Using Small Holding Tanks to Reduce Pollution in Narrow Estuaries

Abstract

Discharging effluent into slow-moving water as the tide turns results in a pollution surge. The use of a holding tank makes it possible to adjust the rate of release into the estuary and to alleviate the severity of the pollution surges associated with successive turns of the tide. Extremely large holding tanks permit the elimination of pollution surges. However, tanks a tenth of that size can get the peak pollution within a factor two of the ultimate ideal. If the holding tank volume corresponds to the pollutant supply for a short time 2τ