| The low capital and operating costs of aerated lagoons has lead to their extensive use in rural areas as a method of wastewater treatment. Although the performance of the system depends directly on the hydraulic mixing, there is currently no consensus on the key hydraulic parameters that influence the mixing of these lagoons. Tracer studies were performed on the St-Hermas aerated lagoon and a dynamically similar laboratory model to determine the effects of the water flow rate and the aeration rate on the performance of these aerated lagoons, to evaluate the method of dynamic similarity used to design the laboratory model and to evaluate the accuracy of predictive empirical dispersion models. The results were analysed using flow visualisation, simple observational and mathematical Retention Time Distribution (RTD) techniques and various hydraulic models. From these results it is concluded that the water flow rate and the aeration rate both significantly affect the hydraulic mixing of aerated lagoons, with the water flow rate being the dominant parameter. Furthermore, it is proven that the method of dynamic similarity used in this research is valid and that the only dispersion model that predicted reasonably accurate results was Arcievala (1981). An additional finding during the course of this research indicates that tracer study E-curves must be developed to completion in order to ensure conservation of mass and accurate analytical results. |
