ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Impact of Snowmelt Inflow on Temperature
of Sewage Discharged to Treatment Plants
Grzegorz Kaczor, Piotr Bugajski
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Department of Sanitary Engineering and Water Management, Faculty of Environmental Engineering and Land Surveying,
Agricultural University in Kraków, Mickiewicza 24/28, 30-059 Kraków, Poland
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2012;21(2):381-386
ABSTRACT
The objective of our research was to evaluate the impact of spring snowmelt inflow occurring in separate
sewer systems on the temperature of raw sewage discharged into selected treatment plants supporting up
to 2000 PE. The results were expected to indicate the range of sewage undercooling due to inflow of the melting
water and to evaluate how long this state persists. The research was carried out from 1 January 2010 to 30
April 2010 in five selected sewer systems. The obtained results showed significant influence of snowmelt
inflow on sewage temperature in the sewer system. Inflow, which during snowmelt constitutes from 43 to 70%
of daily discharge into treatment plants, caused the decrease of average daily sewage temperature in the sewer
system: in Gdów by 2.0ºC, in Kostrze by 2.2ºC, in Sidzina by 3.0ºC, in Skotniki by 2.5ºC, and in Wadów by
2.0ºC. The lowest values of hourly temperature of raw sewage during melt-water inflow to the sewer system
reached the following values: 5.4ºC in Gdów, 5.0ºC in Kostrze, 4.6ºC in Sidzina, and 5.0ºC in Skotniki and
Wadów. At such low average daily sewage temperatures, biological processes of nitrogen compound removal
will be inhibited or even stopped. The research showed that the decreased sewage temperature lasted for 16
days. In this period, insufficiently treated sewage may be dangerous to collector water. The presented results
provide another argument for increasing efforts to find out the reasons for inflow to the sewer system.