Simulating pH and hydrogen sulfide in a distributed collection system

A concept for modeling the pH in distributed sewer systems is presented. The concept is an extension of the existing sewer process model WATS, which simulates physical, chemical and biological processes in wastewater, biofilms, sediments, and sewer headspace, as well as water flow, gas flow, and ventilation. The presented concept includes the major buffer systems, namely carbonate, ammonia, amine groups, hydrogen sulfides, phosphates, acetic acid, and propionic acid. It furthermore includes water-gas mass transfer between phases and ventilation of sewer gas into the urban atmosphere. The model was calibrated to the conveyance system of Tangier, Morocco, and was able to simulate the observed variation in pH as well as the observed levels of hydrogen sulfide in the network. For the sewer system of Tangier, the most important buffer system was the carbonate system, followed by ammonia and amino groups. The pH decreased from 7.80 of fresh wastewater entering the nodes to 7.30 at the treatment plant. This decrease could be attributed to the processes of anaerobic fermentation and hydrogen sulfide formation in the network.