Stochastic Artificial Aeration Control for Regional Drainage Basins

Abstract

Regional planning for the abatement of pollution in a river drainage basin can profitably include artificial in-stream aeration as a key component in a coordinated abatement effort. This technique compares very favorably, on a capital expense basis, with more traditional abatement methods. A general drainage basin structure containing a river, or rivers, with tributaries in a graphical tree structure is considered. The mathematical mode developed is a general formulation which deals with the arbitrary number of confluences in the basin, tributaries entering the controlled section, the spacially discrete nature of the feedback water quality measurements and of the treatment sites, and the stochastic nature of the measurements and pollution sources. An optimal aeration strategy is determined for each aerator as a function of measurement data throughout the basin, and examples are given to illustrate the results.