Simulation of aquatic plants as an in-stream treatment system of drains water quality for adequate design

Abstract

ABSTRACT This research is aiming at simulating the effect of floating aquatic plants (FAP) in the drains, for best practice and adequate design, as a water quality treatment system. To achieve this objective, the field measurements of a pilot system that engineered to study the effect of FAP on water quality (WQ) of Emtdad Elumoum drain (EED) in the Western Nile Delta, has been studied. The EED with different FAP surface coverage is simulated using Qual2k model for their impact on the WQ of the drain. The Qual2K is used for simulation of different scenarios for EED with several bed widths assessing the impact of FAP on the drain WQ. In order to find out for the adequate In-stream Treatment System (ITS) design, curve fitting, and corresponding regression models have been developed for the most effective WQ improvement versus different drain dimensions. The developed regression models between the WQ variables and drain dimensions are following second-order polynomial model. Putting into mind the advantages and disadvantages of the FAP, the conclusion from this study brings simple design aspects for cost-effective technology for drain water treatment.