Empirical Relations for Longitudinal Dispersion in Streams

Abstract

Although several methods are available for dispersion in natural streams, no method is accurate enough to satisfactorily predict the time variation of stream pollution concentration. Further, limited studies exist for dispersion of nonconservative pollutants. In this paper a six-parameter concentration equation for dispersion of conservative and nonconservative pollutants has been proposed. The parameters of the equation have been related to hydraulic variables and stream geometry. Using these predictors, the equation is fairly accurate for concentration predictions. It is hoped that the equation is useful in water quality management studies.