by Southern California. The concentration of dissolved salts in the
Colorado River is 800 ppm. How many tons (English ton = 2000 lbs; metric ton =
1000 kg) of salt are imported each year as a result of this water diversion? [592,000
metric tons salt]
3.2. A city situated on a large river disposes of its treated wastes to the river on a
continuous basis. The minimum flow in the river is 210 m
3
/s, and the discharge rate
from the treatment plant is 12.5 m
3
/s. If the maximum acceptable limit for a certain
pollutant is 1.0 mg/L in the downstream river, and the background concentration
of this pollutant upstream is 0.4 mg/L, what is the concentration of the pollutant, in
mg/L, that can be safely released from the water pollution control plant? [11.1
mg/L]
3.3. A domestic wastewater flow contains 350 mg/L of suspended solids. Primary
sedimentation in a wastewater treatment plant removes 65% of these solids,
forming sludge that contains 5% solids and 95% water (by weight). If the total
wastewater flow is 450 MGD (million gallons per day), what is the total volume of
sludge produced each day (expressed in m
3
)? (Assume that the solids have a density
of 1500 kg/m
3
) [5,200 m
3
/day]
3.4. The L.A. Hyperion wastewater treatment plant has a total inflow of Q = 20 m
3
/s.
Ferric chloride (FeCl
3
) is added to the influent to create additional suspended solids
by reacting with water (H
2
O) to form solid ferric hydroxide (Fe(OH)
3
) and
hydrochloric acid (HCl). The desirable concentration of the solid Fe(OH)
3
after the
reaction and complete mixing with the flow is 20 mg/L. If FeCl
3
costs $0.27/kg,
what is the total annual cost of the FeCl
3
addition? [$5 x 10
6
/yr]
3.5. Dust removal from an airstream of a municipal incinerator is accomplished by four
dust collectors operating in parallel, each holding one fourth of the total airflow of
200 m
3
/min. The airstream contains 10 g/m
3
of suspended solids. Each dust
collector removes 98% of the suspended solids passing through it.
a. What is the total mass of dust per day collected by all four collectors? [2822.4
kg/day]
b. One of the dust collectors has to be taken out of service for one month. During
that time, one fourth of the air will still pass through the collector that is out of
service, but no dust will be removed by that collector. The maximum permissible
suspended solids concentration in the combined stack discharge is 1.0 g/m
3
. Will
the plant be able to meet the standard during the shutdown period? [2.65 g/m
3
;
does not meet the standard]
5
3.6. Two manufacturing facilities discharge effluent containing a toxic organic pollutant
through a common conduit into a pollution free (C
a
= 0) river with a steady flow Q
a

= 10 m
3
/s and a cross-sectional area A = 100 m
2
. Facility A discharges a flow Q
A
=
0.1 m
3
/s with a pollutant concentration C
A
= 10 mg/L, and facility B discharges a
flow Q
B
= 0.2 m
3
/s with a pollutant concentration C
B
= 2mg/L.

a. What is the total mass flow of pollutant
e
m discharged into the river? [1.4 x 10
-3

kg/s]
b. What is the concentration C
e
of the combined effluent flow into the river? [4.67
mg/L]
c. Assuming that the pollutant discharge mixes completely with the river flow,
what is the pollutant concentration C
m
in the river immediately downstream from
the region of mixing? [0.14 mg/L]
3.7. A sewage treatment plant discharges effluent at a rate of Q
e
= 450 MGD (million
gallons per day). The mass flow of mercury dissolved in the effluent is
e
m = 20
mg/s. The effluent discharges into a large water body with an ambient mercury
concentration C
a
= 20 ng/L. Determine the initial dilution necessary to meet the
following water quality constraints on the concentration of mercury after mixing:
a. Toxicity: C
m
< 25 ng/L [196; difficult]
b. Chronic exposure (long-term exposure): C
m
< 146 ng/L [7.8; easy]
c. Acute exposure (short-term but intense exposure): C
m
< 2100 ng/L [No dilution
necessary since C
m
> C
e
already]
3.8. An effluent discharge Q
e
= 10
2
m
3
/s carries a total mass flow of a dissolved metal
equal to
e
m = 10
4
kg/s. The effluent discharges into a water body with an initial
dilution S
m
= 50. The ambient dissolved metal concentration is zero (C
a
= 0).
Determine whether the following environmental regulations are met by this
discharge:

A

B
Q
A

C
A

Q
B

C
B

e
m
C
e

Q
a

C
a



C
m

6
a. An effluent concentration limit: C
e
10 mg/L. [10mg/L; just meets standard]
b. An in stream water quality limit (after initial mixing): C
m
0.1 mg/L [0.2
mg/L; Does not meet standard]
3.9. A river carries a flow Q
R
= 10 x 10
9
m
3
/yr with a concentration if dissolved salts C
R

= 0. An irrigation flow Q
I
= 8 x 10
9
m
3
/yr is diverted to crop land with a total land
area A
I
= 6 x 10
9
m
2
. The annual rainfall is P = 0.25 m/yr and the total loss by
evaporation from the irrigated area is E = 0.75 m/yr. The irrigation flow leaches
minerals from the soil and leaves the irrigated area with a concentration C
s
= 2000
ppm. The drainage from the irrigated area discharges back into and mixes
completely with the river upstream from the point of withdrawal.


Assuming steady state conditions, determine:

a. The salt concentration C
d
in the river downstream. [667 ppm]
b. The rate
s
m at which the salt is leached from the soil. [10 x 10
9
kg/yr]
3.10. The automobile emission standard for carbon monoxide (CO) is 3.4 g/mile. Each
day, about 10 million cars make a single trip across a region in West Los Angeles
that is about L = 10 km on a side (see figure below). Each car may be assumed to be
emitting CO at the maximum permissible rate (given above). Because of the
inversion layer, the atmosphere above this region may be considered to be a well-
mixed volume with a height H = 1000 m. The wind from the ocean enters from the
west (across one side of the volume) and leaves the region to the east (across the
opposite side) with a velocity U = 2 m/s. The concentration of CO in the clean
ocean air entering the volume is C
a
= 200 ppb. Assuming steady-state conditions
Effluent Flow
Q
e

C
e
,
e
m
Mixing zone (S
m
= 50)

C
a
Water body

Q
R
,C
R

C
d

Q
I

A
I

C
s

E P
7
and neglecting possible reactions involving CO (i.e., assume CO is a conservative
substance), compute the well-mixed concentration of CO in the atmosphere above
West L.A. Does it meet the air quality standard of 10 mg/m
3
(assume the air
temperature is 25
o
C)? [0.37 mg/m
3
; meets state standard]


Side View
Top View
L
L
8
4. Mass Balances (with reactions)
4.1. A steady wastewater flow passes through a well-mixed tank with a volume V = 20
m
3
. While it is in the tank, the mass of the waste decreases by reaction with a first-
order rate k
r
= 0.15/day. Determine the magnitude of the wastewater flow that can
be handled if the desired level of treatment is 98% removal of the waste
constituents by reaction. [0.061 m
3
/day]
4.2. A railroad tank car spills a mass M
o
= 104 kg of chemical pesticide into a river. The
river has a rectangular cross-section with width W = 100 m and a depth H = 3 m.
The steady river flow is Q
r
= 30 m
3
/s. The cloud or plume of spilled pesticide
moves downstream with the river flow. As it moves, the pesticide degrades
according to a first order reaction rate k
r
= 1/day. What fraction of the original mass
of pesticide will be undegraded by the time the plume reaches a reservoir a distance
L = 20 km downstream? [0.1 or 10%]
4.3. A town draws its water from a river with an average flow Q
a
= 10 m
3
/s and a cross-
sectional area A = 100 m
2
. The town is located 10 km downstream from a discharge
of pollutant at a rate of
e
m = 10
3
kg/s which may be assumed to mix completely
with the river flow. As it flows downstream, the pollutant concentration decreases
by reaction with a first-order reaction rate k
r
= 1/day. If a drought occurs and the
river flow decreases to Q
a
= 1 m
3
/s, will the pollutant concentration in the water
withdrawn by the town be greater or less than the pollutant concentration during
average flow conditions? Assume steady conditions and Qe << Qa. [C = 9.4 x 10
-6

mg/L; concentration is much lower with the lower flow smaller velocity and
longer time to react]
4.4. A lake with a constant volume V = 10
7
m
3
is fed by a pollution free stream with a
flow rate Q
a
= 50.0 m
3
/s. A factory dumps Q
e
= 5.0 m
3
/s of a non-conservative
waste with initial concentration C
e
= 100 mg/L into the lake. The pollutant reacts at
a rate k
r
= 0.25 day
1
. Assuming the lake is well-mixed and steady, find the
concentration of the pollutant in the lake. [5.95 mg/L]
4.5. Leachate (water with dissolved constituents leaching from somewhere) seeps from
a landfill into a river at a rate of Q
e
= 0.01 m
3
/sec (see figure below). The river has a
stead flow Q
a
= 10 m
3
/s and a cross-sectional area A = 100 m
2
. The concentration of
an organic pollutant dioxolane downstream from the region of initial mixing
between the leachate and the river flow is C
m
= 1.0 mg/L. The ambient
concentration of dioxolane is C
a
= 0.
a. What is the mass flow
e
m of dioxolane from the landfill into the river? [0.01
kg/s]
b. What is the concentration C
e
of dioxolane in the leachate? [1000 mg/L]
c. As the dioxolane is carried downstream by the river, the concentration of it
decreases as a result of reaction with a first-order rate k
r
= 0.1/day. If the
9
drinking water standard specifies that water have a dioxolane concentration less
than 0.001 mg/L, how far downstream will the water by safe to drink (without
additional treatment to remove dioxolane)? [597 km]

4.6. A drainage channel discharges storm water runoff into Santa Monica Bay at a rate
of Q
e
m
3
/s (which may be assumed to be constant during a very rainy week). The
bacterial level in the runoff is C
e
= 10
4
counts/100mL (one count is one E. coli
bacterium, the indicator species; you can treat these units just like concentration
units). The coastal current flowing from the south has an average velocity of about
U = 5 cm/s and a bacterial concentration C
a
= 50 counts/100mL (because of other
storm water discharges located to the south). The cross-sectional area of Santa
Monica Bay at the location of the inflow is about A = 2 x 10
5
m
2
(about 50 meters
deep and 4000 meters wide). The current leaves Santa Monica Bay by flowing to
the north past Malibu. The portion of the Bay between the discharge and where the
current leaves the Bay has a volume V = 10
9
m
3
, and may be considered to be well-
mixed. Calculate the concentration of bacteria (C
m
) in the flow leaving the Bay
taking into the account that the bacteria die off at a rate given by a first order
coefficient k
r
= 1/day. Assume steady state conditions. [23.6 counts/100 mL]

4.7. The sewage treatment plant in Boston, Massachusetts discharges a pesticide (non-
volatile organic compound) into Boston Harbor. Boston Harbor is nearly an
enclosed embayment that may be assumed to be well-mixed. The harbor has an area
A = 100 km
2
and a depth H = 5 m. The harbor is flushed by a pollution free (C
a
= 0)
tidal flow equivalent to an ambient flow rate Q
a
= 10
8
m
3
/day. Assume Q
e
<< Q
a
.

Landfill
10
The pesticide in the effluent has a first-order reaction k
r
= 0.01/day. Does the
reaction have a significant effect on the concentration of the pesticide (C
m
) in the
mixed flow leaving the harbor? [Q
m
>> k
r
V; so the reaction has little effect]


4.8. A sewage treatment plant discharges tertiary effluent into the Los Angeles River.
The effluent flow is Q
e
= 4 m
3
/s and the effluent nitrogen mass flow
N
m = 8 x 10
4

mg/sec (as N not a compound). The ambient river flow upstream from the plant is
Q
a
= 1 m
3
/s, and the ambient N concentration is C
a
= 0. The cross-sectional area of
the river is A = 5 m
2
and the discharge is located at a distance L = 70 km from the
ocean.


a. What is the nitrogen concentration C
m
in the river just downstream from the
treatment plant? [16 mg/L]
b. Nitrogen (in the form of NH
+
4
is converted to phytoplankton (C
106
H
263
O
110
N
16
P)
according to the following chemical reaction:

106CO
2
+ 16NH
+
4
+ H
2
PO

4
+ 106H
2
O C
106
H
263
O
110
N
16
P +106O
2
+15H
+


Assuming that all of the N is converted to phytoplankton, either in the river or in the
ocean, what is the total rate of phytoplankton mass production
p
m (in kg/s)? [1.3 kg/s]
c. The rate at which the N is converted to phytoplankton is k
r
= 1/day. What percent
of the total phytoplankton mass production occurs in the river? [56%]
11
4.9. A cooling tower (used to cool water for air conditioning purposes) has a steady
evaporative loss of water equal to Q
E
= 1 m
3
/s. To make up for the loss, water is
withdrawn from a nearby river which has a steady ambient flow Q
a
= 10 m
3
/s. The
steady flow withdrawn from the river is Q
in
and the steady discharge back into the
river is Q
out
. The ambient concentration of total dissolved solids in the river is C
a
=
10 mg/L. The concentration of dissolved solids in the evaporative flow Q
E
is C
E
= 0
mg/L.

a. Determine the values of the flows Q
in
and Q
out
required to limit the concentration
of dissolved solids in the cooling tower to C
max
= 20 mg/L. Assume that the
cooling tower is like a well-mixed volume and that there are no reactions
occurring in the tower. [2 m
3
/sec]
b. Assuming that the concentration of dissolved solids in the discharge from the
tower is C
out
= C
max
= 20 mg/L, what is the mixed concentration of dissolved
solids C
m
in the river just downstream from the discharge point? [11.1 mg/L]
c. As the river flows downstream, the concentration of dissolved solids decreases as
a result of a first-order reaction with constant reaction coefficient k
r
.
Measurements of the dissolved solids concentration C
L
at a distance L
downstream have been made for a range of values of the ambient river flow Q
a
.
A qualitative plot of these measurements looks like this:

Explain briefly why the plot looks as it does, i.e., why does the dissolved concentration
C
L
increase with river flow Q
a
and then decrease. Assume that all other parameter
values given in the problem remain constant. [For low values of Q
a
, velocity is small
and the travel time is large; thus, the reaction makes C
L
small. For high velocities, C
m

is small and so is C
L
]
12
4.10. Rainfall flows steadily from a storm drain into Santa Monica Bay at the shoreline at
a rate of Q
r
= 0.01 m
3
/s and with a bacterial concentration C
b
= 10
5
counts/100mL.
The beach slopes downward in the offshore direction at a rate of 1:50 (vertical drop
per horizontal distance). A steady current runs parallel to the shore with a uniform
velocity U = 1 cm/s. Assuming that the rainfall flow mixes completely with the
alongshore flow over an offshore distance L
m
= 10 m, and that the bacteria die at a
rate given by a first-order rate k
d
= 1/day, use plug flow analysis to determine if the
concentration of bacteria at a point x = 200 m along the shoreline downcurrent from
the point of discharge meets the swimming standard of 1000 counts/100mL. [C = 4
x 10
4
counts/100mL; does not meet the standard]

4.11. A river has a steady ambient flow Q
a
= 10 m
3
/s and a constant cross-sectional area
A = 100 m
2
. A factory withdraws a flow Q
e
= 5 m
3
/s from the river through a pipe
and discharges it at a point a distance L = 10 km upstream from the point of
withdrawal (see figure). The factory discharges a mass flow
f
m of a toxic chemical
into the flow Q
e
. The volume flow of the factory in put is negligible (Q
F
<< Q
e
).
Once it reaches the river, sunlight degrades the toxic chemical by a first-order
reaction with a reaction coefficient k
r
= 1.0/day. No degradation of the chemical
occurs in the flow Q
e
(no sunlight in the pipe). The concentration of the toxic
chemical in the river just downstream from the point where Q
e
is discharged back
into the river is C
m
= 10 mg/L. The ambient concentration of the toxic chemical is
C
a
= 0 mg/L.
13

a. Calculate the concentration of the toxic chemical C
e
in the flow Q
e
just before it
is discharged back into the river. [30 mg/L]
b. Calculate the concentration of the toxic chemical C
d
in the river downstream
from the point where the flow Q
e
is withdrawn from the river. [4.7 mg/L]
c. Calculate the mass flow of toxic chemical
f
m discharged from the factory. [0.08
kg/s]
4.12. Consider a lake with 10
8
m
2
of surface area for which the only source of phosphorus
is the effluent from the wastewater treatment plant. The effluent flow rate is 0.4
m
3
/s and its phosphorus concentration is 10 mg/L. The lake is fed by a stream
having a flow of 20 m
3
/s with no phosphorus.
a. If the effective settling rate of phosphorus is estimated to be v
s
= 10 m/yr,
estimate the average phosphorus concentration in the lake. [0.077 mg/L]
b. What percent of phosphorus removal at the treatment plant would be required to
keep the average lake concentration below 0.01 mg/L? [87%]
4.13. A river with a steady flow Q
a
= 1 m
3
/sec flows into a small harbor with a volume V
= 10
7
m
3
and a bottom area A = 10
6
m
2
. The flow then passes out of the harbor to
the ocean. The harbor may be considered to be well-mixed.

Factory
L
River
Q
a
, C
a

Q
e
, C
e

Q
e

Pipe
C
m

C
d


f
m
k
r

River
C
a

Q
a

Harbor
V = Volume
A = Area
Flow to Ocean
14
a. Seepage from old septic tanks causes the bacterial concentration in the river (just
before it enters the harbor) to be C
a
= 10
4
/100mL (i.e. 10
4
bacteria per 100 mL
sample). The bacteria die off according to a first-order reaction rate k
r
= 0.5/day.
Does the water in the harbor meet the swimming standard which is that the well-
mixed concentration of bacteria in the harbor be less than 200/100 mL?
[170/100mL meets the standard]
b. A dredging operation in the river removes a total mass flow of solids
dredge
m =
10
6
kg/day from the river bottom. About 1% of the mass of dredged material is
lost by leakage into the river and enters the harbor as suspended solids. If the
settling velocity of the solid material is w
s
= 0.1 m/day, what is the mass of
dredged solids that settles to the bottom of the harbor each day? [5400 kg/day]
4.14. Santa Monica Bay has a surface area A = 5x10
7
m
2
and an average depth H = 50 m.
The bay may be considered as well-mixed and as being flushed by an ambient
ocean current with a total flow into the bay equal to Q
a
= 10
4
m
3
/sec. The City of
Los Angeles discharges treated sewage in to Santa Monica Bay at a steady rate Q
e
=
10 m
3
/sec. It is estimated that 35% of the solids in the effluent settle to the bottom
of Santa Monica Bay. The following quantities have been measured in the effluent:

C
sse
= total suspended solids concentration = 50 mg/L
C
DDTe
= total concentration of DDT = 1 g/L
C
Le
= total concentration of lindane = 1 g/L

a. Estimate the settling velocity of the waste particles in the bay. Assume that the
ambient suspended solids concentration is negligible. [9.3 m/day]
b. DDT has a sediment-water partition coefficient K
s
= 10
6
L/kg and does not react.
Estimate the total concentration of DDT in the water leaving the bay C
DDTm
,
assuming that the ambient concentration of DDT is C
DDTa
= 0. [0.00066 g/L]
Santa
Monica
Bay
Q
m


C
DDTm

C
Lm

C
ssm

Q
a

C
DDTa

C
La

C
ssa

Q
e

C
DDTe

C
Le

C
sse
15
c. Lindane has a sediment-water partition coefficient K
s
= 10
3
L/kg and a reaction
coefficient k
r
= 1/day. Estimate the total concentration of lindane in the water
leaving the bay C
Lm
, assuming that the ambient concentration of lindene is 0.
[0.00026 g/L]
4.15. A steady flow Q
N
= 30 x 10
6
m
3
/day of water from Northern California reaches the
Sacramento Delta Region where a steady irrigation flow Q
I
= 20x 10
6
m
3
/day is
withdrawn. The flow Q
I
is used to irrigate crops in a region with a (hypothetically)
steady rainfall P = 0.5 m/yr and evapotranspiration ET = 1 m/year. A steady return
flow Q
R
= l0 x 10
6
m
3
/day from the irrigation region returns to the main channel at a
point upstream from where Q
I
is withdrawn, resulting in a steady flow Q
LA
= 20 x
10
6
m
3
/day that provides Los Angeles with drinking water. A mass flow of organic
carbon
oc
m enters the irrigation flow as it passes through the agricultural region.
The resulting concentration of dissolved organic carbon is C
m
= 100 mg/L in the
flow downstream from the point where the return flow mixes with the main channel
(including in the irrigation flow Q
I
). The dissolved organic concentration in the
flow from the north (Q
N
) is C
N
= 0 mg/L.
a. What is the total area A
I
of the agricultural region experiencing the rainfall P and
evaportanspiration ET?
b. Use a mass balance at the point where the flows Q
N
and Q
R
mix to determine the
value of the organic carbon concentration in the return flow C
R
.
c. What is the value of the mass flow of organic carbon? [hint: use a mass balance
for the overall system]
d. The channel bringing water from the Delta to Los Angeles has a cross-sectional
area A
c
= 200 m
2
and a length L = 500 km. Assuming that the disso1ved organic
16
carbon degrades (into harmless products) at a rate k
r
= 1/day, does the flow
reaching LA exceed a proposed standard for dissolved organic carbon in
drinking water C
max
= 2 mg/L?
4.16. A well-mixed reservoir has a constant volume V = 10 m
3
and a horizontal cross-
sectional area A = 10
6
m
2
. The steady flows of water into and out of the reservoir
are the river inflow Q
in
, the outflow Q
out
, the rainfall P, and the evaporation E.
Suspended solids in the reservoir are generated at a rate
p
m = 10
6
kg/year by the
growth of phytoplankton (C
106
H
263
O
110
N
16
P) according to the following chemical
equation:

106CO
2
+ 16NH
4
+
+ H
2
PO
4
-
+ 106H
2
O C
106
H
263
O
110
N
16
P + 106O
2
+ 15H
+

The concentration of suspended solids (phytoplankton) in the reservoir is C
ss
= 50 mg/L.
The fraction of the solids generated that settle to the bottom is F
s
= 0.5. The remainder of
the solids leave the reservoir in the outflow. There are no suspended solids in the inflow to
the reservoir or in the precipitation or evaporation.

a. Assuming that the rainfall is P = 1.5 m/year and the evaporation is E = 0.5
m/year, use the information on the suspended solids balance to determine the
values of the inflow Q
in
and the outflow Q
out
.[0.9 x 10
7
m
3
/yr; 1.0 x 10
7
m
3
/yr]
b. What is the settling velocity w
s
of the settling solids? [10 m/yr]
c. What mass flow of nitrogen
N
m into the reservoir is required to maintain the
generation of phytoplankton at the rate
P
m ? [6.3 x 10
4
kg/yr]
d. If the phytoplankton decompose, the reaction given above is reversed and
oxygen is consumed rather than generated. What is the BOD of a sample of
water from the reservoir with the phytoplankton mass concentration C
ss
given
above? [47.8 mg/L]
e. A pesticide with a sediment-water partition coefficient K
s
= 2 x 10
4
L/kg enters
the reservoir in dissolved form and comes to sorption equilibrium with the
suspended solids (phytoplankton) in the reservoir. What percentage of the mass
flow of the pesticide settles to the bottom with the phytoplankton solids? [25%]
4.17. A steady flow Q = 10
7
m
3
/year passes through a well-mixed lake that has a volume
V = 10
6
m
3
. The concentration of suspended solids in the flow entering the lake is
C
ss,in
= 100 mg/L and the concentration of suspended solids in the flow leaving the
17
lake is C
ss,out
= 10 mg/L, which is lower than C
ss,in
because of particle settling in the
lake.
a. The flow entering the lake carries a mass flow of dissolved ammonia nitrogen
N
m = 2 x l0
4
kg/year. In the reservoir the ammonia nitrogen is degraded to other
compounds by a reaction with a reaction rate k
r
= 10/year. What is the
concentration of ammonia nitrogen C
Nout
in the outflow from the lake?
b. The flow entering the lake carries a total mass flow of DDT
DDT
m = 100 kg/year
which is partially in dissolved form and partially sorbed to the suspended solids
in the inflow. The solid water partition coefficient for DDT is K
s
= 5 L/mg. What
is the total (dissolved plus sorbed) DDT concentration C
DDToutt
in the outflow
from the lake?



18
5. Water Supply
5.1. A country with a population of 500,000 people has a total land area of 10
4
km
2
. The
annual freshwater runoff available for use is 10
9
m
3
, which is 20% of the total
annual rainfall:
a. Is the annual rainfall in this country more or less than the global average? [50%
of global average]
b. Is this country short of water? [no, not water stressed]
5.2. A country has a total area A = 10
5
km
2
and a total annual rainfall I = 0.8 m/yr of
which 75% evaporates and the rest is available as water runoff.
a. What is the maximum population this country can support without become water
stressed? [10
7
people]
b. The largest city in the country discharges its treated sewage effluent into a
nearby river. The rate of BOD input into the river is
e
m = 10
4
kg/day. What is the
minimum river flow (Q
a
) necessary to keep the BOD level in the river less than
the BOD
m
= 5 mg/L at a point just downstream from the effluent mixing zone?
Assume that the effluent mixes completely with the river flow and that the
upstream BOD is zero. [2 x 10
6
m
3
/day]
5.3. Rain falls steadily on a watershed with an area A
w
= 10
4
km
2
. The total annual
precipitation P = 75 cm. All the water that is not evaporated or transpired flows into
a reservoir as surface water runoff at a constant rate Q = 10
7
m
3
/day. The reservoir
may be considered as well-mixed. The outflow from the reservoir is also steady and
equal to Q = 10
7
m
3
/day.

a. Is the annual rainfall per unit area on this watershed greater or less than the
global average annual precipitation per unit area onto land? [less than 1m/yr]
b. What is the annual evapotranspiration rate ET (in cm/yr)? [38.5 cm]
c. Assuming that the flow into the reservoir Q is the only source of fresh water,
what population can this watershed support without experiencing water stress?
[1,825,000 people]
19
d. Human activities and other sources in the watershed create a mass flow of
phosphorus into the surface runoff equal to
p
m = 1000 kg/day. What is the
concentration of phosphorus C
p
in the runoff entering the reservoir? [0.1 mg/L]
e. Once in the reservoir, all of the phosphorus is converted from H
2
PO

4
to algal
biomass (C
106
H
263
O
110
N
16
P) according to the following reaction:
106CO
2
+ 16NH
+
4
+ H
2
PO

4
+ 106H
2
O C
106
H
263
O
110
N
16
P +106O
2
+15H
+

What is the rate of algal biomass production
a
m in kg/day in the reservoir? [114,500
kg/day algae]
5.4. Water usage during peak days in small towns follows the following pattern:
Time interval Gal per capita used
Midnight - 3 AM 5
3AM-6AM 5
6AM-9AM 15
9AM-Noon 25
Noon-3PM 85
3PM-6PM 40
6PM-9PM 15
9 PM-Midnight 10

Assuming that the total daily demand is met by a pumping plant pumping continuously and
steadily at the same rate, determine the storage required to provide the peak hourly demand
and the required fire flow for a town with a population of 40,000 people. [6.6 x 10
6
gallons]
5.5. A storage reservoir is to be built to store a river flow Q
R
and to supply a steady flow
Q
D
= 10
8
m
3
/year to a town with a population of 100,000 people and an irrigation
project with a total land area A = 10
8
m
2
.

The town has a per capita water demand of 200 m
3
/person/year. The annual precipitation
and evaporation from the irrigation area are estimated to be P = 0.5 m and E = 1.0m,
respectively. In addition, the irrigation project leaches a mass flow of dissolved salts
s
m =
10
7
kg/year from the soil. Assuming that the salt concentration in the water leaving the
reservoir is negligible, will the flow from the reservoir Q
D
= 10
8
m
3
/year be sufficient to
provide the town the needed water, to water the crops, and to insure that the concentration
of dissolved salts in the downstream river C
s
will be less than the maximum drinking water
standard which is 500 mg/L? [yes total required is 2 x 10
7
m
3
/yr for town; 5 x 10
7
m
3
/yr
for irrigation and 2 x 10
7
m
3
/yr for dilution = 9 x 10
7
m
3
/yr]
town
irrigation V
reservoir
Q
R
P

E

A

C
s
Q
D
s
m
20
6. Waste Water Treatment
6.1. The concentration of suspended solids in the outflow from a well-mixed
sedimentation tank C
out
was measured during steady-state operation for different
values of the tank overflow rate U (defined as flow through the tank per unit
horizontal surface area) and for a constant suspended solids inflow concentration
C
in
:

a. Estimate the concentration of suspended solids in the inflow C
in
and the settling
velocity of the particles w
s
(hint: try plotting C
out
vs. U). [w
s
= 100 m/day]
b. What overflow rate must be maintained to achieve 80% removal of solids in the
tank? [25 m/day]
6.2. A water treatment plant is to be designed to treat a flow Q = 0.1 m
3
/s.
a. Particles entering the sedimentation unit have a diameter D = 500 m, a porosity
= 0.9, and a solids density
s
= 1100 kg/m
3
. Determine the required area of the
sedimentation unit such that 80% of these particles will be removed. [286 m
2
]
b. The raw water entering the treatment plant has a total concentration (dissolved
plus sorbed) of the pesticide endrin equal to C
tot
= 0.001 mg/L and a total
suspended solids concentration C
ss
= 100 mg/L. If the sediment-water partition
coefficient for endrin is K
s
= 100 L/kg, determine if 80% solid removal is
sufficient for the treatment plant outflow to meet the primary drinking water
standard for the total concentration of endrin, C
tot
= 0.0002 mg/L. [C
tot
~ 0.001
mg/L; No]
6.3. A rectangular tank of length L, width B, and depth H is to be designed to serve both
as a well-mixed reaction tank for a dissolved constituent in the inflow as well as a
well-mixed settling basin for suspended solids in the inflow. The flow through the
tank is 0.1 m
3
/s, the particles in the inflow have a settling velocity = 10
-3
m/s, and
the reaction rate is 1/hr. For good mixing, the tank dimensions should be such that
L=2B.
a. Determine the dimensions required if the concentration of the dissolved
constituent in the outflow is to be 20% of the inflow concentration and if 90% of
21
the suspended particles are to be removed by settling.[B = 21.2m; L = 42.4m; H
= 1.6m]
b. The outflow concentration of the dissolved constituent is 1000 mg/L. The
standard for discharge for this compound is 0.1 mg/L. A consultant offers to
design a discharge into a nearby large water body to obtain the necessary dilution
to meet the standard (ambient concentration = 0). Do you think this is a feasible
solution? Give your reasons. [S
m
= 10,000; Very, very difficult to achieve in any
water body, therefore, the solution is not feasible]
6.4. An activated sludge secondary treatment unit is to treat an inflow Q = 0.5 m
3
/s with
an inflow BOD concentration S
o
= 150 mg/L so that the outflow from the unit has a
BOD concentration S = 30 mg/L. The MLVSS of the plant is to be maintained at X
= 2000 mg/L, and the concentration of the solids in the flow leaving the secondary
clarifier is X
s
= 10,000 mg/L. Determine the bacterial growth rate , the sludge age
, the aeration tank volume V, the sludge return flow Q
r
, the sludge volume outflow
Q
s
, and the F/M ration. Assume that Y = 0.5 mg VSS/mg BOD,
m
= 2.5/day, and
K
s
= 100 mg/L. [ = 0.58/day;
c
= 1.72 days; V = 2234 m
2
; Q
R
= 0.12 m
3
/s; Q
s
=
260 m
3
/day; F/M = 1.45 day
-1
]
6.5. A sewage effluent has a total suspended solids concentration TSS = 100 mg/L.
Chemical analysis of the effluent indicates the following sediment-water partition
coefficients for three organic pollutants: For each of these constituents, calculate the
fraction sorbed to the suspended solids at the following locations:
a. In the effluent flow. [0.99 for DDT; 0.91 for PCB; 0.091 for Lindane]
b. In the mixed flow resulting from mixing of the effluent with a pollution-free and
particle-free ambient water body. The dilution factor is S
m
= 10. [0.91 for DDT;
0.5 for PCB; 0.0099 for Lindane]
c. In the mixed flow (S
m
= 10) after 90% of the solids have settled to the bottom.
[0.5 for DDT; 0.09 for PCB; and 0.001 for Lindane]

6.6. A water treatment plant with a flow Q = 1 m
3
/sec adds FeCl
3
to increase the
concentration of suspended solids. The reaction of FeCl
3
with water that produces
the solids (in the form of Fe(OH)
3
is:
FeCl
3
+3H
2
O Fe(OH)
3
+3HCl
This reaction may be assumed to happen very rapidly and to result in the formation of small
particles. After FeCl
3
addition and reaction, the flow passes through a flocculation
chamber, where the size of the suspended particles increases, to a sedimentation basin
where a fraction of the particles are removed by settling, and finally to a filter where
essentially all of the remaining suspended solids are removed.
22

a. In the flocculation chamber, which may be considered well-mixed, the small
particles are converted to large particles with a first-order rate k
r
= 20/hr. What is
the required flocculation basin detention time = V/Q, where V is the basin
volume, in order that 90% of the small particles are converted to large particles
by this reaction? [0.45/hr]
b. If the large particles have a settling velocity v
s
= 500 m/day, what is the required
overflow rate v
o
= Q/A, where A is the area of the settling basin, in order that
90% of the large particles are removed by the settling process? [55.6 m/day]
c. Calculate the FeCl
3
mass inflow
3
FeCl
m necessary for the treatment plant to
remove 90% of a toxic compound that is dissolved in the inflow and that has a
sediment-water partition coefficient K
s
= 1 L/mg. Assume that the suspended
solids concentration in the inflow to the plant is negligible compared to the
suspended solids generated by the addition of FeCl
3
and that the toxic compound
reaches sorption equilibrium with the suspended solids in the flocculation basin.
[1,170 kg/day]

6.7. Water hardness is defined as the concentration of calcium and magnesium (Ca
++

and Mg
++
). One way to soften water is to add a chemical that will combine with
these ions to form solid precipitate that can be settled out. For calcium hardness,
soda ash (Na
2
CO
3
) may be added to produce the following reaction:
Ca
++
+ Na
2
CO
3
CaCO
3
(s) + 2Na
+

where the calcium carbonate (CaCO
3
) is in solid form.

a. A water treatment plant must soften a total flow of Q = 1m
3
/s that has a calcium
ion concentration of 100 mg/L. What mass of soda ash must be added each day
to completely remove the calcium hardness? [22,848 kg]
b. The softened water passes into a settling basin. If the solid CaCO
3
particles have
a settling velocity v
s
= 100m/day, what should the area A of the settling basin be
if the objective is to remove 80% of the CaCO
3
solids? [3,456 m
2
]
6.8. The table and diagram below give the flows of water, solids, and BOD for the
Hyperion Treatment Plant in Los Angeles. Use this information to answer the
following questions:
23


a. Does the secondary effluent (#7) meet the water quality requirements that the
total suspended solids concentration and the BOD concentration must both be
less than 30 mg/L? [14 mg/L]
b. What percent of the solids in the primary influent (#4) are removed by primary
settling? [14 mg/L]
c. How many kg per day of solids are generated by the secondary treatment plant?
[3.9 x 10
5
lb/day]
d. How many kg per day of solids are degraded back to soluble material in the
anaerobic digesters? [5.7 x 10
5
lb/day]
e. Is the net effect of the total treatment process, including sludge processing, to
create or diminish the mass of solids in the waste? [-1.7 x 10
5
lb/day; solids lost!]
6.9. In a wastewater treatment plant, sludge from the primary clarifier and waste-
activated sludge from the secondary system are mixed and thickened in a gravity
thickener. The primary sludge contains 1250 kg of dry solids per day with a 4%
solids content by volume (relative to the total volume including liquid) and the
24
waste-activated sludge contains 525 kg dry solids per day with a solids content by
volume of 1.2%. After thickening, the mixture has a solids content by volume of
3%. Assume that all dry solids have a density of 1000 kg/m
3
.
a. Calculate the volume of thickened sludge produced each day. [59 m
3
/day]
b. Calculate the percent volume reduction in the thickener. [79% = volume after
thickening/volume before thickening]
6.10. An activated sludge secondary treatment unit has the following configuration:


Q = inflow to the secondary unit = 1000 m
3
/day
Q
r
= sludge return flow = 200 m
3
/day
X = bacterial biomass concentration = 2000 mg/L
X
s
= sludge return biomass concentration = 10,000 mg/L
V = aeration tank volume = 500 m
3


a. In the aeration tank, the organic matter in the inflow (C
5
H
12
) reacts with oxygen
to form bacterial biomass (C
5
H
7
NO
2
) according to the following reaction:
C
5
H
12
+ 3O
2
+ NH
3
C
5
H
7
NO
2
+ 4H
2
O
If the molecular weights are C = 12g, H = 1g, O = 16g, and N = 14g, determine
the theoretical maximum yield of the reaction Y = bacterial biomass produced
per mass of BOD (organic matter) consumed. [1.2]
b. Assuming the entire system is at steady-state, what is the growth rate of the
bacteria in the aeration tank? [0.4/day]
c. Assuming the system is at steady-state, find the sludge outflow rate Q
s
. Neglect
the bacterial biomass flow in the outflow from the settling tank, i.e., assume all
of the solids entering the settling tank end up in the sludge outflow or sludge
return flows. [40 m
3
/day]
25
6.11. A water treatment plant consists of a flocculation tank, a settling basin, and a
filtration unit. The plant is to be designed to treat a total flow of Q =1 m
3
/s.

C
ss
= 0 C
ss
= 25 mg/L C
ss
= 5 mg/L C
ss
= 0


Q Q





a. To increase the suspended solids concentration, a mass flow of dissolved FeCl
3
,
3
FeCl
m , is added to the flocculation tank. In this tank, the dissolved FeCl
3
is
converted to solid Fe(OH)
3
in a reaction with a first order rate coefficient k
r
=
12/hr. Determine the necessary volume of the flocculation tank, V, such that
90% of the FeCl
3
is converted to Fe(OH)
3
. You may assume that Q
FeCl
3
<< Q.
[2,700 m
3
]
b. The purpose of the settling basin is to reduce the suspended solids concentration
before filtration. Assume that the suspended solids concentration in the inflow to
the settling basin is 25 mg/L and the settling velocity of the solids, v
s
= 200
m/day. Determine the necessary area, A, of the settling basin so that the
suspended solids concentration leaving the settling basin is 5 mg/L. (Assume
that no more formation of Fe(OH)
3
occurs in the settling basin and neglect the
volume of settled material compared to Q.) [1,728 m
2
]
c. The filtration unit reduces the suspended solids concentration to essentially zero
in the outflow from the treatment plant. Determine the volume discharge Q
s
of
sludge generated by the filtration and settling processes combined. Assume that
the sludge is 5% solids by volume and that the density of the solid material is
2500 kg/m
3
. [20 x 10
-5
m
3
/s = 17.3 m
3
/day]
6.12. A wastewater treatment plant has the following configuration and the indicated
flows of volume Q (in MLD = 10
6
L/day), total suspended solids
TSS
m (in MTD =
metric tons/day = 10
3
kg/day), and total BOD (in MTD):

Flocculation Settling Filtration
Q
s

3
FeCl
m
26
a. The regulatory limit on the BOD concentration in the effluent is C
BOD
< 30
mg/L. Does the effluent meet this regulatory limit? [13.9 mg/L; meets standard]
b. What are the advantages to an environmental regulator of placing a limit on the
effluent concentration rather than the concentration in the receiving water body
after mixing has occurred?
c. What is the yield Y (bacterial biomass produced per mass of BOD consumed) in
the secondary treatment process of this plant? [0.42]
d. In the sludge digester, which has a volume V = 10 L and may be considered
well-mixed, a fraction of the suspended solids are converted back to a dissolved
form by a first order reaction. What is the reaction coefficient k
r
for the digestion
process in the sludge digester? [0.0096/day]
e. Is the treatment plant a net sink or source of suspended solids, i.e. is the total
mass flow of suspended solids coming out of the plant greater or less than the
total flow of suspended solids entering the plant? [Total inflow of solids is
greater than total outflow; solids get consumed in digestion; Plant is a net sink of
solids]
6.13. A sewage treatment plant that uses activated sludge as the secondary treatment
process treats a flow Q = 1 m
3
/sec. The suspended solids and BOD concentrations
in the inflow to the plant are C
ss,in
= 250 mg/L and S
o
= 250 mg/L, respectively, and
the suspended solids and BOD concentrations in the outflow are C
ss,out
= 50 mg/L
and S = 50 mg/L, respectively. The yield of the secondary process is Y = 0.5 kg
bacterial mass/kg BOD consumed. The effluent from the plant (Qe ~ Q) is
discharged into a river with a steady discharge Q
a
= 10 m
3
/sec, a constant cross-
sectional area A = 100 m
2
, and a suspended solids concentration C
ss,a
= 1 mg/L.
27
a. Assuming that all the BOD reduction occurs in the secondary treatment unit,
what is the total mass flow of sludge
s
m produced in both the primary and
secondary units (before any sludge digestion)? [25,920 kg/day]
b. If the overflow rate of the settling tank in the secondary unit is U = 50 m/day and
the tank removes 90% of the bacterial solids, what must be the effective settling
speed w
s
of the bacterial solids? [450 m/day]
c. The effluent contains DDT which has a sediment-water partition coefficient K
s
=
5 L/mg. Could the concentration of DDT in the river be significantly affected by
the settling of solid particles in the river? [yes, because fraction sorbed = 0.96]
6.14. The Hyperion wastewater treatment plant has a total inflow Q = 20 m
3
/s with a total
suspended solids concentration TSS = 300 mg/L.
a. Ferric chloride (FeCl
3
) is to be added to the influent to create additional
suspended solids by reacting with water (H
2
O) to form solid ferric hydroxide
(Fe(OH)
3
) and hydrochloric acid (HC1). The desirable concentration of the solid
Fe(OH)
3
after the reaction and complete mixing with the flow is 20 mg/L. If
FeCl
3
costs $0.27/kg, what is the total annual cost of the chemical addition?
[$5x10
6
/yr]
b. The inflow with the original TSS and the added ferric hydroxide solids enters a
primary settling basin The total solids concentration of the inflow to the basin is
C
in
= 320 mg/L. The concentration of suspended solids (influent solids and
Fe(OH)
3
) in the outflow from the settling basin is C
out
= 80 mg/L. What is the
mass flow of sludge
s
m that must be removed from the settling basin (expressed
in kg/day)? [4.1 x 10
5
kg/day]
c. If the settling basin has a total bottom area A = 10
5
m
2
, estimate the settling
velocity of the solids w
s
. Assume the settling basin is well-mixed. [51 m/day]


6.15. A sewage treatment plant uses primary treatment and activated sludge secondary
treatment to treat a flow Q = 10
5
m
3
/day. The concentration of suspended solids is
TSS
in
, = 350 mg/L in the inflow and TSS
e
= 50 mg/L in the effluent. The BOD of
the flow entering the secondary treatment is S
o
= 350 mg/L and the BOD of the
effluent is BOD
e
= 50 mg/L. The dissolved oxygen concentration of the effluent is
DO
e
= 0. The effluent flow Q
e
~ Q discharges into a river with a constant velocity
U = 10
4
rn/day, a cross-sectional area A = 100 m
2
, an ambient BOD
a
=0, and an
ambient DO
a
= DO
sat
= 12 mg/L.
28


a. If the total sludge mass flow generated by the plant is 5 x 10
4
kg/day, what is the
yield Y = bacterial biomass produced per mass of BOD consumed of the
activated sludge secondary treatment process? [0.67]
b. Calculate the minimum dissolved oxygen concentration DO
min
. Assume that the
reaeration coefficient is k
r
= 0.5/day and the deoxygenation coefficient is k
d
=
0.2/day. [10.7 mg/L]
6.16. A population of 5xl0
6
people live in a region with an area A
L
= 10
4
km
2
. The
freshwater runoff available to this population is 40% of the rainfall falling on this
area. The sewage flow generated by the population is Q = 10 m
3
/sec, which is 50 %
of the available freshwater runoff. The sewage flow is treated in a treatment plant
with an activated sludge secondary treatment system. The effluent from the plant
discharges into a large waterbody.
`
The characteristics of the treatment plant are:

Inflow to the plant:
BOD
in
= ultimate BOD in the inflow = 300 mg/L
TSS
in
= total suspended solids concentration in the inflow = 300 mg/L

Primary settling tank:
Percent of TSS entering tank that is removed = 60%
Percent of BOD entering tank that is removed = 30% o
Q/A = Overflow ratio 50 m/day

Secondary unit:
Percent of TSS entering unit that is removed = 90%
Percent of BOD entering unit that is removed = 90%
29
Yield of activated sludge process = 1.0
F/M = food to mass ratio = S
o
Q/XV = 0.5/day
S
o
= BOD concentration entering the unit
X = bacterial mass concentration in the aeration tank
V = aeration tank volume

Sludge flow:
Percent solids by volume = 5%

s
= solids density = 1500 kg/m
3


Effluent discharge:
BOD
m,max
= maximum permissible value of BOD after dilution =3 mg/L
BOD
a
= ambient BOD = 0 mg/L.


a. Is this region water stressed? [126 m
3
/person/yr; very water stressed]
b. Is the annual rainfall (expressed as depth = volume/area) greater or less than the
global average? [0.16 m/yr; much less than the global average]
c. What is the settling velocity w
s
of the particles in the primarly settling tank? [75
m/day]
d. What is the growth rate of the bacteria in the secondary unit? [0.45/day]
e. What is the total volume flow Q
s
of sludge generated (including water) from both
the primary and secondary units including the suspended solids and bacterial
solids removed? [5495 m
3
/day]
f. What fraction of a toxic chemical present in the inflow to the plant is removed
from the effluent (to the sludge) by the treatment plant if the solid-water partition
coefficient of the chemical is K
s
= 1000 L/kg? [22%]
g. What value of dilution S
m
is required to meet the regulatory limit on BOD
m
? Is
this value of dilution easy or difficult to achieve? [7; easy]


30
7. BOD in surface waters
7.1. Wastewater saturated with dissolved oxygen (DO
sat
= 12 mg/L) is discharged into a
river that has zero BOD and is saturated with oxygen (also DO
sat
= 12 mg/L)
upstream of the discharge point. The minimum DO in the river downstream from
the discharge is DO
min
=2 mg/L. Calculate the five-day biological oxygen demand
(BOD
5
) of the wastewater being discharged, assuming that k
d
= 0.2/day, k
r
=
0.42/day, and the ratio of the river flow to the wastewater flow is Q
a
/Q
e
= 10. [286
mg/L]
7.2. After receiving the discharge from a waste treatment plant, a river has a dissolved
oxygen concentration of 8 mg/L and an ultimate BOD of 20 mg/L. The saturation
dissolved oxygen concentration is DO
sat
= 10 mg/L, k
d
= 0.2 day
1
, and k
r
= 0.6
day
1
. The river travels at a velocity of 10 km/day. Calculate the location of the
critical point (time and distance) and the oxygen deficit and concentration at the
critical point.
7.3. The ultimate BOD of a river just below a sewage outfall is 50.0 mg/L and the DO is
at the saturation value of 10.0 mg/L. The deoxygenation rate coefficient is 0.3/d
(k
d
) and the reaeration rate coefficient is 0.90/day (k
r
). The river is flowing at a
speed of 48.0 miles/day. The only source of BOD on this river is this single outfall.
a. Find the critical distance downstream at which the DO in the river is a minimum.
[87.9 miles]
b. Find the minimum DO value. [0.38 mg/L]
c. If a wastewater treatment plant is to be built, what fraction of the BOD would
have to be removed from the sewage to assure a minimum of 5.0 mg/L of DO
everywhere downstream. [48% removed]
31
7.4. A municipality discharges sewage with an ultimate BOD
e
= 300 mg/L and a DO
e
=
0 mg/L. The discharge is into a large coastal water body with an ambient BOD
a
= 0
and a saturated dissolved oxygen level Do
a
= DO
sat
= 10 mg/L.
a. If the BOD and the DO concentrations immediately after initial mixing is
measured to be BOD
m
= 6 mg/L and DO
m
= 9.8 mg/L, what is the initial dilution
S
m
? [50]
b. The mixed flow is carried along the coastline with a velocity U = 1km/day. If
the deoxygenation and reaeration rates are k
d
= 0.25/day and k
r
= 0.5/day,
respectively, what will the dissolved oxygen concentration DO
x
be in the mixed
flow at a distance x = 1 km down the coast? Use the values of BOD
m
and DO
m

given in part (a). [8.85 mg/L]
c. For the same conditions as part (b), what will be the ultimate BOD
x
measured in
a water sample from the mixed flow taken a distance x = 1 km down the coast.
[4.7 mg/L]
7.5. A well-mixed oxidation pond with a total volume V = 100 m
3
treats a steady water
flow Q = 100 m
3
/day. Measurements indicate that the dissolved oxygen
concentration is reduced from DO
in
= 10 mg/L in the inflow to DO
out
= 5 mg/L in
the outflow as a result of the BOD in the inflow consuming oxygen within the pond.
The pond is covered, so there is no reaeration occurring within the pond

coastline
BOD
e

DO
e

BOD
a

DO
a

BOD
m

DO
m

BODx
DO
x

Mixing
zone
U
COVER
Pond


k
d
V

Q

DO
in
C
in
BOD
in
Q

DO
out
C
out
32
a. The oxygen-consuming organic material in the flow is C
5
H
12
and the reaction is:

C
5
H
12
+ 3O
2
+ NH
3
C
5
H
7
NO
2
+ 4H
2
O

where C
5
H
7
NO
2
is bacterial biomass and the molecular weights are H = 1, C = 12, N =
14, and O = 16. If C
in
and C
out
are the concentrations of C
5
H
12
in the inflow and outflow
respectively, calculate the concentration change C = C
in
C
out
. [3.75 mg/L]
b. Assuming that BOD in the pond reacts with a first-order coefficient k
d
=
0.25/day, calculate the ultimate biological demand of the inflow BOD
in
. [25
mg/L]
c. If the cover is removed and reaeration occurs, will C increase or decrease or
stay the same? Why? [stays the same]
d. If the cover is removed and reaeration occurs, will DO
out
increase or decrease or
stay the same? Why? [increase]
7.6. A sewage treatment plant discharges a steady flow of effluent into a river upstream
from the point where the river discharges into the ocean. The river has a constant
cross-sectional area A
R
= 100 m
2
, and upstream from the sewage treatment plant the
average river velocity is steady and equal to U
R
= 10
4
m/day, the dissolved oxygen
concentration is DO
R
=10 mg/L, and the biological oxidation demand is BOD
R
=0
mg/L. The effluent flow from the treatment plant is Q
P
= 10
5
m
3
/day, the effluent
dissolved oxygen concentration is DO
P
= 0 mgIL, and the ultimate BOD of the
effluent is BOD
P
= 100 mg/L. The discharge from the plant mixes completely with
the river flow and passes into a section of the river that extends a distance L
R
=
11,000 m to the ocean and that is covered so that no oxygen exchange with the
atmosphere can take place. The coefficient of deoxygenation in the river is k
d
=
1.2/day.

a. The ambient dissolved oxygen concentration in the ocean is DO
o
= 8 mg/L. With
the present river channel configuration, the dilution of the river flow by ocean
water is S
m
=2. For these conditions, what is the dissolved oxygen concentration
DO
m
in the ocean after initial dilution? [5.4 mg/L]
33
b. The EPA requires that the dilution be increased. Your consultant offers to
redesign the discharge of the river into the ocean to obtain additional dilution
such that the dissolved oxygen concentration in the ocean after mixing becomes
DO
m
= 7.99 mg/L for DO
o
= 8 mg/L and for the worst case condition when the
dissolved oxygen level of the river discharge into the ocean is zero. Do you
think this is a feasible proposal? Why? [800; no; S
m
too large; not practical]
7.7. A combined sewer (sewage mixed with stormwater) carries a steady flow Q
s
= 0.5
m
3
/sec in a culvert with a cross-sectional area A
s
= 50 m
2
and a length l
s
= 1500 m.
At the upstream end of the culvert the BOD in the sewer is L
SO
= 20 mg/L and the
dissolved oxygen is at the saturated value DO
SO
= 10 mg/L. The culvert enters a
river with a steady flow Q
R
= 5 m
3
/sec and a cross-sectional area A
R
= 250 m
2
at a
distance l
p
. = 4 km downstream from a dam. The river flow leaving the dam has
zero BOD and a dissolved oxygen concentration DO
RO
= 5 mg/L. The rate of
deoxygenation of BOD in the culvert is k = 0.25/day, and the rate of reaeration in
the river is k
r
= 0.5/day.

a. Assuming that no reaeration occurs in the culvert, what is the BOD (L
S
) and
dissolved oxygen concentration DO
s
in the culvert flow at the point where it
meets the river (before mixing with the river water)? [L
s
= 12.9 mg/L and DO
s
=
2.9 mg/L]
b. What is the dissolved oxygen concentration DO
R
in the river right before it
mixes with the culvert flow? (Assume that DO
sat
= 10 mg/L everywhere.) [8.4
mg/L]
c. What is the BOD and the dissolved oxygen concentration in the river after
mixing with the culvert flow (L
M
and DO
M
)? [L = 1.2 mg/L and DO = 7.9 mg/L]
7.8. A sewage treatment plant discharges treated effluent into a large water body. The
total flow through the plant is Q = 10
4
m
3
/day. The BOD of the effluent entering the
secondary treatment unit is S
o
= 350 mg/L and the BOD of the effluent is S = 50
mg/L. The BOD and dissolved oxygen in the water body at the end of the mixing
34
zone are BOD
m
= 1.0 mg/L and DO
m
= 10 mg/L, respectively. The ambient BOD is
BOD
a
=0. The saturated value of dissolved oxygen is DO
sat
= 12 mg/L everywhere.

a. What is the dilution S
m
(do not confuse with a BOD value!) achieved in the
mixing zone of the effluent and the water body? [50]
b. If the yield of the secondary treatment unit is Y = mass biosolids produced/mass
BOD consumed = 0.5, what is the total mass flow of sludge biosolids produced
in the secondary unit? Assume that BOD is removed only in the secondary unit.
[1500 kg/day]
c. What is the minimum dissolved oxygen concentration DO
min
that could possibly
occur at any point in the water body as a result of the effluent discharge? [9
mg/L]
d. What is the maximum value of dissolved oxygen DO
max
that can occur at any
point in the water body? [12 mg/L]



35
8. Groundwater
8.1. In a laboratory test, a one cubic meter sample of an aquifer saturated with water was
found to weight 1400 kg. After being allowed to drain thoroughly, the sample
weighed 1100 kg. After being crushed and thoroughly dried, the sample weighed
900 kg. Calculate the specific yield, the porosity, the specific retention, and the
specific gravity of the solids (ratio of solid density to that of water). [ = 0.5; S
y
=
0.3; S
r
= 0.2; Specific gravity = 1.8]
8.2. Radioactive material is spilled accidentally into an aquifer. The groundwater
elevation of the aquifer at the site of the spill is 10 m above the water surface of a
river 1.5 km away. Neglecting any effects of retardation, estimate the length of
time required for the material to reach the river if the aquifer material is:
a. Gravel [12.5 days]
b. Clay [2.3 x 10
8
days]
c. Sandstone [7500 days]
d. Granite [5 x 10
6
days]
8.3. An accidental spill of pollutant creates a ``blob'' of contaminated groundwater
moving horizontally in an unconfined aquifer. Two wells are drilled a distance L =
100 m apart directly in the path of the blob. At each well, a continuous
measurement is made of the water level in the well and the concentration of the
pollutant in the aquifer at the site of the well.
a. If the water levels in the wells are observed to be steady at h
1
= 100 m and h
2
=
90 m, and the pollutant concentrations are as shown in the plots, estimate the
hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer, K. Assume that the pollutant is not
retarded by sorption and that the porosity of the soil is = 0.5. [2 m/day]
b. Assuming that the pollutant undergoes a first-order reaction that decreases the
concentration as it moves, use the information on pollutant concentration to
estimate the first order reaction coefficient, k
r
. Assume that dispersion is
negligible. [2.5 x 10
-3
/day]
h
1

h
2

L
BLOB
c
1
c
2

1.3 mg/L
250 days
500 days
0.7 mg/L
c
1

c
2

36
c. Discuss briefly and qualitatively how retardation and dispersion will affect the
time history of and concentrations measured at the wells. [retardation will
increase all the travel times; dispersion will spread out the concentration over
more groundwater, reducing the peak concentrations]
8.4. A confined aquifer with a thickness B = 10 m and width W = 100 m is
contaminated with a toxic pollutant over a region with a length L = 500 m. The soil
in the aquifer has a hydraulic conductivity K = 1 cm/s and a porosity = 0.2. The
retardation factor for the pollutant R = 10. To clean up the contamination a uniform
flow of water is created in the aquifer by pumping out contaminated water on one
side and pumping in clean water on the other. The total rate of pumping is Q = 0.02
m
3
/sec.

a. What is the difference in the piezometric head h between the injection and
removal wells? [1 m]
b. How long will the pumping have to last to remove the pollutant completely?
[578 days]
c. If the initial total concentration of pollutant (sorbed and dissolved) is C
tot
= 100
mg/L, what is the initial concentration of dissolved pollutant in the water
pumped out of the aquifer? [50 mg/L]
8.5. An accidental spill results in 100 gallons of a toxic liquid chemical entering an
unconfined aquifer. The aquifer has a porosity of 0.25 and a hydraulic conductivity
of 10
-3
m/s. The density of the liquid is 1200 kg/m
3
and the sorption to solids is
negligible. Groundwater samples show that the chemical quickly dissolved in
water, forming a blob with a total volume of 10
5
m
3
.
a. What is the minimum volume of porewater that must be pumped out to remove
the contaminant? [2.5 x 10
4
m
3
]
Contaminated Soil
h
Q Q
Flow
L
B
W
37
b. What is the concentration of the chemical in the porewater within the blob
immediately after dissolution in the groundwater? [18 mg/L]
c. The aquifer water table has a constant slope given by h/L = 0.001. The blob is
moving with the groundwater. As it moves, the chemical is degraded by reaction
at a rate of 1/yr. How far will the blob move before the concentration is reduced
to 1% of its initial value? [580 meters]
8.6. An unlined landfill is located on a hill above a populated area. The landfill area is
100 m
2
and the bottom of the landfill is 100 m above the water table. The
groundwater flows at a Darcy velocity of 1 m/d toward a drinking water well (1 km
away). The hydraulic conductivity of the soil is 10 m/d and the porosity is 0.4.
Estimate how long it will take a contaminant plume with a retardation factor of 5 to
reach the well by leaching from the landfill and traveling horizontally with the
groundwater flow.
8.7. A landfill is lined with a 10cm thick layer of clay (porosity = 0.45, K=5 x 10
-8
cm/s)
overlying sandy soil (porosity = 0.35, K=10
-2
cm/s). Estimate how long it will take
for the leachate to penetrate the clay liner. Also, If the liner was not there, how
long would it take a toxic compound with a retardation factor of 5 to reach the
water table 10 m below the landfill?
8.8. Municipal solid wastes are placed and compacted in a landfill (layers of 2m deep).
Before placement, the material has a density of 300 kg/m
3
of which 25% (by
weight) is water. After compaction the waste has a density of 600 kg/m
3
and a
maximum moisture content of 0.3. The annual rainfall is 900 mm, of which 67% is
lost to evaporation and 17% to runoff. Estimate the time for one layer of waste to
become saturated (achieve maximum water content) with rain.
8.9. An agricultural area (of 10
4
m
2
) is fertilized with sludge containing high levels of
arsenic that pose a health threat. The area gets an annual rainfall P = 1 m and an
annual evaporation E = 0.5 m. Water enters the area as irrigation flow Q
I
and
leaves as seepage downward to the soil. The aquifer has a h/L = 0.1, K = 0.01
m/d, and = 0.4.
a. Estimate the magnitude of the irrigation flow Q
I
(in m
3
/day) necessary to keep
the agricultural area saturated (for growing rice).[290 m
3
/day]
b. Once the arsenic reaches the aquifer, how much time will it take to read a
drinking water well located 50 m from the area in the direction of flow? Assume
that arsenic has an R = 2.
8.10. The annual precipitation and evaporation for a watershed of area A
w
= 10
9
m
2
are P
= 1 m/year and E = 0.5 m/year. Infiltration is negligible because of a relatively
impermeable clay layer close to the ground surface. To allow rainfall to be astored
as groundwater, rainfall is routed to a spreading basin constructed with a bottom
surface in contact with soil with a coefficient of permeability K = 1m/day and a
porosity n = 0.4 at all depths. Water flowing from the watershed and then through
the bottom of the spreading basin eventually reaches the water table of a regional
38
unconfined aquifer located a distance L
a
= 10 m below the spreading basin. The
water table of the regional aquifer has a slope h/L = 0.001. The runoff from the
watershed contains bacteria that sorb to the solids in the soil with a retardation
coefficient R = 2.

a. What should the area A
s
of the spreading basin be to allow all of the excess
rainfall (precipitation less evaporation) to reach the groundwater? Assume that
all processes are stead and that the water depth in the spreading basin is very
small relative to L
a
.
b. A nearby town has a water supply well located a distance L
w
= 1.0 km from the
spreading basin. What is the total time it takes for a bacterial cell to travel from
the spreading basin to the well?
8.11. A total volume V
o
= 10
4
m
3
of oil stored in an unlined reservoir leaks into the soil
below. After some time all of the oil reaches the water table, where it floats on top
of the water without mixing with the water. The density of the oil is
o
= 900 kg/m
3

and the viscosity of the oil is
o
= 10
-1
kg/m-sec.
watershed (A
w
)
Impermeable
layer
Spreading
basin
Aquifer
(K, n)
well
water
table
L
w

L
a

A
s

P
E
h/L
39
Oil reservoir
Floating oil
Leak
L
Q
Q
Reaction Tank

a. If the hydraulic conductivity of the soil is K = 10 m/day and the porosity of the
soil is 0.4, how long will it be before the oil first reaches the water table, which is
a distance L = 10 m below the surface of the oil reservoir (assume that the oil
level in the reservoir remains nearly constant during this interval)? Assume that
the effects of sorption are negligible (R = 1). [note: the viscosity of water is
o
=
10
-3
kg/m-sec] [44.4 days]
b. If the porosity of the soil is 0.4, and the oil completely saturates the soil, what is
the total volume of solid material (soil) that is contaminated after all of the oil
reaches the water table? (do not include the soil between the reservoir and the
water table.) [1.5 x 10
4
m
3
solids only]
c. A pump and treat system is to be used to clean up the floating oil. Oil is pumped
from the ground at a rate Q = 1 m
3
/day into a well-mixed reaction tank where the
oil is degraded by bacteria at a first-order rate k
r
=0.1/day. The undegraded oil
and water generated by the reaction is pumped back into the ground. What
should the volume V of the tank be so that 50% of the oil entering the tank is
degraded? [10 m
3
]
d. The oil degradation is accomplished by a culture of bacteria (C
5
H
7
NO
2
) that
consume the oil (C
2
H
3
) according to the following reaction:

20C
2
H
3
+ 15O
2
+ 8NH
3
8C
5
H
7
NO
2
+ 14H
2
0

After all of the oil is degraded, what will be the total mass of bacteria generated by the
pump and treat system?
8.12. A superfund site contains a large number of buried barrels of hazardous waste
containing PCBs. The barrels begin leaking slowly, which results in a
concentration of 5 g/L in the groundwater directly beneath the barrels. A private
drinking well is located one kilometer from the site in the direction of groundwater
flow.
40
a. The Darcy velocity in the aquifer is V = 0.2 m/day, the porosity of the aquifer is
0.4, and the retardation factor for PCB is R = 5. How long will it take for the
PCBs to reach the drinking water well? [10,000 days]
b. If the first-order rate constant for degradation of PCB in the aquifer is 4 x 10
-4
/day, what will be the concentration of PCB in the groundwater when the PCBs
reach the drinking water well? [0.092 g/L]
8.13. Use the Kozeny-Karman equation to determine:
a. The hydraulic conductivity of sand with a uniform grain size of 0.1 mm and a
porosity of 0.35. [5.5 x 10
-3
cm/s]
b. The conductivity of the same sand with respect to a flow of oil with a specific
gravity of 0.9 and a viscosity
oil
= 0.1 kg/m-sec. [~5 x 10
-5
cm/s; oil moves 100
times slower]
8.14. A 750-meter long section of river runs parallel to a channel 1000 m away. A
confined aquifer connecting the two has a hydraulic conductivity equal to 7.0 m/day
and a thickness of 10 m. The surface of the river is 5.0 m higher than the surface of
the channel. Estimate the rate of seepage from the river to the channel. What
material is the aquifer made of? [262.5 m
3
/d; based on the K, sandstone]

8.15. A confined aquifer with a porosity = 0.5, height B = 10 m, and constant width W
= 100 m connects directly to a lake with a surface area A
L
= 10
5
m
2
. The
groundwater flow in the aquifer is toward the lake with a steady Darcy velocity V =
0.1 m/day. There is no outflow from the lake and the flow from the aquifer is
balanced by evaporation from the lake surface.
41

a. What is the rate of evaporation from the lake surface E, expressed as meters per
year? [0.365 m/yr]
b. The piezometric head at a distance L = 100 m from the lake is h
1
= 16 m, and the
piezometric head at the lake is h
2
= 15 m (all relative to the datum at the bottom
of the aquifer). What is the hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer K? [10 m/day]
An old underground tank is leaking PCB steadily into the aquifer at a distance L 100 m
from the lake. The flow of PCB from the tank mixes uniformly with the groundwater
flow in the aquifer as it passes by the tank, creating a uniform dissolved PCB
concentration C
1
= 2 x 10
-2
mg/L in the aquifer at that point. The dissolved PCB
concentration in the aquifer just before it flows into the lake is C
2
= 1 x 10
-2
mg/L.
c. What is the mass flow of PCB leaking from the tank? Assume that there are no
other sources of PCB and that the volume flow of the leak is negligible compared
to the flow in the aquifer. [2 g/day]
d. The PCB degrades with a first-order reaction coefficient k
r
= 10
-4
/day in the
aquifer. What is the retardation coefficient R of the PCB in the aquifer? [13.9]

The dissolved PCB concentration in the lake water is C
L
= 9 x 10
-5
mg/L. The lake has a
steady suspended solids concentration C
ss
= 1 mg/L and a steady particle settling
velocity of w
s
= 1m/day. The sediment partition coefficient between the PCB and these
particles is K
s
= 10
5
L/kg. The PCB is concentration in the lake fish with a
bioconcentration factor BCF = 10
5
L/kg. The fish are caught and completely consumed
by the residents of a nearby town with a population of 1,000 at a rate of 1 fish weighing
10 g per day per person.

e. Assuming that the PCB also degrades in the lake with a first-order coefficient k
r

= 10
-4
/day, determine the rate (mass/time) at which the PCB in the lake:
i) degrades in the lake [9 mg/day]
ii) sorbs to suspended solids in the lake and settles to the bottom [900
mg/day]
iii) is removed with the fish [90 mg/day]

f. The carcinogenic potency of the PCB for oral ingestion is 7.7 [mg/kg/day]
-1
.
How many of the occupants of the town will die of cancer from eating the fish
42
from the lake? Assume that all the people are adults weighing 70 kg and that
they eat fish all their adult life. [9.9 or 10 people will die]

43
9. Solid and Hazardous Waste
9.1. An incinerator burning chlorobenzene has an inflow rate of chlorobenzene of 153
kg/hr and an outflow rate of 0.01 kg/hr. The outflow rate of HCl (measured after
pollution control) is 1.2 kg/hr and the outflow rate of particulates is 3.615 kg/hr
(measured at 7% O
2
). The stack gas flow is 375.24 dscm (dry standard cubic
meters) per minute.
a. Does the incinerator meet a target DRE of 99.99% for chlorobenzene?
b. Assuming that all of the chlorine in the chlorobenzene is converted to HCl, does
the incinerator meet the standards on HCl specifying that the outflow will be less
than the larger of 1.8 kg/hr or 1% of the HCl in the stack gas before pollution
control? (compute both limits, assume 1 mole of chlorobenzene gives 1 mole of
HCl)
c. Does the incinerator meet the target of 180 mg/dscm of particulates (measured at
7% O
2
)?
9.2. Solid waste is generated by a small municipality with a population of 100,000. The
total waste generated is 2.5 kg/person-day. Characteristics of the waste are shown
below. The compaction ratio is the ratio of the compacted to uncompacted density:

Type % of total (by
weight)
Density (kg/m
3
) Compaction ratio
Paper 45 80 5.0
Food 15 300 2.5
Rubbish 15 160 4.0
Ash/Metal 25 480 3.0

Estimate the area of land required for a landfill with an average depth of 7.5 meters
that will serve the municipality for 20 years assuming that the volume of waste is
85% of the total landfill volume (the rest being fill). [5 x 10
5
m
2
]
9.3. Municipal solid wastes are placed and compacted in a landfill (layers of 2m deep).
Before placement, the material has a density of 300 kg/m
3
of which 25% (by
weight) is water. After compaction the waste has a density of 600 kg/m
3
and a
moisture content of 0.3. The annual rainfall is 900 mm, of which 67% is lost to
evaporation and 17% to runoff. Estimate the time for one layer of waste to become
saturated (achieve maximum water content) with rain. [2.14 years]
9.4. Domestic municipal solid waste is a small fraction of the total solid waste. Why
should we care about recycling our papers and plastics if we contribute a small
fraction of the total waste? Shouldnt the focus be on industries rather than
individuals?
9.5. An incinerator burns toxic waste, producing a plume that extends downwind.
Before pollution control equipment is installed, the rate of sulfur dioxide (SO
2
) gas
44
emission is measured to be 100 kg/day. For the most common wind and
atmospheric stability conditions the maximum concentration of SO
2
is measured at a
point one kilometer downwind to be 100 g/m
3
.
9.6. Vinyl chloride is used by a manufacturing facility which discharges to a nearby
river a steady effluent flow Q
eF
= 0.01 m
3
/sec with a vinyl chloride concentration
C
eF
= 1 mg/L. The river has a steady flow Q
a
= 1 m
3
/sec, a constant cross-sectional
area A = 100 m
2
, and an ambient vinyl chloride concentration C
a
= 0. The facility
also pumps a quantity of the vinyl chloride to a treatment plant which also
discharges to the river, at a distance L
p
= 1000 m downstream from the facility
discharge, a steady effluent flow Q
eP
= 0.5 m
3
/sec with a vinyl chloride
concentration C
eP
= 0.01 mg/L. A sludge flow
in
m , from the treatment plant is
burned in an incinerator with a destructive removal efficieny DSR = 99.99% and a
mass flow
out
m =10
-4
kg/day of vinyl chloride in the stack gas (leaving the
incinerator).


a. Assuming that the vinyl chloride has a first-order decay rate k
r
= 1/day in the
river, calculate the concentration of vinyl chloride C
mP
immediately downstream
from the discharge from the treatment plant. (neglect any decay in the channels
leading to the river.)
b. Calculate the mass flow of vinyl chloride in kg/day used by the facility. (do not
consider any decay of the vinyl chloride in the facility, treatment plant, or sludge
flow.)
45
10. Air Quality
10.1. A single story home with infiltration rate of 0.5 ach has 200 m2 of floor space and a
total volume of 500 m
3
. If 0.6 pCi/m
2
-s of radon is emitted from the soil and enters
the house, estimate the steady-state indoor radon concentration.
10.2. A manufacturing company has gathered the following information on annual mass
flows of methylene chloride (CH
2
Cl
2
) in and out of the manufacturing plant:
Purchases of CH
2
Cl
2
: 228 barrels
Concentration of CH
2
Cl
2
in the
flow to the treatment plant:
4.04 mg/L
Discharge to the treatment plant: 0.076 m
3
/s
CH
2
Cl
2
shipped out as hazardous:
228 barrels (25% CH
2
Cl
2
by volume)
Unused barrels of pure CH
2
Cl
2
: 8
Estimate the annual mass emissions of CH
2
Cl
2
from the plant to the atmosphere. (Note: 1
barrel = 0.12 m
3
and the density of CH
2
Cl
2
is 1326 kg/m
3
)
10.3. A manufacturing plant receives shipments of pure chlorine (Cl
2
) at a rate of (
in
m )
750 kg/day. The plant manufactures trichloroethylene (TCE) (C
2
HCl
3
) which it
ships out (
out
m ) at a rate of 700 kg/day. Liquid and solid waste from the plant
passes through a settling basin at a rate of Q = 1000 m
3
/day. TCE in the sludge
from the settling basin is removed at a rate of
s
m = 100 kg/day. The concentration
of TCE vapor in the air inside the plant is C
p
= 10 mg/m
3
. The air flow through the
plant volume achieves a ventilation rate I = 1/hr, and the inside volume of the plant
is V = 10
5
m
3
. The ambient concentration of TCE in the outside air is zero.

a. Assuming that the above quantities are the only mass flows in and out of the
plant, and that there is no storage of Cl
2
or TCE inside the plant, what is the
concentration C
out
of TCE in the flow out of the settling basin?
Plant

V C
p

Settling basin
s
m
out
m
in
m
I
C
out

Q
46
b. A total of 100 workers in the plant (each assumed to weigh 70 kg) are exposed to
cancer risk by breathing the air at a rate of 20 m
3
/day for 50 years out of their 70
year lifetimes. The potency factor for TCE by inhalation is 1.3 x 10
-2

[mg/kg/day]
-1
. The benefit of reducing the risk is estimated to be $2 x 10
6
per
life saved. If the cost of ventilation is $100,000 x I, where I is measured in hr
-1
,
should the ventilation rate be increased (or decreased) so that the benefits equal
the costs?
c. The sludge from the settling basin is continuously removed and burned in a
hazardous waste incinerator. The mass flow of TCE in the airflow from the
incinerator is 10
-3
kg/day. Does the incinerator meet a performance standard of
DRE 99.99%?
10.4. Determine the PSI and the air quality description for a day in which the following
maximums occurred: [PSI = 150]
1-hr O
3
concentration 230 g/m
3

8-hr CO concentration 12 mg/m
3

24-hr TSP concentration 200 g/m
3
24-hr SO
2
concentration 325 g/m
3

1=hr NO
2
concentration 100 g/m
3

10.5. A freeway has 10,000 vehicles per hour passing a house 200 m away. Each car
emits an average of 1.5 g/mile of NO
x
, and the wind is blowing at 2 m/s across the
freeway toward the house. Estimate the NO
x
concentration at the house on a clear
summer day at noon (neglect any reactions involving NO
x
). [0.038 mg/m
3
]
10.6. A stack emitting 80 g/s of NO has an effective stack height of 100m. The wind
speed is 4 m/s at 10m, and it is a clear summer day with the sun nearly overhead.
Estimate the ground level concentration at the following locations:
a. Directly downwind at a distance of 2 km [38 g/m
3
]
b. At a point located 2 km downwind and 0.1 km off the downwind axis. [36
g/m
3
]
10.7. Sidestream smoke from a cigarette contains roughly 100 g of benzo-a-pyrene.
How many cigarettes per day would yield enough sidestream smoke to increase the
cancer risk for a non-smoker by 1 x 10
-6
if that individual spends all of his time
indoors in a 150-m
3
home having 0.5 air exchanges per hour? Assume that benzo-
a-pyrene has a half-life of 3 days, an inhalation potency factor of 6.11 [mg/kg/day]
-
1
, and that its ambient concentration is negligible. [0.01 cigarettes/day]
10.8. An office building with a volume V = 2000 m
3
and an infiltration rate I = 1/hr is
exposed to the 100 g/m
3
SO
2
concentration so that the ambient concentration
around the office building is C
a
= 100 g/m
3
. Assuming that

there are no other
sources of SO
2
in the office, and that the reaction rate for SO
2
is K = 0.23/hr,
determine if the concentration of SO
2
in the office air exceeds the recommended
limit of 80 g/m
3
.
47
a. If the SO
2
emission rate is reduced to 20 kg/day, what will be the maximum SO
2

concentration one kilometer downwind form the most common wind and
atmospheric conditions?
b. To reduce the SO
2
emission rate from 100 to 20 kg/day, a wet scrubber is
installed that injects lime (CaO) and water (H
2
O) into the air flow leaving the
incinerator. The lime and water react with the SO
2
, creating solid calcium sulfite
dihydrate (CaSO
3
2H
2
O) according to the following reaction:

CaO + SO
2
+ 2H
2
O CaSO
3
2H
2
O

c. Determine the mass flow of solid calcium sulfite dihydrate generated in the
scrubber, assuming that the required reduction in SO
2
output is achieved and that
all of the injected lime reacts.
10.9. A tank full of liquid chlorine ruptures and chlorine vapor (Cl
2
) is emitted at a mass
rate of 30 kg/min at ground level. The wind speed is 3 m/s. You are asked by the
fire marshal whether she should evacuate an apartment building that is located at a
distance L = 300 m downwind from the tank car. The threshold concentration of
Cl
2
vapor for health effects is 1.0 ppm. What is your recommendation?
10.10. A plume of particulate material from a point source has a centerline concentration
C
1
= 100 g/m
3
at a distance x
1
= 100 m from the source. The atmospheric stability
condition is B.


a. What is the centerline concentration of particulates C
2
in the plume at a distance
x
2
= 1000m from the source?
b. Health data from adult workers exposed to the particulates at a concentration C
w

= 1000 g/m
3
for a total duration T
d
= 0.1 years indicate that the risk of dying
from this exposure is 10
-6
. What is the risk to the same adults if they were to
u
H
plume
C
1
C
2
e
m
X
1
X
2
48
breath the air in the plume at concentration C
1
= 100 g/m
3
for a lifetime T
1
= 70
years.
c. A building with a volume V = 100 m
3
is exposed to the plume so that the
ambient concentration of the particulates for the building is C
a
= C
1
= 100g/m
3
.
There are no sources of particulates in the building. The concentration of the
particulates inside the building C has been measured for different values of the
air exchange rate I, as shown on the following plot:


What is the decay coefficient K (same as k
r
and ) for the particulates inside the
building?
10.11. The centerline (y = 0) ground level (z = 0) concentration of benzo(a)pyrene at a
distance x = 1000 m downwind from a smokestack with an effective height H = 50
m is C
g
= 10 g/m
3
at a time when the wind velocity at the effective height is u = 10
m/sec and the atmospheric stability class is C.
a. What is the mass flow the of benzo(a)pyrene out of the stack (kg/day)? [294]
b. If the carcinogenic potency of benzo(a)pyrene is 6.1 [mg/kg/day]
-1
, what is the
lifetime risk to a person exposed to C
g
= 10 g/m
3
, assuming that the person
breaths 20 m
3
/day of air and weighs 70 kg? [Risk = 0.017; high]

0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
I (1/hr)
C

(

g
/
m
3
)
u
H
plume
e
m
x

C
g
49
c. What is the lifetime risk from exposure to benzo(a)pyrene of a person (with the
same weight and rate of breathing as in part (b)) who spends all the time in a
building exposed to the concentration cg = 10 g/m
3
(i.e. C
g
= C
a
for the
building), assuming that the building has a volume V = 1000 m
3
and an air
exchange rate I = 0.5/hr, that the benzo(a)pyrene has a half-life T
1/2
= 3 hours,
and that there is no source of benzo(a)pyrene in the building? [Risk = 0.012]
10.12. A factory located on property with dimensions 200 m by 200 m emits a total mass
flow m = 100 kg/day of a conservative (no decay) toxic compound from a vent
located a height H = 10 m off the ground (assume this is the effective height of
release). The wind speed magnitude, measured at 10 m above the ground, is
constant at u = 5 m/s. but the direction of the wind can vary. The ambient
concentration of the compound is zero. Compute the time averaged concentration of
the toxic compound experienced by an individual living at ground level (z = 0) on
the boundary of the factory property which is a distance L = 100 m from the source.
Do this computation in two ways:
a. Use the worst-case atmospheric stability condition and assume that the individual
experiences the laterally centered plume concentration (y = 0) at ground level (z
= 0) a total of 10% of the time. The other 90% of the time the individual
experiences no effect from the source. Use Table 7.8 and Figure 7.48 in the text.
[3.2 x 10
-8
kg/m
3
]
b. Assume that the air volume over the property is well-mixed to an inversion
height of 50 m and that the individual experiences the mixed concentration 100%
of the time. Assume the airflow into and out of the volume is through one of the
200 m long sides at the velocity given above. [2.3 x 10
-8
kg/m
3
]

10.13. A tank truck carrying liquid chlorine overturns and the chlorine vapor (Cl
2
) is
emitted at a rate
e
m = 0.5 kg/sec, generating a potentially toxic plume. The wind is
estimated to have a speed of u = 3 m/sec directly toward an office building filled
with people that is located a distance L = 300 m downwind.
50

a. The fire marshal asks you to help estimate if the people in the building could
possibly, in the worst case conditions, be exposed to a plume concentration
greater than 10 ppm of Cl
2
. What advice do you give her? [238 ppm; evacuate]
b. Experiments with chlorine vapor indicate that in a room with a volume V = 100
m
3
and an infiltration rate I = 1/hr, the concentration inside the room (C) is
related to the ambient concentration (C
a
) by the following plot:

Use this information to estimate the reaction coefficient k
r
(also K) of the chlorine in the
room. Assume that there is no other source of the chlorine other than the ambient air.
[4/hr]

10.14. An unlined hazardous waste landfill is located on a hill above a populated area. The
landfill area is A
L
= 100 m
2
and the bottom of the landfill is a height L
L
= 100 m
above the water table. The groundwater flows with a Darcy velocity V = 1 m/day
toward a well located a distance L
w
= 1 km from the edge of the landfill. The
hydraulic conductivity of the soil is K = 10 m/day everywhere and the porosity is
= 0.4 everywhere. A wind with velocity u = 10 m/s carries a plume of hazardous
waste vapor toward the well site at a height H = 50 m above the ground. The
atmospheric stability category is C.

51


a. Estimate how long will it take a contaminant plume with a retardation factor R =
5 to reach the well by leaching from the landfill and traveling horizontally with
the groundwater flow. [5.5 years]
b. After the contaminant reaches the well, the concentration in the well water is C
w

= 10 mg/L. If the porewater concentration of the contaminant in the landfill is C
L

= 100 mg/L, what is the area of the aquifer A
A
though which the groundwater
flows? Assume that the contaminant leaching is a continuous process that has
reached steady state and that the leaching flow mixes uniformly over the aquifer
area. [10
4
m
2
]
c. The measured concentration of contaminant vapor in the air is C
A
= 10 mg/m
3
at
ground level at the well site. Use the dispersion diagrams in your text to estimate
the rate of contaminant vapor emission Q
v
(mass/time) from the landfill. [3.5
kg/sec]
d. If a person living near the well breathes 20 m
3
of air a day and drinks 2 L a day
of water from the well, what is the ratio of the risk of cancer from breathing to
cancer from drinking? Use the values for C
A
and C
w
given above. [Risk of cancer
from breathing is 10 times the risk of cancer from drinking]
10.15. A recent article in the New York Times said that airline passengers are complaining
of headaches they claim are caused by reduced rates of ventilation of the passenger
cabin. The airlines admit that to conserve energy (the air from outside has to be
heated) they have increased the time for a complete change of cabin air from 3
minutes to 9 minutes.
a. Does this change in the rate of air exchange pose any additional non-cancer
health risk due to inhaling acetone vapor for a 70-kg person who flies once a
week for 10 hours (coast to coast and back) for 40 years out of a 70-year
lifetime? You may assume that the person inhales air at a rate of 5 m
3
/day. The
RfD for acetone is 0.1 [mg/kg/day]
-1
and the rate of decay is zero. The airplane
has a volume of 500 m
3
and carries 250 passengers each of whom emits acetone
at a rate of 50 mg/day. You may assume the cabin is well-mixed and that the
52
outside air contains no acetone vapor. [CDI = 3.9 x 10
-4
mg/kg/day << RfD; no
non-cancer risk]
b. In response to these complaints, investigators conducted controlled
measurements of the cabin concentrations of three different compounds (A, B,
and C) for different rates of air exchange I. The results of these measurements
are shown schematically on the following plot of cabin concentration C
C
vs. the
rate of air exchange I:


Briefly explain why each of these curves might look the way they do, i.e. why the
concentration of the different compounds vary in different ways to changes in the cabin
air exchange rate. (note: these tests are independent of the conditions given in part (a))
[A: C
a
= K = 0 and S 0; B: S = 0, K >> I, and C
a
0; C: C
a
= 0, K >> I, and S 0 or K
= S = 0 and C = C
a
]







53
11. Radiation/Radioactivity
11.1. A 55 gallon drum of tritiated water (water containing some
3
H) is found on
November 11, 1993 in a warehouse. The label specifies an activity of 30 Ci/mL
and is dated November 11, 1960.
a. If the half-life of tritium is 12.3 years, what is the activity of tritium in the drum
now?
b. The drinking water standard for tritium is 3 x 10
-6
Ci/mL. Would it be safe to
empty the drum into a reservoir with a volume of 5 x 10
9
L? (assume
instantaneous mixing)
c. How long would you have to store the drum for the activity to decay to the
drinking water standard (without dilution)?
11.2. Liquid radioactive material with a half life of 3 days is accidentally discharged into
a river that has a constant velocity U = 0.1 m/s and an area A = 10
4
m
2
. As it
discharges, the radioactive material mixes completely with the river flow. The flow
rate Q
e
and concentration C
e
of the accidental discharge are given be the following
plots:


a. You are responsible for setting the time and distance downstream over which
drinking water withdrawals from the river will be restricted until the
concentration of the radioactive material in the river falls below the water quality
standard of Cmax = 10
-3
Ci/mL. What is your recommendation? Give a single
time interval and a single distance. Neglect any sorption of radioactive material
to suspended solids and assume that the ambient radioactivity level is zero. [173
km]
b. At one point in the river after the spill, the total concentration of radioactive
material (dissolved and sorbed) is measured to be C
tot
= 0.01 Ci/mL. If the
sediment-water partition coefficient for the radioactive material is K
s
= 10
5
L/kg
and the suspended solids concentration in the river is C
ss
= 10 mg/L, what is the
dissolved concentration of the radioactive material in the river at that point?
[0.005 Ci/mL]
Q
e

C
e

1 L/sec
10
5
Ci/mL
time time
1000s 1000s
54
11.3. The radon concentration in a house is measured to be C = 1.5 pCi/L (the Ci is a unit
of radiation that is analogous to mass and 1 pCi = 10
-12
Ci). The infiltration rate is I
= 1/hr and the house volume is V = 500 m
3
. The decay rate for radon is K = 7.6 x
10
-3
/hr.
a. One route for radon to enter the house is to be carried in with outside air that
enters the house. Assuming that this is the only way radon enters this house,
calculate the ambient concentration of radon C
a
in the outside air. With this
mode of radon entry, will the concentration increase or decrease if the infiltration
rate I were to increase? [does not change much as I increases]
b. Another route for radon to enter the house is for it to be emitted by the materials
from which the house is constructed, essentially forming a source within the
house. Assuming that this is the way radon enters this house, calculate the
effective radon source strength S in pCi/hr. With this mode of radon entry, will
the concentration increase or decrease if the infiltration rate I were to increase?
[decreases as I increases; S = 750,000 pCi/hr]
c. Data from uranium miners indicate that breathing air with a radon concentration
of 100 pCi/L for one month of working hours (173 hours) is estimated to cause a
risk of 3 x 10
-4
of dying of lung cancer. What is the risk associated with a
lifetime (70 years) of breathing air with a radon concentration of 1.5 pCi/L (the
average in US households)? Assume that the rate of breathing, body weight,
lifetime, and potency are the same as for uranium miners. [Risk = 0.016; too
high]



55
12. Risk
12.1. One way to estimate maximum acceptable concentrations of toxic compounds in
drinking water or air is to pick an acceptable lifetime risk and calculate the
concentration that would give that risk assuming standard daily intakes given in the
handouts. Find the acceptable concentrations of the following substances:
a. Benzene in drinking water at a lifetime risk of 10
-5
(in mg/L).
b. TCE in air at a lifetime risk of 10
-6
(in mg/m
3
)
12.2. Suppose a factory releases a continuous flow of wastewater into a local stream
resulting in a carcinogen concentration c = 100 g/L just downstream of the outfall
mixing zone. Suppose this carcinogen has an oral potency factor of 0.30
(mg/kg/day)
-1
and that it is degradable at a rate k
r
= 0.1/day. The stream velocity is
1 mi/hr. What is the lifetime cancer risk to individuals in a town 100 miles
downstream who use this stream as the only source of drinking water?
12.3. The RfD for methylene chloride is 0.06 mg/kg/day. Which would be more
stringent, a methylene chloride oral concentration standard based on a carcinogenic
risk of 10
-6
or a standard based on the lifetime oral risk at this RfD (treat this as the
potency factor)?
12.4. In New Bedford Harbor, the well-mixed concentration of PCB is 10
-4
mg/L. The
FDA limit on acceptable PCB concentration in shellfish to be eaten is 2ppm. How
many people are saved from dying of PCB-induced cancer by enforcing this
regulation among a population of 10,000 people (each weighing 70 kg and
consuming 6.5 g of shellfish daily over a lifetime)?
12.5. The EPA lists Cr(VI) (chromium 6) as a carcinogen with an inhalation route
potency factor of 41 (mg/kg-day)
-1
. A sludge incinerator with no air pollution
control equipment is expected to emit Cr(VI) at a rate such that the airborne
concentration at the plant boundary immediately downwind of the incinerator is
0.001 ug/m
3
(micrograms/m
3
). Will it be necessary to treat the emissions so as to
reduce the Cr(VI) to stay within the risk level of 1 additional cancer per 10
6
people?
12.6. Compute the total dose of lead due to inhalation by a child over a period of 2 years
for two situations:
a. The airborne concentration of lead has a constant value of C
o
= 1ug/m
3
over the
2-year period.
b. The airborne concentration of lead is C
o
= 1ug/m
3
at t=0, but then decreases
linearly to 0.8 ug/m
3
over the 2-year period according to C
air
(t) = C
o
(1 - 0.1t),
where t is measured in years.

Data: Intake rate for child: 10m
3
/d and f
air
= 0.3
56
12.7. The child in problem #2 is also exposed to lead in water, food, and dust over the 2-
year period (f
dust
=f
air
, f
food
= f
water
= 0.5). The airborne lead concentration is
characterized as in part b of problem #2. The lead concentrations in water and food
are equal to 10ug/L and 0.1 ug/gram, respectively. The concentration of lead in
dust is assumed to be proportional to that in air (see 2b) because lead in dust is a
result of settling airborne particles.
a. Determine the exposure of the child to lead from all four exposure routes (total
dose) over the 2-year period.
b. Determine the carcinogenic risk posed by lead if the inhaled potency factor is 42
(mg/kg-day)
-1
and the potency factors for water and food are zero.
c. Determine the non-carcinogenic risk if the Oral RfD for Cr(VI) is 0.1 (mg/kg-d)
-
1
and the Inhaled RfD is 5.7 x 10
-5
(mg/kd-d)
-1
. Note that non-carcinogenic risk
is defined as (CDI RfD) x Potency Factor.
12.8. Suppose 1.0 g/day of heptachlor leaks into a 30,000 m
3
pond with no inflow or
outflow (neglect the volume of heptachlor). If heptachlor has a half-life of 2 days,
and the pond can be assumed to be well-mixed:
a. What would be the concentration of heptachlor in the pond (after steady-state
had been reached)?
b. Estimate the maximum risk of cancer to a 70-kg person who drank 2L/day of that
water for 5 years.
12.9. A simplified view of the PCB contamination problem in New Bedford Harbor is as
follows: The sediments in the harbor release a total of
e
m = 1 kg/day of PCB into
the estuary. The estuary is flushed by an effective flow of about Q
a
= Q
m
= 100
m
3
/s of water with zero PCB concentration (C
a
= 0). The released PCBs mix
completely with the flushing flow and shellfish located just outside the harbor are
exposed to the mixed concentration C
m
. For PCB the potency (taken orally) is 7.7
[mg/kg/day]
-1
, the bioconcentration factor is BCF = 10
5
L/kg, and the rate of
degradation is zero.
a. The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) limit on the acceptable PCB
concentration in shellfish to be eaten is 2ppm. How many people are being
saved from dying of PCB-induced cancer by enforcing this regulation at New

57
Bedford among a population of 10,000 people each weighing 70 kg and
consuming 6.5g/day of shellfish taken from the harbor over a lifetime? You may
assume that if the limit is invoked, the population will find an uncontaminated
source of shellfish.
12.10. The LA times reports that sixteen industries located in West Los Angeles emit a
total of 470,438 lbs of trichloroethane (TCA) into the atmosphere each year. The
half-life of TCA in the atmosphere is 1000 days. The average wind speed is about
U = 2m/s in the onshore direction (brining clean air from the ocean). Assuming that
the air over West LA is a well-mixed box with sides of dimension L = 10 km
capped by an inversion layer at a mixing height H = 1000m, calculate whether or
not the chronic daily intake (CDI) of an adult breathing 20 m
3
of air per day and
weighing 70 kg exceeds the TCA reference dose RfD = 0.09 mg/kg/day.
12.11. Estimate the chronic daily intake (CDI) of DDT for a 70-kg individual consuming 2
g of fish per day for a lifetime from a stream with 20 ppb of DDT. What would be
the maximum lifetime cancer risk to this individual due to DDT?
12.12. A sewage treatment plant discharges an effluent flow Q
e
= 0.2 m
3
/s into a well-
mixed lake with a volume V= 10
4
m
3
. The effluent flow is balanced by an equal
flow out of the lake. Dissolved chloroform is formed in the effluent by the reaction
between organic carbon in the effluent and chlorine added to the effluent as a
disinfectant. The concentration of dissolved chloroform in the effluent is measured
to be C
e
= 1000 mg/L. Once formed, the chloroform degrades with a half life of 1
day. What is the lifetime cancer risk to a 70-kg person who eats 6.5 g of fish from
the lake daily?

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L