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Evaluation of Water Quality Management Alternatives to Control Dissolved Oxygen and Un-ionized Ammonia for Ravi River in Pakistan

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Abstract

Different water quality management alternatives, including conventional wastewater treatment, transportation of wastewater, flow augmentation, low-cost treatment with reuse, and wetlands, are evaluated by using a verified dissolved oxygen (DO) model for the Ravi River. Biokinetic rate coefficients of the Ravi River for both the carbonaceous and nitrogenous oxygen-demanding wastes are adjusted, keeping in view the type and level of wastewater treatment. The conventional activated sludge process with nitrification comes out to be the most expansive alternative to meet the DO standard of 4 mg/L. Additional treatment cost is required to maintain un-ionized ammonia levels <0.02 mg/L, which corresponds to achieving treatment levels of 5 mg/L of DO in the river. Under critical low-flow conditions (i.e., minimum average seven consecutive days) of 9.2 m3/s, a flow augmentation of 10 m3/s can reduce 30 % of the cost with conventional wastewater treatment. Transportation of wastewater from the city of Lahore is a cost-effective alternative with 2.5 times less cost than the conventional process. Waste stabilization ponds (WSP) technology is a low-cost solution with 3.5 times less cost as compared to the conventional process. Further reduction in pollution loads to the Ravi River can be achieved by reusing WSP effluents for irrigation in the near proximity of Lahore along the Ravi River. The study results show that, for highly polluted rivers with such extreme flow variations as in case of the Ravi River, meeting un-ionized ammonia standards can reduce the efforts required to develop carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand-based waste load allocations.

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Acknowledgments

The study was funded by the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore as part of a Ph.D. research of the first author. The support of the laboratory staff in the sample collection and laboratory analysis is acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Engineering, University of British Columbia Okanagan, 3333 University Way, Kelowna, BC, Canada, V1V 1V7

    Husnain Haider

  2. Institute of Environmental Engineering and Research, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan, 54890

    Waris Ali

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  1. Husnain Haider
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  2. Waris Ali
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Correspondence to Husnain Haider.

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Haider, H., Ali, W. Evaluation of Water Quality Management Alternatives to Control Dissolved Oxygen and Un-ionized Ammonia for Ravi River in Pakistan. Environ Model Assess 18, 451–469 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10666-012-9353-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10666-012-9353-z

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