Impact-based integrated real-time control for improvement of the Dommel River water quality

Abstract

The KALLISTO project aims at finding cost-efficient sets of measures to meet the Water Framework Directive (WFD) derived goals for the river Dommel. Within the project, both acute and long term impacts of the urban wastewater system on the chemical and ecological quality of the river are studied with an integral monitoring campaign in the urban wastewater system (WWTP and sewers) and in the river. Based on this monitoring campaign, detailed models were calibrated. These models are partly simplified and integrated in a single model, which is validated using the detailed submodels. The integrated model was used to study the potential for impact-based real-time control (RTC). Impact based RTC proved to be able to improve the quality of the receiving waters significantly, although additional measures remain necessary to be able to meet the WFD requirements.