Optimal Control of Combined Sewer Overflows

Combined sewer networks carry wastewater and stormwater together.Capacity limitation of these sewer networks results in combined sewer overflows(CSOs)during high-intensity storms.Untreated CSOs when directly discharged to the nearby natural water bodies cause many environmental problems.Controlling existing urban sewer networks is one possible way of addressing the issues in urban wastewater systems.However,it is still a challenge,when considering the receiving water quality effects.This paper presents an evolutionary constrained multi-objective optimization approach to control the existing combined sewer networks.The control of online storage tanks was taken into account when controlling the combined sewer network.The developed multi-objective approach considers two important objectives,i.e.the pollution load to the receiving water from CSOs and the cost of the wastewater treatment.The proposed optimization algorithm is applied here to a realistic interceptor sewer system to demonstrate its effectiveness.

Probability mass first flush evaluation for combined sewer discharges

The Korea government has put in a lot of effort to construct sanitation facilities for controlling non-point source pollution. The first flush phenomenon is a prime example of such pollution. However, to date, several serious problems have arisen in the operation and treatment effectiveness of these facilities due to unsuitable design flow volumes and pollution loads. It is difficult to assess the optimal flow volume and pollution mass when considering both monetary and temporal limitations. The objective of this article was to characterize the discharge of storm runoff pollution from urban catchments in Korea and to estimate the probability of mass first flush （MFFn） using the storm water management model and probability density functions. As a result of the review of gauged storms for the representative using probability density function with rainfall volumes during the last two years, all the gauged storms were found to be valid representative precipitation. Both the observed MFFn and probability MFFn in BE-1 denoted similarly large magnitudes of first flush with roughly 40% of the total pollution mass contained in the first 20% of the runoff. In the case of BE-2, however, there were significant difference between the observed MFFn and probability MFFn.

Initial impacts of rain gardens＇ application on water quality and quantity in combined sewer： field-scale experiment

Green infrastructures such as rain gardens can benetit onsite reduction ot stormwater runott, leading to reduced combined sewer overflows. A pilot project was conducted to evaluate the impact of rain gardens on the water quality and volume reduction of storm runoff from urban streets in a combined sewer area. The study took place in a six-block area on South Grand Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri. The impact was assessed through a comparison between the pre-construction （2011/2012） and the post-construction （2014） phases. Shortly after the rain gardens were installed, the levels of total suspended solids, chloride, total nitrogen, total phosphorous, zinc, and copper increased. The level of mercury was lower than the detection level in both phases. E. coli was the only parameter that showed statistically significant decrease following the installation of rain gardens. The likely reason for initial increase in monitored water quality parameters is that the post-construction sampling began after the rain gardens were constructed but before planting, resulted from soil erosion and wash-out from the mulch. However, the levels of most of water quality parameters decreased in the following time period during the post-construction phase. The study found 76% volume reduction of stormwater runoff following the installation of rain gardens at one of studied sites. Statistical analysis is essential on collected data because of the encountered high variability of measured flows resulted from low flow conditions in studied sewers.

Quantitative analysis of impact of green stormwater infrastructures on combined sewer overflow control and urban flooding control

Stimulated by the recent USEPA＇s green stormwater infrastructure （GSI） guidance and policies, GS1 systems have been widely implemented in the municipal area to control the combined sewer overflows （CSOs）, also known as low impact development （LID） approaches. To quantitatively evaluate the performance of GSI systems on CSO and urban flooding control, USEPA-Stormwater Management Model （SWMM） model was adopted in this study to simulate the behaviors of GSI systems in a well- developed urban drainage area, PSW45, under different circumstances. The impact of different percentages of stormwater runoff transported from impervious surfaces to the GSI systems on CSO and urban flooding control has also been investigated. Results show that with current buildup, GSI systems in PSW45 have the best performance for low intensity and short duration events on both volume and peak flow reductions, and have the worst pertbrmance tor high intensity and long durataon events. Since the low intensity and short duration events are dominant from a long-term perspective, utilizing GSI systems is considered as an effective measure of CSO control to meet the long-term controlstrategy for PSW45 watershed. However, GSI systems are not suitable for the flooding control purpose in PSW45 due to the high occurrence possibility of urban flooding during or after high intensity events where GSI systems have relatively poor performance no matter for a short or long duration event,

Global optimal control for regional sewer systems

In order to control combined system overflow (CSO) pollution of regional sewer systems in Shanghai,a global optimal control (GOC) is presented in this study.The GOC is based on the analysis of current situation and can maximize the utilization of the free storage of each sub systems and decrease the frequencies and durations of CSOs and flooding.A representative regional sewer system,which is located in the northwest of Shanghai and composed of sub systems of Zhenguang,Zhenru and Tongchuan,was taken as an example to demonstrate the efficiency of GOC with hydraulic model simulation test in the two representative scenarios (Scenario Ⅰ and Ⅱ).The results indicated that a great improvement in CSO emission is obtained by using the GOC in the two scenarios,and the CSO volume of three sub systems,Zhenru,Tongchuan and Zhenguang decreases to about 37.0%,38.3% and 35.7% in Scenario Ⅰ and 47.5%,51.8% and 63.5% in Scenario Ⅱ respectively.

Stormwater runoff pollution loads from an urban catchment with rainy climate in China

An older urban district in Wuhan, China, is transitioning from discharging sewage and stormwater directly into lakes, to directing the sewage to wastewater treatment plants （WWTPs）. Dealing with polluted storm- water discharge is a great challenge. Stormwater runoff from an urban catchment with a combined sewer system was sampled and analyzed over a three-year period. Results indicate that wet weather flows account for 66%, 31%, 17%, and 13 % of the total load of suspended solids （SS）, chemical oxygen demand （COD）, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus, respectively. The first flush of COD and SS was significant in all runoff events. More than 50% of the SS and COD loads were transported by the first 30% of runoff volume. Storage and treatment of the first 10 mm from each combined sewer overflow event could reduce more than 70% of the annual COD overflow load. An integrated solution is recommended, consisting of a tank connected to the WWTP and a detention pond, to store and treat the combined sewer overflow （CSO）. These results may be helpful in mitigating CSO pollution for many other urban areas in China and other developing countries.