Implications of using measured sediment oxygen demand data vs. Estimated valuesin water quality modeling

摘要

Sediment oxygen demand (SOD) is one of the primary sediment-water interactions which contributes to poor surface water quality. It is a key parameter in computer models for simulating the dissolved oxygen (DO) balance in natural wate bodies which receive wastwater discharges. Accurate estimates of SOD rates are needed in these water quality models to correctly design the allowable waste loads for discharge permits. However, in spite of historical documented evidence that SOD can be responsible for a large portioin of observed DO deficits, the use of measured SOD data for computation of waste load allocations and permit limits is not a standard procedure. This paper documents how inaccurate SOD estimates can lead to errors in understanding the governing pheomena responsible for observed water quality problems related to disolved oxygen concentrations.