Simple flow balance model for engineering design and daily operational use of sewage treatment lagoons at the Nevada Test Site

摘要

Thirteen waste-water lagoon treatment sites currently exist on the Nevada Test Site (NTS). These treatment and disposal sites were originally subjected to engineering criteria which were acceptable to the state of Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP). New requirements which mandate the implementation of a methodology which would protect the groundwater at each facility were recently established by the NDEP, even though vadose zones are anticipated to be several hundred feet in depth at all locations. A simple, but useful, near-surface hydrological and atmospheric flow balance model was constructed to aid in these and any future assessments. The major features of the model are: infiltration through the bottom and wetted sides of the treatment lagoon or disposal basin; evaporation from the surface of the treatment or disposal lagoon; time variant influent flow rates; and instantaneous time rate of change of volume of waste-water in the treatment or disposal lagoon. The underlying lagoon/basin geometry is that of an inverted frustum of a right tetrahedron whose wall slopes and bottom dimensions are user specified.