Abstract |
Detention time is of primary importance in many waste treatment processes and probably the most universal design standard. The purpose of the paper is to introduce a radiotracer for determining the detention of particulate matter in hydraulic systems and to demonstrate simple, fast, and reliable methods of combining this tracer with dye tracers to determine the hydraulic performance of sewage treatment processes. Tracer methods using iron-59 were devised and are described for silt tracing in rivers and reservoirs, suspension tracing in lagoons, and sludge handling processes. Iron-59 almost completely adheres to particulate matter when introduced into a sewage suspension. (Author) |