ISSN:
1573-5117
Keywords:
Sewage ponds
;
BOD-removal
;
stability
;
Daphnia
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Biology
Notes:
Abstract By arranging sewage ponds in series, some feedback relationships within the food web are disconnected, but stability may increase. This particularly applies to a persistent ‘clearwater-state’ in the last cell caused by mass growths of Daphnia or other zooplankton in the absence of fish. Microbial pollution in this case is reduced to a level which may permit nearly unrestricted irrigation. The oxygen balance of lagoons is, apart from the diurnal cycle, subject to substantial temporal variations. This also applies to continuous-flow laboratory models with a constant (BOD-load, temperature) or a constant-cycle (light) chemical and physical environment. An example is given illustrating a high adjustment stability of a lagoon in consequence of a catastrophic perturbation. The strong tendency of lagoons towards an oligomictic behaviour is promoted by thermal stratification and by a vertical gradient in the metabolic activity (oxidation/reduction potential). The hydrodynamic conditions oscillate between plug flow in periods of convective overturn and short-circuiting if thermal stratification has developed. Nevertheless, the average performance (BOD removal) for a particular season could be calculated with a reasonable accuracy. As a basis for this calculation, nomographs were developed from which the rate coefficient K1 of BOD removal for a given combination of residence time and BOD load can be read.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00016230
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