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On: 19 August 2015, At: 06:23
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: 5 Howick Place,
London, SW1P 1WG
ab
ab
ab
Hydraulics Laboratory, National Institute for Water (INA), Buenos Aires, Argentina
Laboratory, National Institute for Water (INA), Buenos Aires, Argentina; b LaMM, Department of Engineering, University
of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Introduction
The quantity and quality of data needed to interpret,
through statistical analysis, the relationship between water
quality in streams and pollutant sources (Chang 2008)
is seldom available. Moreover, projections of changes in
water quality due to interventions on pollutant sources
cannot be accounted for with this methodology. Hence,
numerical modeling constitutes often the fundamental tool
in order to undertake water quality assessment.
One-dimensional (1D) water quality modeling of river
stretches using quasi-steady-state approaches are presently
a relatively common task, either to produce diagnoses
(Palmieri & Carvalho 2006; Park & Lee 2002) or to
test management strategies (Kannel et al. 2007; Paliwal
et al. 2007). Application of unsteady approaches, linked to
hydrological modeling, is scarcer (Krysanova et al. 1998;
Tong & Chen 2002; Easton et al. 2008). Unsteady simulation is necessary when reaching sea inlets; if well mixed,
1D modeling (Fortes Lopes et al. 2008) or two-dimensional
modeling (Menndez et al. 2013) is sucient; in the opposite case, fully three-dimensional modeling should be used
(Zheng et al. 2004).
Calibration of the water quality model is usually undertaken manually, that is, through a trial-and-error procedure. However, dierent strategies for automatic calibration have been proposed (Whitehead et al. 1981; Sincock
et al. 2003; Yuceer et al. 2007; Mannina & Viviani 2010).
Methodology
Strategy of the study
1D hydrodynamic and water quality numerical models
of the Matanza-Riachuelo River and its main tributaries
were built. The hydrodynamic model is driven by runo,
anthropic discharges, and the tidal wave. In turn, the
hydrodynamic model and the loads associated to the pollutant sources drive the water quality model. Figure 2
schematizes these relationships. The implementation and
calibration of these models are described below.
The numerical models are used to: (i) perform a diagnosis for the present water quality situation, from which
the conceptual design of remediation actions are dened,
leading to the formulation of a remediation plan and (ii)
Figure 3. Schematization of Matanza Riachuelo Basin; gross blue lines: Matanza-Riachuelo River (including its Drainage Channel, DC).
Red lines: tributaries represented in hydrodynamic model; green lines: urban creeks; striped zones: upper area of the creeks sub-basins
considered as a point contribution at the head of the creek (red dot).
72.1
54
113
167
9.9
13.7
11.5
26.2
13.9
6.7
3
4
3
14
3
3
18
26
22
44
26
12
21
30
25
58
29
15
(b)
Figure 4. Calibration of hydrodynamic model for: (a) response to runo; (b) response to tide and lower basin base ow. Red dots:
observations; blue line: model.
(ODa OD)2
KD2 + (ODa OD)2
DO2
SOD
,
c(T20) rN NH4 +
2
+ DO
R
KN2
Figure 5. Spatial distributions of: biodegradation coecient K b for present situation (blue line) and project scenario (green line);
reference SOD for project scenario (yellow line); and depth (red line).
DO
,
DOref
Loads
Establishing the pollutant loads (which includes the associated water discharges) is a key issue for water quality
modeling. This requires a thorough analysis of pollutant sources and the development of proper methodologies in order to calculate the loads based on the available data, generally scarce and discontinuous. Pollutant
loads from many dierent sources were identied: (i) discharges from waste water treatment plants (which include
both domestic and properly pre-treated industrial euents); (ii) non-collected domestic discharges (from zones
not connected to the sewage system); (iii) discharges
from industries not connected to the sewage system; (iv)
storm water runo; (vi) emission from bottom sediments;
and (vii) discharges from urban creeks, in the populated
areas of the lower basin, collecting a series of domestic and industrial sources not captured by the previous
analyses.
There exist seven waste water plants in the basin, which
time average loads were known or estimated. They were
considered as point sources. Their location and input point
to the water quality model are indicated in Figure 6(a)
(some decay was estimated along the non-represented
stretches from plant location to the input point). The usual
water discharge and BOD concentration for the major one
(Sudoeste Plant) are about 2 m3 /s and 30 mg/l, respectively, leading to a BOD load of above 5 ton/day. There is
also a discharge from a small treatment plant for percolating water from a sanitary landll.
Non-collected domestic discharges were considered as
diuse sources. Their time average values were estimated,
for each county, through a calculation procedure based
on population census data which distinguishes among
dierent sanitary facilities (sewer, sceptic tank, latrine,
cesspool), hence allowing a partition of loads. Losses due
to inltration and decay were considered in the calculation.
The resulting loads per county were subdivided according
to county subdivisions based on population density, and
(a)
(b)
Figure 6. Location of loads; (a) sources (P) and corresponding input points (long arrows) for waste water treatment plants; input points
(short arrows) for diuse domestic discharges (the codes are associated to the county names); (b) sources (points) for big industries
associated to BOD; zones (painted) and input points (arrows) for diuse industrial discharges associated to BOD.
Figure 7. Longitudinal distribution of parameters for the present situation. Black crosses: observations; red line: 10% exceedance; blue
line: 50% exceedance; and green line: 90% exceedance (the opposite for DO).
Within 10%/90%
(80%) (%)
13
15
13
23
83
73
66
60
DO
BOD
NH4
NO3
values (10% and 80%, respectively) is considered quite satisfactory for OD, good for BOD and NH4, and fair for
NO3. However, due to the relatively low NO3 values and
the fact that this discrepancy has no implications in the
DO balance, no further attempt was made to improve the
agreement.
Present situation
Diagnosis
The calibrated water quality model was used in order to
formulate a diagnosis on the present water quality status of
the Matanza-Riachuelo River.
Figure 7 shows that nearly anoxic conditions are frequently reached all along the river, and especially in the
lower reach. The increment of DO close to the river mouth
is due to mixing with the Plata River waters under tidal
action. If anoxia is conventionally established as corresponding to DO < 2 mg/l, it is observed that the river can
be considered as anoxic much more than 50% of the time
for the major part of its extension. Anoxia is associated
to persistent bad smell in the river neighborhood, which
stands according to inquiries as one of the main reasons
for social unwillingness to settle in that area, thus leaving the site for low-quality settlements and economically
marginal activities.
Figure 7 also indicates that the organic matter content
of the water column is extremely high all along the river,
which is the main cause of oxygen depletion. DBO concentrations well above the saturation value for DO make it
impossible for the river to neutralize pollution.
Figure 8(a) shows the BOD, NH4, and NO3 daily loads
to the river, discriminated by source (annual median values
were considered for storm water runo). It is observed that
the major contributions for the former two parameters are
the non-collected domestic sources. Big industries stand
as the second largest contribution to BOD. Note that the
contributions from the water treatment plants are relatively
high for the three parameters; in the case of BOD, this
occurs in spite of producing a big drop in the concentration of the pre-treated waters, as the total water discharge
from the plants is very signicant relative to the natural
river discharge.
In Figure 8(b), the longitudinal distribution of timeaveraged contributions per unit length from the
10
(a)
(b)
domestic discharges (through expansion of the sewage system, which is also a necessity from the social point of
view); (ii) increase in the BOD removal eciency of the
existing and future (in view of the sewage system expansion) water treatment plants; and (iii) reduction in BOD
loads from industries (through proper treatment). Take into
account that the rst two actions are linked, since reduction
in non-collected domestic discharges implies an increase in
the discharge from the treatment plants.
Now, in order to properly design the remediation
actions, specic goals had to be set for the concentration
of the water quality parameters. In view of the complexity of the problem due to the large basin dimensions and
the variety and ubiquity of the pollutant sources and taking into consideration the primary social requirement for
reduction of the bad smell, it was established as the objective for the rst-stage remediation plan to achieve the water
use standard dened as Passive Recreation. This means
recreation activities pointing to esthetic enjoyment, such
as landscape appreciation, tracking, biking, etc. (National
Health & Medical Research Council 1990; WHO 2003).
Water quality standards for this water use (and other ve
uses) were dened by a technical commission coordinated
by the Secretary of the Environment (Menndez 2012). In
particular, the limiting values established for the modeled
parameters were the following: DO > 2 mg/l, BOD < 15
mg/l both of them to be fullled 90% of the time no
restriction for NH4 and NO3.
Project scenario
Remediation master plan
Remediation framework
From the preceding results, it turns out that signicant
reductions in pollutant loads to the river should be achieved
in order to reach an observable improvement in water
quality. The following conceptual actions on the major pollutant sources were identied: (i) control of non-collected
Hypotheses
A sediment ux modeling study was undertaken, based
on the approach by Di Toro (2001), in order to establish
the system response once implemented the remediation
plan. Details were reported in Menndez (2012). The
main result was that stabilization of muds, that is, decay
to negligible values of SOD, would be achieved after
about ve years. This time scale is of the same order
of the one necessary to build up the works involved in
the RMP, so it was concluded that the present-day sediment pollution level will be reduced during the buildup
11
12
Figure 10. Longitudinal distribution of parameters for the project scenario. Red line: 10% exceedance; blue line: 50% exceedance; and
green line: 90% exceedance (the opposite for DO).
13
(b)
(c)
Figure 11. Project scenario: (a) loads per parameter and source; (b) total loads per parameter; (c) longitudinal distribution of
contributions to DO.
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Disclosure statement
No potential conict of interest was reported by the
authors.
Notes on contributors
Angel N. Menndez, Ph.D. of The University of Iowa
(USA) 1983, is a research engineer and consultant on
hydraulic, hydrologic, and water-related environmental
problems. He works on ow, sediment, pollutant, and heat
dynamics. He is Head of the Computational Hydraulics
Program at INA (National Institute for Water), and Professor at the University of Buenos Aires. He is an expert
in development and application of numerical models. He
has to his credit numerous papers in international journals, and has been head of a variety of research and
consulting projects nanced by governmental, private, and
international funds.
Emilio A. Lecerta, is a Civil Engineer from the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Buenos Aires
(FI-UBA, 2010). He is Teaching Assistant of Numerical Modeling and Hydrology at FI-UBA. His areas of
expertise include numerical simulation of hydrodynamics, water quality, environmental impact and hydrologic
problems.
Nicols D. Badano, is a Civil Engineer from the Faculty
of Engineering of the University of Buenos Aires (2010),
where he is currently pursuing Ph.D. studies, nanced by
INA (National Institute for Water, Argentina). His areas of
expertise include numerical simulation of hydrodynamic,
water quality and hydrologic problems, and development
of computational codes.
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