Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
5744048 | Ecological Engineering | 2017 | 6 Pages |
â¢Elimination of WWTP effluent on Reedy River could reduce average stream flow by 13%.â¢Elimination of WWTP effluent on Reedy River could reduce peak flows by 5%.â¢Elimination of WWTP effluent on Reedy River could reduce minimum flows by 55%.â¢Elimination of WWTP effluent on Reedy River could reduce TN by 53%.â¢Elimination of WWTP effluent on Reedy River could reduce TP by 49%.
The Reedy River Basin originates along the northern fringe of the Greenville Metro Area and flows southward through downtown Greenville and continues for about 40 miles through increasingly rural lands until it empties into Lake Greenwood. This project evaluated the potential downstream impact to the Reedy River, Boyd Millpond, and Lake Greenwood from the removal of 100% of the effluent generated from various wastewater treatment plants along the river. Evaluation was performed using the Reedy River Model which is a combination of different programs including the EPA's Loading Simulation Program in C++ (LSPC) and the Water Quality Analysis Simulation Program (WASP).Both water quality and quantity were analyzed as part of this study. The nitrogen and phosphorus species investigated in this study were total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP). Simulation runs were conducted for the Reedy River Model holding all original parameters constant to those used in the TMDL analysis. The second simulation consisted of eliminating wastewater treatment plants from the model to simulate 100% removal of their wastewater effluent. To reflect dry, wet, and average years of rainfall, seven years of actual weather data for Greenville County were used within these simulation runs. Flow was modeled from the headwaters to the Reedy River Arm of Lake Greenwood. River sections analyzed included the river section immediately upstream and downstream of the wastewater treatment plant locations and Boyd Millpond and Reedy River Arm of Lake Greenwood.Removal of effluent resulted in a reduced average flow at Boyd Millpond from 8.52Â m3/s (301.23Â cfs) to 7.34Â m3/s (259.21Â cfs), a reduction in flow of 14%; and reduced average flow at Reedy River Arm of Lake Greenwood from 9.15Â m3/s (323.13Â cfs) to 7.97Â m3/s (281.46Â cfs), a reduction in flow of 12.9%. The removal of wastewater effluent had the greatest impact during periods of minimum flow when effluent makes up the largest percentage of total flow. During periods of drought, effluent removal resulted in a reduction in flow of almost 70% at the upper wastewater treatment plant, 66% at the lower wastewater treatment plant, 59% at Boyd Millpond, and 55% at Reedy River Arm of Lake Greenwood. Based on daily flow values averaged over seven years, total nitrogen and total phosphorus concentration and mass loads at Boyd Millpond and Reedy Arm will both decrease by approximately 50% with the elimination of effluent. This report only considers the impacts of effluent removal to flow, total phosphorus and total nitrogen as modeled by LSPC and WASP. Other variables that may be influenced from effluent removal include, pH, Dissolved Oxygen, fecal matter, heavy metals, water temperature, habitat quality, species diversity, macroinvertabrates, recreational uses, and economic impacts but are not included in this study.