Rainfall-Reaeration Effects

by T. V. Belanger, Florida Inst of Technology, Melbourne, United States,
E. A. Korzun, Florida Inst of Technology, Melbourne, United States,



Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Water Quality Issues at Fossil Fuel Plants

Abstract:

The effect of rainfall intensity on reaeration has not been adequately reported in the literature. It is clear that rainfall causes surface turbulence and increases reaeration, and a significant linear relationship (r = 0.97) was found in this study between rainfall intensity and K_L(20), the corrected mass transfer rate at 20?C, an initial oxygen concentration of zero, and one atmosphere of pressure. Experimental pool data indicate rainfall can be an important contributor to reaeration, particularly in stagnant aquatic systems where oxygen saturation deficits are large. Calculations illustrating the reaeration effect of various rainfall intensities at several undersaturated sites in the Florida Everglades and other humic-colored aquatic systems support this conclusion. Reaeration rate increases of 43 to 293 times normal measured field rates were calculated for the five Florida test sites at a rainfall intensity of 1.3 cm/hr (0.5 in./hr).

Subject Headings: Rainfall intensity | Aeration | Mass transfer | Turbulence | Oxygen transfer | Aquatic habitats | Rainfall | Florida | United States

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