20 PART I Completely Mixed Systems

system and the water-quality problem, they should prove useful in your efforts to
gain proficiency in modeling.

PRO BLE MS

1.1. How much mass (in g) is contained in 2.5 L of estuarine water that has a salt concen­
tration of about 8.5 ppt?

1.2. Each individual in a city of 100,000 people contributes about 650 L capita-I d-I of
wastewater and 135 g capita-I d-I of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD).
(a) Determine the flow rate (m3s-l) and the mass loading rate of BOD (mta) generated
by such a population.
(b) Determine the BOD concentration of the wastewater (mg L-I).
1.3. You are studying a 3-km stretch of stream that is about 35 m wide. A gaging station on
the stream provides you with an estimate that the average flow rate during your study
was 3 cubic meters per second (cms). You toss a float into the stream and observe that
it takes about 2 hr to traverse the stretch. Calculate the average velocity (mps), cross­
sectional area (m2), and depth (m) for the stretch. To make these estimates, assume that
the stretch can be idealized as a rectangular channel (Fig. PI.3).

5.R :------

C--�-----------------------=1-� -- � J
..
-

FIGURE P 1.3
A stream stretch idealized as a rectangular channel: L = length, B = width, and
H = mean depth.

1.4. In the early 1970s Lake Michigan had a total phosphorus loading of 6950 mta and an
in-lake concentration of 8 J-tg L -I (Chapra and Sonzogni 1979).
(a) Determine the lake's assimilation factor (km3 yr-I).
(b) What loading rate would be required to bring in-lake levels down to approximately
5J-tg L-1 ?
(c) Express the results of (b) as a percent reduction, where

�/o
nt reduct'IOn =
Wpresent - Wfuture ( lOOn!
70
)
Wpresent

1.5. A waste source enters a river as depicted in Fig. P1.5.

(a) What is the resulting flow rate in m3 S-I (cms)?
(b) If instantaneous mixing occurs, what is the resulting concentration in ppm?
1.6. You mix two volumes of water having the following characteristics:

Volume 1 Volume 2
Volume I gal 2L
Concentration 250 ppb 2000 mg m-3
 LECTURE 1 Introduction 21

Waste source:
Q = 10 MGD ( 106gal d-1)
River: c=2mgL-l
A,= 100fF
U = 1fps
c =200ppb

-- -

Instantaneous mixing:
Q =? cms
c =?ppm
FIGURE P1.5

(a) Calculate the concentration (mg L -I ) for the mixture.

(b) Determine the mass in each volume and in the final mixture. Express your result
in grams.

1.7. You require 4 m3 S-I of water with a salt content of 0.1 g L -I for irrigation purposes.

You have two reservoirs from which you can draw water (Fig. Pl.7). Reservoir A has
a concentration of 500 ppm. whereas reservoir B has 50 ppm. What flow rate must be
pumped from each reservoir to meet the objective?

QA = ? ems

Q8 = ? ems

FIGURE P1.7

1.8. You add 10 mL of a glucose solution to a 300-mL bottle and then fill up the remainder of
the bottle with distilled water. If the glucose solution has a concentration of 100 mg L -I.
(a) What is the concentration in the filled bottle?
(b) How many grams of glucose are in the bottle?
1.9. As depicted in Fig. P1.9. many lakes in temperate regions are thermally stratified.
consisting of an upper layer (epilimnion) and a lower layer (hypolimnion).
22 PART I Completely Mixed Systems

Epi l i m n ion
--

Thermocline
... - - - - -

Hypol imnion
- - - �- - - -
}
z

(a) Lake (b) Temperature

FIGURE P1.9

Onondaga Lake in Syracuse, New York, had the following characteristics at the end of
a recent summer:

Dissolved oxygen
concentration
(mg L - 1 )
Epilimnion 8.3
Hypolimnion l .0

Compute the oxygen concentration following a severe storm that mixes the lake from
top to bottom.

1.10. You must measure the flow in a small brook. Unfortunately the channel is so irregular
and shallow that you cannot measure either the velocity or the cross-sectional area ad­
equately. You therefore feed a conservative tracer with a concentration of 100 mg L - I
into the brook at a constant rate of I L min - I . Note that the tracer does not occur
naturally in the system. You then go downstream and measure a concentration of
5 . 5 mg L - I . What is the original flow rate in the creek in m3 S - I ?

1.11. When solids enter a lake or impoundment, a portion settles and collects in an area
called the deposition zone . The rate of accumulation is often expressed as a flux that
is called the lake's deposition rate . This rate is calculated as the mass deposited per
unit time normalized to the deposition zone area. For example approximately 5 million
tonnes of sediment is deposited on the bottom of Lake Ontario annually. The area of
the deposition zone is about 10, 000 km2 .
(a) Calculate the deposition rate in g m- 2 yr-I.
(b) If the concentration of suspended solids in the water is 2.5 mg L - I , determine the
settling velocity from the water to the sediments, assuming that no resuspension
occurs.
(c) Suppose that the sediment itself has a porosity of 0.90 (that is, 90% water by vol­
ume) and that the individual sediment particles have a density of 2.5 g cm-3. De­
termine the sediment burial velocity (that is, the velocity at which the bottom is
being filled in) .

1.12. During warm periods, some lakes become thermally stratified (see Fig. P1. 9). You mea­
sure total phosphorus concentration in the hypolimnion and find that the concentration
increases from 20 f.L g L - I to 100 f.L g L - l over a I-month period. If the bottom area is
 LECTURE 1 Introduction 23

1 km2 and the average depth of the hypolimnion is 5 m, calculate the sediment flux of
phosphorus needed to cause the observation. Express your results in mg m- 2 d-I. In
your calculation assume that the thermocline forms an impermeable barrier between the
upper and lower layers. (No te: Although the thermocline greatly diminishes exchange,
some transport actually occurs. In later lectures, I show how this can be incorporated.)

1.13. The Boulder, Colorado, wastewater treatment plant enters Boulder Creek just above a
USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) flow gaging station.

Boulder Creek
c

- SSO m -

FIGURE P1.13

At 8:00 A.M. on December 29, 1994, conductivities of 170, 820, and 639 fLmho cm-I
were measured at A, B, and C, respectively. (No te: Conductivity provides an estimate
of the total dissolved solids in a solution by measuring its capability to carry an elec­
trical current.) If the flow at the gaging station was 0.494 cms, estimate the flows for
the treatment plant and the creek.

1.14. Sediment traps are small collecting devices that are suspended in the water column to
measure the downward flux of settling solids.

Float

T T T
T
T T
Trap FIGURE P1.14

Suppose that you suspend a rectangular trap (I m x 1 m) at the bottom of a layer of

water. After 10 d, you remove the trap and determine that 20 g of organic carbon has
collected on its surface.
(a) Determine the downward flux of organic carbon.
(b) If the concentration of organic carbon in the water layer is I mgC L-I, determine
the downward velocity of organic carbon.
(c) If the surface area at the bottom of the layer is 105 m2, calculate how many kilo­
grams of carbon are transported across the area over a I -month period.
42 PART I Completely Mixed Systems

EXAMPLE 2.5. EVALUATION OF TEMPERATURE DEPENDENC Y OF RE­

ACTIONS. A laboratory provides you with the f ollowing results f or a reaction:

TI = 4°C kl = 0.12d-1
T2 = 16°C k2 = 0.20d-I
(a) Evaluate () f or this reaction.
(b) Determine the rate at 20°C.
Solution: (a) To evaluate this inf ormation, we can take the logarithm of Eq. 2.43 and
raise the result to a power of 10 to give
log k(T2)-log k(TJ)
() = 10 Tz-TJ

Substituting the data gives

log O. 12- log 0.20
() = 10 4 16 1.0435
(b) Equation 2.43 can then be used to compute
k(20) 0.20 x 1.0435 20-16
=
= 0. 237d-1

Finally it should be noted that there are some reactions that do not follow the
Arrhenius equation. For example certain biologically mediated reactions shut down
at very high and very low temperatures. The formulations used in such situations are
introduced in later lectures.

PROBLEMS
2.1. You perf orm a series of batch experiments and come up with the f ollowing data:

t (hr) o 2 4 6 8 10

10.5 5.1 3.1 2.8 2.2 1.9

Determine the order (n) and the rate (k) of the underlying reaction.

2.2. Derive a graphical approach to determine whether a reaction is third-order.

2.3. To study the photodegradation of aqueous bromine, we dissolved a small quantity of

liquid bromine in water, placed it in a clear jar, and exposed it to sunlight. The f ollowing
data were obtained:

t ( m in) 10 20 30 40 50 60

c (ppm) 3.52 2.48 1.75 1.23 0.87 0.61

Determine whether the reaction is z ero-, fi rst-, or second-order and estimate the reaction
rate.

2.4. At a later date the laboratory inf orms you that they have a more complete data set than
the two measurements used in Example 2.5:
 LECTURE 2 Reaction K inetics 43

T (ee) 4 8 12 16 20 24 28

0.120 0.135 0.170 0.200 0.250 0.310 0.360

U se this data to estimate () and k at 20°C

2.5. An article in a limnologicalt journal reports a QI O f or a phytoplankton growth rate of

1 .9. If the growth rate is reported as 1 .6 d- I at 20°C, what is the rate at 30°C?

2.6. You set up a series of 300-mL bottles and add 10 mL of a glucose solution to each.
Note that the glucose solution has a concentration of 1 00 mgC L -I. To each bottle you
add a small quantity (that is, with an insignificant amount of carbon compared to the
glucose) of bacteria. You fill the remainder of their volumes up with water. Finally you
seal each bottle and incubate them at 20°C. At various times you open one of the bottles
and measure its oxygen content. The f ollowing data results:

t (d) o 2 5 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

10 8.4 6.5 4.4 2.3 1.6 1.3 1.2 1.1 1.1

(a) Develop a conceptual model f or what is taking place inside the bottle.
(b) U sing the inf ormation f rom this lecture, attempt to estimate the decay rate f or the
glucose.

2.7. In the f all of 1 972 Larsen et al. ( 1 979) measured the f ollowing concentrations of total
phosphorus in Shagawa Lake, Minnesota:

Day Day Day

250 97 270 72 290 62

254 90 275 51 295 55
264 86 280 57 300 46

It is known that the primary reason f or the reduction in concentration during t his period
was the settling of particulate phosphorus. If the lake is assumed to act as a batch reactor
and settling is assumed to f ollow a first-order process, determine the removal rate of
total phosphorus f or the lake. If the lake's mean depth is 5 . 5 m, calculate the settling
velocity f or total phosphorus.

2.8. P opulation dynamics is important in predicting how human development of a water­

shed might influence water quality. One of the simplest models incorporates the as­
sumption that the rate of change of the population p is proportional to the existing
population at any time t:

dp
- = Gp ( P 2.8)
dt

'Limnology is the study of lakes . The terminology is derived from the Greek word for lake: limnos.
44 PART I Completely Mixed Systems

where G = the growth rate (yr� I ) . Suppose that census data provides the following
trend in population of a small town over a 20-yr period:

1970 1975 1980 1985 1990

p 100 212 448 949 2009

If the model (Eq. P 2.8 ) holds, estimate G and the population in 1 995.
2.9. The world took about 300 years to grow from about 0.5 billion to 4 billion people.
Assuming first-order growth, determine the growth rate. Estimate the population over
the next century if this rate continues.

2.10. Many lakes in temperate regions are thermally stratified in the summer, consisting of an
upper layer (epilimnion) and a lower layer (hypolimnion). In general the surface layer
has dissolved oxygen concentration near saturation. If it is productive (that is, has high
plant growth), settling plant matter can collect in the hypolimnion. The decomposition
of this matter can then lead to severe oxygen depletion in the bottom waters. When
turnover occurs in the fall (that is, vertical mixing due to decreasing temperature and
increasing winds), the mixing ofthe two layers can result in the lake' s having an oxygen
concentration well below saturation. The following data were collected for Onondaga
Lake in Syracuse, New York:

Date Sep . 30 Oct . 3 Oct . 6 Oc t . 9 Oct . 12 Oct . 15 Oc t . 18 Oct . 21

Oxygen conc . 4.6 6.3 7.3 8.0 8.4 8.7 8.9 9.0
(mg L-I)

If the saturation concentration is 9.2, use this data to evaluate a first - order reaeration rate
for the system (units of d� I ) . Assume that the lake acts as an open batch reactor; that
is, ignore inflows and outflows of oxygen except gas transfer across the lake' s surface.
Also, express the rate as a transfer velocity (units of m d� 1 ). Note that Onondaga Lake
has a surface area of 1 1 . 7 km2 and a mean depth of 1 2 m.

2.11. A reaction has a Q1 0 of 2.2. If the reaction rate at 25°C is 0.8 5 3 wk� 1 , what is the
reaction rate at 1 5°C?

2.12. A commonly used anesthetic is absorbed by human body organs at a rate proportional to
its concentration in the bloodstream. Assume that a patient requires 10 mg of the anes­
thetic per kg of body weight to maintain an acceptable level of anesthesia for surgery.
Compute how many mg must be administered to a 50-kg patient to maintain a proper
level for a 2.5-hr operation. Assume that the anesthetic can be introduced into the pa­
tient's bloodstream as a pulse input and that it decays at a rate of 0.2% per minute.

2.13. Estimate the age of the fossil remains of a skeleton with 2.5% of its original carbon- 1 4
content. Note that carbon-1 4 has a half-life of 5730 yr.

2.14. In 18 28 Friedrich Wohler discovered that the inorganic salt ammonium cyanate
(NH40CN) can be converted into the organic compound urea (NH2CONH 2 ), as in

The proof that this reaction occurred marked the beginning of modern organic and bio­
chemistry. An investigator has reporte d the following data for an experiment initially
containing a pure solution of ammonium cyanate:
 LECTURE 2 Reaction K inetics 45

Time ( m in) o 20 50 65 150

0.381 0.264 0.180 0.151 0.086

Determine the order and rate of the reaction.

2.15. You perf orm a batch experiment and develop the f ollowing data:

o 2 4 6 8 10

c 10.0 8.5 7.5 6.7 6.2 5.8

You know f rom experience that the reaction should be f ollowing a third-order reaction.
U se this inf ormation and the integral method to determine a value f or the reaction rate.

2.16. Suppose that the temperature dependence of a reaction rate is based on its value at 25°C
(note that this is the convention in areas such as chemical engineering). For example
k(T) = O. I(l.06? - 25

Reexpress this relationship based on the rate's value at 20°e.

2.17. The f ollowing data f or concentrations and times were developed f or a series of batch
experiments having diff erent initial conditions:

o 1 .00 2.00 5.00 10.00

I 0.95 1.87 4.48 8.59
2 0.91 1.74 4.04 7.46

Assuming that Eq. 2.7 holds, use the method of initial rates to determine the order and
rate of the reaction.

2.18. Assuming that Eq. 2.7 holds, use the method of half -lives to determine the reaction or­
der and rate by evaluating the f ollowing half -lives and initial concentrations developed
f rom a series of batch experiments:

Co 2 5 10

tso 16 II 7 5

2.19. Assuming that Eq. 2.7 holds, use the integral least-squares method to determine the
reaction order and rate by evaluating the f ollowing data collected f rom a batch experi­
ment:

o 2 4 6 8 10

C 10 7.5 5.8 4.6 3.8 3.1

2.20. The concentration of inorganic phosphorus in natural waters is usually expressed as

phosphorus (P ) . H owever, it is sometimes expressed as phosphate (P04). When reading
a scientific article, you see that an estuary has an inorganic phosphorus concentration of
46 PART I Completely Mixed Systems

10 mg m - 3. As is sometimes the case no guidance is given regarding how the concen­

tration is expressed. How does the concentration change if it is actually mgP04 m - 3?
By what factor would you be off?

2.21. A more complete representation of the decomposition reaction is provided by

C I06 H 26 0 1 1 0N I 6 P I + 1 0 70 2 + 1 4H + -'> 106C0 2 + 1 6NH4 + + HP042 - + 1 08H 20

3
In contrast to the simplified version in Eq. 2.3, this reaction reflects that organic matter
contains the nutrients nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). On the basis of this equation,
gi ven that 10 gC m -3 of organic matter is decomposed, calculate
(a) the stoichiometric ratio for the amount of oxygen consumed per carbon decom­
posed, roc (gO gC - I )
(b) the amount of oxygen consumed (gO m-3)
(c) the amount of ammonium released (expressed as mgN m-3)
62 PART I Completely Mixed Systems

As in Example 3.4 there is a certain amount of subjectivity involved in deciding

"how much" of the recovery is judged as being "enough." In general I recommend using
either t90 or t95 . They are neither too lenient nor too stringent and conform to what most
individuals would deem an acceptable level of recovery.

BOX 3.4. The Rule of 72

Before the days of handheld calculators and computers, bankers and financiers needed
a quick way to evaluate their investments. To do this they developed a heuristic that is
called the rule of 72 . According to the rule, the time required to double your money
can be estimated as

. . 72
Doubllllg tIme .
== :-
- -----:-::
;-:­
lllterest rate (%)

For example if you invested some money at an annual interest rate of 6%, it would
double in approx imately 1 2 years. The same formula can also be employed to assess
how the value of your money decreases due to inflation. For example if the infla­
tion rate is 3%, the money hidden in your mattress would lose half its value in 24
years.
This formula is derived from the concept of the half-life. In fact a more accurate
representation, based on Eq. 3 .4 1 , might be called "the rule of 69.3,"

69. 3
Doubl"lllg time = .
lllterest rate (m
70 )

The reason that a numerator of 72 was chosen is that it is more easily divided by
whole number interest rates. For example

7211 = 72 yr 72/5 == 1 4 yr 72/9 = 8 yr

72/2 = 36 yr 72/6 = 1 2 yr 7211 0 == 7 yr
72/3 = 24 yr 7217 == ] 0 yr
72/4 = 1 8 yr 72/8 = 9 yr

Thus you can quickly figure the time required to double or halve your money.
Aside from providing you with a handy means for evaluating your investments,
we have included this discussion to illustrate how first-order processes and compound
interest are based on similar mathematics.

PROBLEMS
3.1. A pond with a single inflow stream has the following characteristics:

Mean depth = 3m
Surface area = 2X ] OS m2
Residence time = 2 weeks
Inflow BOD concentration = 4 mg L - I
 LECTURE , Mass Balance, Steady-State Solution, and Response Time 63

A subdivision housing 1000 people will discharge raw sewage into this system. Each
individual contributes about 1 50 gal capita- I d - I of wastewater and 0.25 1b capita- I
d- J of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD).
(a) Determine the BOD concentration of the wastewater in mg L - I .
(b) If the BOD decays at a rate of 0. 1 d - I and settles at a rate of 0 . 1 m d- I , calcu­
late the assimilation factor for the pond prior to building the subdivision. Which
of the purging mechanisms are most effective? List them in decreasing order of
effectiveness.
(c) Calculate the transfer function factor after building the subdivision.
(d) Determine the steady-state concentration for the lake with and without the subdi­
VI SIOn.
3.2. A lake with a single inflow stream has the following characteristics:

Mean depth =5m

Surface area = II X 106 m2
Residence time 4.6 yr
=

An industrial plant presently discharges malathion ( W = 2000 X 106 g yr-- I ) to the

lake. In addition the inflowing stream also contains malathion ( Ci n =1 5 mg L - I ). Note
that the volumetric rate of inflow and outflow are equal. Assuming that a first-order
decay reaction can be used to characterize malathion decay (k =0. 1 yr- I ),
(a) Write a mass-balance equation for malathion for this system.
(b) If the lake is at steady-state, compute the in-lake malathion concentration.
(c) If the lake is at steady-state, what industrial plant loading rate must be maintained
to lower the lake's concentration to 30 ppm? Express your result as a percent re­
duction.
(d) Evaluate each of the following engineering options to determine which is the most
effective for lowering the steady-state concentration:
(i) Reduce the present loading rate of the industrial plant by building a waste
treatment facility that will remove 50% of the malathion from the plant's ef­
fluent.
(ii) Double the lake's depth by dredging.
(iii) Double the lake's outflow rate Q by diverting malathion-free water from a
nearby unpolluted stream into the lake.
(e) What other factors would need to be considered (aside from lowering concentra­
tion) when making a decision in (d) in the "real world"?
(j) Determine the 95% response times for each of the options in part (d).
3.3. Recall from Example 1 .3 that in the early 1 970s Lake Ontario had a total phosphorus
loading of approximately 10,500 mta (metric tons per annum) and an in-lake concen­
tration of 2 1 fhg L - I (Chapra and Sonzogni 1 979). It is known that the only losses of
total phosphorus for the lake are settling and flushing through the lake's outlet. Assume
the outflow rate is 2 1 2 km' yr- I and the sediment area is 10, 500 km2 .
(a) Calculate the inflow concentration for the system. Assume that water inflow equals
outflow.
(b) Use a mass balance to estimate the apparent settling velocity for total phosphorus
in this lake.

3.4. A lake has the following characteristics:

Volume = I x 106 m3
Surface Area = I x 105 m2
Water residence time 0. 75 yr
=
64 PART I Completely Mixed Systems

A soluble pesticide is input to the lake at a rate of 10 X 106 mg yr- I . The in-lake
concentration is 0. 8 J.L g L - \ .
(a) Determine the inflow concentration (assume inflow outflow). =

(b) Determine the transfer function.

(c) If the only removal mechanism (other than flushing) is volatilization, compute the
flux of the pesticide out the lake's surface and to the atmosphere.
(d) Express the result of part (c) as a volatilization velocity.

3.5. A rate experiment is performed for a l -L CSTR. The inflowing concentration is held
steady at a level of 100 mg L - \ . The flow is varied and the resulting outflow concen­
trations are measured:

Q (L hr I ) 0.1 0.2 0.4 0.8 1.6

23 31 41 52 64

Use the algebraic method to determine the rate and order of the reaction.

3.6. Derive Eq. 3 .40.

3.7. A pond with a single inflow stream has the following characteristics:

Mean depth = 3 m
Surface area = 2 x 105 m2
Residence time = 2 wk

A subdivision will discharge raw sewage into this system. If BOD decays at a rate of
O. I d - \ and settles at a rate of 0. 1 m d - I , calculate the 75%, 90%, and 95% response
times for the pond.

3.8. Determine a half-life for a batch reactor with a second-order decay reaction.

3.9. Compute the first-order reaction rates for the following substances:
(a) cesium- 1 37 (half-life = 30 yr)
(b) iodine- 1 3 1 (half-life 8 d)
=

(c) tritium (half-life = 1 2.26 yr)

3.10. A lake (volume = l O x 106 m 3 , water residence time = 2 months) is located adjacent
to a railway line that carries considerable traffic of chemicals. You are hired as a con­
sultant to provide insight into potential spills into the lake. If the lake is assumed to be
completely mixed, a spill would be distributed instantaneously throughout the volume.
Therefore the resulting concentration would be Co = mlV, where m is the mass of pol­
lutant that is spilled. Thereafter the lake's response would follow the general solution.
(a ) Develop a plot of hs , t95 , and t99 versus pollutant half life. Use logarithmic scales
where you believe they would be helpful.
(b) Include a short "user's manual" for the plot to provide managers with guidance for
its use and interpretation.
 LECTURE 17 Sediments 315

Substituting the parameters for the present problem into Eq. 17.35 gives,

; )
l. 16
L = 22.81025 tanh
C
Using Lv as the initial guess for L, we can solve the equation iteratively for

Iteration L % error

0 22.810
I 20.081 13.59
2 20.897 3.91
3 20.660 1 .1 4
4 20.730 0.336
5 20.710 0.0983
6 20.716 0.0278
7 20.714 0.00843

This result can be substituted into Eq. 17.37 to calculate the orbital velocity

7T(1.03) 100
U 39.15 cm S-I
= =

3.82 sinh[27T(5)/20.714]

The orbital velocity can then be employed to determine the shear stress,

T = 0.003U2 = 0.003(39.15)2 = 4.6 dyne cm-2

which is used to calculate the sediment erosion rate

e =
8 X 10-3
49
(4.6 - I? = 0.0076 g cm-2

This result can be normalized to depth to yield a concentration in the water,

0.0076
c = 10, 000 = 15.22 mgL-1
5

It can also be expressed as a resuspension velocity,

-
0.0076 g cm-2 hr-I
Vr = = 0.0304 cm h r-I
(I 0.9)2.5 g cm-3

PROBLEMS

17.1. Use Stokes' law to calculate the settling velocities for the phytoplankton and the in­
organic solids (clay and silt) in Table 17.3. Assume that the form factor is 1. Develop
a plot of the measured velocities versus your calculated values. Plot both the growth
and stationary values for the phytoplankton. Use different symbols on the plot to dis­
criminate among inorganic solids, growth-phase phytoplankton, and stationary-phase
phytoplankton. Discuss the plot.

17.2. Repeat Example 17.1, but use the area of the deposition zone 00,000 km2) rather than
the lake surface area as the actual interface across which the vertical transfers take
place.
3 16 PART III Water-Quality Environments

17.3. A lake is fed by two rivers as shown in Fig. PI7.3. The in flowing rivers deliver solids
at rates of 0.1 X 109 and 0.2 X 109 g yr-I, respectively, and the outlet carries 0.05 X
109 g yr-I. The lake's deposition area is 106 m2.
(a) If the sediment has p 2.5 X 106 g m-3 and 4>
= 0.9, determine the burial ve­
=

locity.
(b) Sediment traps (area 250 cm2) are deployed in the lake. These yield an annual
=

average accumulation rate of 20 g yr-I of solid matter. In addition the average

suspended solids concentration in the water is measured as 5 mg L -I. Determine
the settling velocity.
(c) Estimate the resuspension velocity.

River 1 River 2

FIGURE P17.3

17.4. A lake has a steady-state concentration of 100 f-lg L-I of a dissolved substance that
has a half-life of 28 yr. Assuming that the sediments are also at a steady-state and that
the burial velocity is negligible, determine the molecular diffusion coefficient based on
the following sediment data (p 2.5 X 106 g m-3 and 4>
= 0.9): =

Depth (cm) o 50 100 150 200

Concentration (f.1.g L-I) 100 60 40 20 15

17.5. Determine the burial velocity and sediment deposition flux for Lake Michigan based
on the data below for 210Pb (assume that p 2.4 X 106 g m-3 and 4>
= 0.85). Also if =

the sediment core were taken in 1975, determine the date at which the layer at 3 cm
was deposited.

Depth (cm) o 0.5 1.5 2.5 3.5 4.5 5.5

Concentration (10-12 Ci g-I) 8.1 7.2 5.4 3.6 1.5 0.6 0.5

17.6. Suppose that 5 Ci of a dissolved radionuc1ide (half-life 20 yr) is spilled into a 5-m­
=

deep lake that has a residence time of 10 yr and a surface area of 2 X 106 m2. Calcu­
late the profile in the sediments over the first 10 yr following the spill. Assume that the
burial velocity is negligible and the diffusion coefficient is 5 X 10-6 cm2 S-I.

17.7. Repeat Example 17.5 for a range of wind velocities from 0 to 20 m

S-I. Plot the resulting

suspended solids concentration versus wind velocity. Discuss your results.

 LECTURE 40 Introduction to Toxic-Substance Modeling 713

C = 0.0149(33.35) = 0.4971 f.Lg m-3

I
The sediment concentration can be determined with Eq. 40.33,

912.5(0.0157) + 1.3757(0.98 43)

0.4971 = 368 7.3 f.Lg m--3
0.000407 + 0.00153 + 1.3757(0.000133)

The results of the budget are depicted in Fig. 40.9.

(c) The general solution is
C = 0.4625e-3296 1 + 0.0345e-009 871
I
and C = - 113.8 6e- 3 296 1 + 38 01.18 e-0 9087t
2
These equations are used to produce Fig. 40. lOa. Note that the water experiences a rapid
initial drop due primarily to the high volatilization rate. Then the slower eigenvalue,
which is primarily dictated by the sediment response, dominates the latter part of the re­
covery. Figure 40.1Ob shows the recovery along with the recovery for the system treated
as a single CSTR (Example 40.1) .

40.5 SUMMARY
In terms of analytical solutions, we have now pushed our model framework to its lim­
its. As should be evident from Example 40.2, the inclusion of additional spatial seg­
ments (e.g., more segments) requires computers and numerical solution techniques.
However, we hope that the simple models described herein have provided you with
some insight regarding toxic-substance models. I urge you to implement this sim­
ple framework yourself (on a spreadsheet perhaps) so that you can experiment and
build greater intuition regarding toxic-substance modeling. I believe that this is an
important prerequisite for using more complicated computer packages developed by
others.

PROBLEMS
40.1 Thomann and D i Toro (198 3) presented the following data related t o the solids budget
for the Western Basin of Lake Erie:

Volume = 23 x 109 m2 Area = 3030 X 106 m2

Solid loading = 11.4 x 1012 g yr-I Suspended solids = 20 mg L-I
Flow = 167 X 109 m3 yr-I

They assumed that the solids settle at a rate of 2.5 mJd (912.5 m/yr) , and that the sed­
iments have p = 2.4 g cm-3 and 1> = 0.9. Determine the burial and resuspension ve­
locities.

40.2 Suppose that a toxic substance that is subject to volatilization ( vv = 100 m yr-I) is
discharged to Lake Huron with an inflow concentration of 100 f.Lg L-I. In the absence of
sediment feedback, determine the concentration for three cases: (a) weak-sorber (Kd =
0.002 m3 g-I) , (b) moderate sorber (Kd = 0.1) , and (c) strong sorber (Kd = 2) . Other
necessary information should be taken from Examples 40.1 and 40.2.
714 PART VII Toxics

40.3 A substance (K" = 0.02 m3 g-I; M = 300) is discharged to a lake (Cin

having the following characteristics:

Volume = 1 x 106 m3 Mean depth = 5 m

Residence time = 1 year Suspended solids = 10 g m-3
Settling velocity = 50 m year-J Sediment deposition = 100 g m-2 yr-I
Sediment porosity = 0.8 5 Sediment density = 2.5 g cm-3

(a) If sediment resuspension is negligible, compute the steady-state concentration for

three levels of volatilization:
(i) highly soluble ( vv = 0)
(ii) moderately soluble ( vv = 10 m yr-J)
(iii) insoluble ( vv = 100 m yr-J)
(b) Repeat (a), but include the effect of sediment resuspension.
40.4. Repeat Example 40.1 for Lake Michigan. The parameters in Table P40A are needed
for the computation.

TABLE P40.4
Parameters for Lake Michigan

Parameter Symbol Value Units

Suspended solids concentration m 0.5 g m-J

Suspended solids load W, 4 X 1 012 g ycl
PCB load We 1 0 X 1 012 g yr-I
Volume V 4. 6 1 6 X 1 012 mJ
Surface area A, 57.77 X 1 09 m2
Depth H 82 m
Outflow Q 50 X 1 09 mJ yr-I

40.S. Repeat Example 40.2 for Lake Michigan. See Table P40A for relevant parameters.
768 PART VII Toxics

River-

(a) Cu standard

Cd standard

1x10-6 Cd

Cl
.§.. (b)

~' ::::.1'1---.-'.. -...-..-.. ~l~''~'.'~'~~ .'. . .

o 2
River mile FIG. 843.1

PROBLEMS
43.1. Repeat Example 43.1, but for 90Sr. Compute the inflow concentration for 90Sr based on
Table 43.4 and the factor (57.9) from Example 43.1.
43.2. Repeat Example 43.2 for copper. According to Mills et al. (1985), copper has a smaller
partition coefficient (Kd = 6 X 104 L kg-I) than zinc.
43.3. Repeat Example 43 .2, but determine how much the zinc inflow concentration to Lake
Michigan must be reduced to attain a sediment concentration of 5 j.J g g-l.What is the
resulting water concentration?
43.4. Repeat Example 43.3, but for cadmium (log Ks = -14.1).
43.5. Using the parameter values from Examples 43 .1 and 43 .2 and Prob. 43 .2, (a) determine
the inflow concentration of copper to Lake Michigan to attain a water concentration of
0.1 j.J g L-1 . (b) What is the resulting sediment concentration in j.J g g-l? Note that Kd for
copper is 6 x 104 L kg-I .