Application of Ant-Colony-Optimization algorithm for improved management of first flush effects in urban wastewater systems.
The first flush effect in combined sewer systems during storm events often causes overflows and overloads of the sewage treatment, which reduces the efficiency of the sewage treatment and decreases the quality of the receiving waters due to the pollutants that are contributed. The use of retention tanks constitutes a widely used way to mitigate this effect. However, the management of the pollutant loads encounters difficulties when the retention tanks are emptied. A new approach is proposed to solve this problem by fulfilling the treatment requirements in real time, focussing on the characteristics of the wastewater. The method is based on the execution of an Ant Colony Optimisation algorithm to obtain a satisfactory sequence for the discharge of the retention tanks. The discharge sequence considers the volume of stormwater and its concentration of pollutants including Suspended Solids, Biological Oxygen Demand and Chemical Oxygen Demand, Total Nitrogen and Total Phosphorus. The Ant Colony Optimisation algorithm was applied successfully to a case study with overall reduction of pollutant loads stored in retention tanks. The algorithm can be adapted in a simple way to the different scenarios, infrastructures and controllers of sewer systems.
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Girona, 17071 Girona, Spain. Electronic address: marta.verdaguer@udg.edu.
M
M
Verdaguer
Department of Computer Science, Applied Mathematics and Statistics, University of Girona, 17071 Girona, Spain.
N
N
Clara
Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Emili Grahit 101, 17003 Girona, Spain.
O
O
Gutiérrez
Laboratory of Chemical and Environmental Engineering (LEQUIA), Institute of the Environment, University of Girona, 17071 Girona, Spain.
M
M
Poch
D000465:Algorithms; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000032:analysis; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000032:analysis; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014872:Water Movements; D014873:Water Pollutants / Q000032:analysis; D014876:Water Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
D009584:Nitrogen; D010758:Phosphorus; D062065:Wastewater; D014873:Water Pollutants
Ant Colony Optimisation algorithm; Combined sewer system; First flush; MAX-MIN Ant System; Urban wastewater system; Wastewater management