title: Regulating waste discharge with fuzzy interval effluent limitations for toxic pollutants.
abstract: Many traditional water quality standards are based on extreme percentiles; often, there is the risk of making wrong decisions with these standards because of high estimation uncertainty. Standards expressed as fuzzy intervals in the form of [trigger, enforcement limitation] make it possible to control the risks for the discharger and the consumer simultaneously. With fuzzy interval compliance, corrective action is initiated when the trigger is exceeded; noncompliance is declared when the enforcement limitation is exceeded. Fuzzy intervals would digest the risks that are inherent when a single enforcement limitation is used to determine compliance; the risks can be further lowered when the fuzzy intervals are based on less extreme percentiles. This paper proposes several alternatives to using a single extreme percentile standard for regulating water quality or waste discharge. A case study using municipal effluent water quality data was included that suggests methods to determine compliance with fuzzy interval standards.
authors.affiliation: Utah State University, Logan, USA. tong.yin@sbcglobal.net
authors.forename: Tong
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: David K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Stevens
mesh_terms: D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis / Q000592:standards*; D014881:Water Supply / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical