Premium
A facultative pond model incorporating biofilm activity
Author(s) -
Polprasert C.,
Agarwalla B. K.
Publication year - 1994
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/wer.66.5.9
Subject(s) - facultative , facultative lagoon , biomass (ecology) , effluent , environmental science , substrate (aquarium) , environmental engineering , stabilization pond , biochemical oxygen demand , suspended solids , biofilm , wastewater , ecology , chemical oxygen demand , biology , bacteria , genetics
Most literature on facultative ponds cover only suspended biomass, considering them as the major group of biomass responsible for substrate removal. This study demonstrates the significance of biofilm biomass growing on the side walls and bottom of facultative ponds on substrate utilization. A model for substrate utilization in facultative ponds is proposed which encompasses first‐order reactions of both suspended and biofilm biomass. The proposed model was then validated with observed data of two full‐scale facultative ponds located in Bangkok, Thailand. Some of the model parameters were determined from the experiments, while others were obtained from the literature. The model was able to predict effluent biochemical oxygen demand (BOD 5 ) concentrations of these two ponds reasonably well. A design chart, based on the proposed model, was developed and can be used to aid in pond design or in the estimation of additional attached‐growth areas (for example, baffles or other types of attached‐growth media) to be installed in the pond water to improve efficiency of the pond performance.