Institute for Environmental Risk Management

Institute for Urban Environmental
Risk Management

Development of a water-quality model for unsteady flow in the Chicago waterway system

Primary Investigator: Dr. Charles S. Melching
Sponsor: Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago
Duration: September 2000-December 2005
Funding Level: $383,650

The Chicago Waterway System (CWS) is a 76-mile network of navigable waterways controlled by hydraulic structures that reverse the flow of the Chicago River, and in which the majority of flow is treated sewage effluent. The flow and water-quality processes in the CWS are very complex and critical water-quality conditions may result under a wide range of flows. The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (District) currently is faced with Use Attainability Analysis (UAA) and will soon be faced with a number of other difficult water-quality management problems including the impact of reduced discretionary diversions from Lake Michigan for water-quality improvement in the summer, assessment of water-quality impairment, and development of Total Maximum Daily Load allocations. A water-quality model capable of simulating water-quality processes under unsteady-flow is being developed by the Institute for Urban Environmental Risk Management at Marquette University to assist water-quality management and planning decision making.

The water-quality model have been developed and tested utilizing a large amount of hydraulic and water-chemistry data collected by the District, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, and other agencies. The data collected by the District include constituent concentrations and discharge from three water reclamation plants, monthly grab samples at 18 locations in the CWS, and continuous temperature and dissolved oxygen concentration data from 24 in-situ monitors throughout the CWS.

"Water-quality models for unsteady-flow conditions are commonly used in Europe, but their use in the U.S. has been less frequent. Further, most applications have been based on considerably less data than are available for the CWS. Therefore, this project has expanded the use of unsteady-flow models in the U.S. and illustrated the capabilities and data requirements of such models." said Charles Melching, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the primary investigator.

Publications:

· TR#14 – Hydraulic calibration of an unsteady flow model for the Chicago Waterway System

· TR#15 – Preliminary calibration of a model for simulation of water quality during unsteady flow in the Chicago Waterway System and application to proposed changes to navigation make-up diversion procedures.

· TR#16 - Simulation of fecal coliform concentrations in the Chicago Waterway System under unsteady flow conditions

· TR#17 - Verification of a continous water quality model under uncertain storm loads in the Chicago Waterway System

· TR#18 - Calibration of a model for simulation of water quality during unsteady flow in the Chicago Waterway System and application to evaluate use attainability analysis remedial actions

· Paper from Watershed 2004, Dearborn, MI, July 11-14, 2004, Water Environment Federation Simulation of water quality during unsteady flow in the Chicago Waterway System.

· Alp, E., Melching, C.S., Zhang, H., and Lanyon, R., 2007, Effectiveness of combined sewer overflow treatment for dissolved oxygen improvement in the Chicago Waterways, Water Science and Technology, 66(1), 215-222.

· Manache, G., Melching, C.S., and Lanyon, R., 2007, Calibration of a continuous simulation fecal coliform model based on historical data analysis, Journal of Environmental Engineering, 133(7), 681-691.

· Alp, E. and Melching, C.S., 2009, Evaluation of the duration of storm effects on in-stream water quality, Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 135(2), 107-116.

· Paper from World Environmental and Water Resources Congress, Kansas City, MO, May 17-21, 2009

Flow augmentation for dissolved oxygen improvement in Chicago Waterways

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