Characterisation of retention tank water quality: particle settling velocity distribution and retention time

Abstract

Retention tanks (RTs) are commonly used to reduce combined sewer overflows, management of which is an important way of reducing the impacts of urban development on receiving waters. However, overflow characteristics and the processes affecting them are not yet fully understood. In a context of integrated urban wastewater systems, the management of RTs is mainly done to satisfy hydraulic constraints even if the idea behind such structures is to limit the discharge of pollutants to the environment. This study reports new insights in the settling processes and the pollutant behaviour occurring in an off-line RT. The authors first focus on the total suspended solids (TSS) and the total chemical oxygen demand (CODt) dynamics at the inlet and the outlet of a RT. Secondly, they focus on the possible relationship between the variation of the particle settling velocity distribution of particles and the TSS concentration dynamics. Finally, analyses of the TSS and CODt concentration evolution during tank emptying give information on the interaction between wastewater retention time and the settling performance.