Operational guidance for aeration and flow augmentation for the Chicago Area Waterway System—A case study

The Chicago Area Waterway System(CAWS)is a 133.9 km branching network of navigable waterways controlled by hydraulic structures,in which the majority of the flow is treated wastewater effluent and there are periods of substantial combined sewer overflows.The CAWS comprises a network of effluent dominated streams.More stringent dissolved oxygen(DO)standards and a reduced flow augmentation allowance have been recently applied to the CAWS.Therefore,a carefully calibrated and verified one-dimensional flow and water quality model was applied to the CAWS to determine emission-based real-time control guidelines for the operation of flow augmentation and aeration stations.The goal of these guidelines was to attain DO standards at least 95%of the time.The“optimal”guidelines were tested for representative normal,dry,and wet years.The finally proposed guidelines were found in the simulations to attain the 95%target for nearly all locations in the CAWS for the three test years.The developed operational guidelines have been applied since 2018 and have shown improved attainment of the DO standards throughout the CAWS while at the same time achieving similar energy use at the aeration stations on the Calumet River system,greatly lowered energy use on the Chicago River system,and greatly lowered discretionary diversion from Lake Michigan,meeting the recently enacted lower amount of allowed annual discretionary diversion.This case study indicates that emission-based real-time control developed from a well calibrated model holds potential to help many receiving water bodies achieve high attainment of water quality standards.

Application of a water quality model for determining instream aeration station location and operational rules:A case study

Instream aeration has been used as a supplement to secondary treatment or a substitute for tertiary treatment for meeting dissolved oxygen （DO） standards in rivers. Many studies have used water quality models to determine the number, location, and capacity of instream aeration stations （IASs） needed to meet DO standards in combination with other pollution control measures. DO concentrations have been improved in the North Shore Channel and North Branch Chicago River by the Devon Avenue IAS for more than 35 years. A study was initiated to determine whether it was better to rehabilitate or relocate this station and to determine appropriate operational guidance for the IAS at the selected location. A water quality model capable of simulating DO concentrations during unsteady flow was used to evaluate the proper location for an IAS and operational guidance for this IAS. Three test years, a dry year, a wet year, and an extreme year, were considered in the evaluation. The study found that the Devon Avenue IAS should be rehabilitated as this location performed as well as or better than any of 10 alternative locations. According to the new operational guidance for this IAS, the amount of time with blowers operating could be substantially reduced compared to traditional operations while at the same time the attainment of the DO standards could be increased. This study shows that a carefully designed modeling study is key to effective selection, location, and operation of IASs such that attainment of DO standards can be maximized while operation hours of blowers can be minimized.