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Density, Salinity, and Entry Depths of Municipal Wastewater in an Urban Lake
Author(s) -
Matthews David A.,
O'Donnell Susan M.,
Effler Steven W.,
Owens Emmet M.,
Hurteau Craig A.,
Prestigiacomo Anthony R.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
water environment research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.356
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1554-7531
pISSN - 1061-4303
DOI - 10.2175/106143016x14609975745966
Subject(s) - wastewater , salinity , environmental science , environmental engineering , urban waste , hydrology (agriculture) , water resource management , waste management , geology , municipal solid waste , oceanography , engineering , geotechnical engineering
The depths of entry of municipal wastewater into receiving lakes importantly affects associated impacts on water quality. The plunging behavior of two negatively buoyant inflows that carry municipal waste, an urban tributary and an effluent discharge, in Onondaga Lake, NY, is characterized and quantified based on an integrated program of monitoring, density calculations, and modeling. In‐lake signatures of plunging from the two inflows are differentiated according to constituents in which each is enriched. Under common contemporary conditions, the summer averages of the fraction of the urban stream and effluent discharge inflows plunging to stratified depths is predicted, with a calibrated hydrodynamic model, to be approximately 0.7 and 0.35, respectively. Recent short‐term increases in salinity levels from construction site dewatering caused greater plunging of the effluent discharge and interfered with normal complete fall turnover in the lake.