Effect of pulp mill effluent on the transport of suspended sediment in the Athabasca River near Hinton, Alberta, CanadaThis paper is one of a selection of papers in this Special Issue in honour of Professor M. Selim Yalin (1925–2007).

Abstract

Field and laboratory measurements of the transport of the suspended sediment from the Athabasca River near Hinton, Alberta, Canada are described. The objective of these measurements was to examine the influence of pulp mill effluent entering the river from a nearby pulp mill on suspended sediment. The results of the field measurement showed that the effluent had significant impact on the transport of the sediment. Specifically, the effluent increased the deposition rates of the sediment and caused a substantial reduction of sediment concentrations in reaches downstream of the effluent outfall. The reduction in sediment concentrations and the concomitant sediment loads can only be attributed to the pulp mill effluent as there were no abrupt changes in the hydraulic characteristics of the river in the reach of interest. These observations were confirmed by laboratory experiments that were carried out using a rotating circular flume located at the National Water Research Institute in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. The findings of this study have implications for modelling suspended sediment transport in rivers receiving bleached pulp mill effluents.