Design Principles of Waste Stabilization Ponds

Waste stabilization ponds will be more effectively employed as pollution control systems if suitable design formula and corresponding design parameters are made available to design engineers. To accomplish this objective, an analogy has been drawn between a first-order chemical reactor and a waste stabilization pond. This analogy has resulted in the adaptation of a chemical engineering reactor design equation for designing stabilization ponds. Two design parameters, namely first-order BOD removal coefficient and dispersion index were considered as the basis of the new design approach. Synthetic sewage was used to determine the BOD removal kinetics. A control pond, with tap water as the medium and sodium chloride as a tracer, was used to calculate the dispersion index. The interpretation of the results demonstrate the successful applicability of the proposed design formula. An example design problem has been worked out.