López-Cruz, Marisel

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    Assessment of potential odor problems on McCook Reservoir, Chicago, IL
    (2005-12) López-Cruz, Marisel; Padilla-Cestero, Ingrid Y.; College of Engineering; Benítez, Jaime; Santiago, Ivonne; Department of Civil Engineering; González, David
    The City of Chicago and neighboring communities are served by combined sewer systems, which carry both stormwater and raw sewage. The combined sewer overflows (CSOs) could exceed the capacity of the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) to process water. To avoid hazardous flooding and retain CSO systems without exceeding the treatment capacity of the plant, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineering has designed a series of retention ponds, including the McCook Reservoir. Because of the proximity of large populations near the reservoir, it is necessary to determine if sediments accumulated in the McCook Reservoir may generate odor problems around its surroundings. The objective of this research is to determine if odor problems may occur after emptying the McCook Reservoir. To achieve these objectives, experiments involving sediment characterization, olfactometry tests (OT), and H2S flux determinations were conducted. Experiments were conducted using sediments with similar characteristics to those found at the McCook Reservoir. All tests were performed under different water contents and sediment-aging times. OT involved measuring the dilution ratios and H2S concentration at the point when odor was detected. The flux of odor-causing compounds from the sediments was determined using a flux chamber, which was designed to control and provide accurate measurements of pressure, air flow, temperature, and H2S concentrations. Potential odor problems were quantified statistically through the measurement of the threshold odor numbers (TON) and the H2S concentration of exposed sediments at different environmental conditions. Results show that the TON and H2S flux tend to decrease with increasing of sediment aging times. This tendency, together with (i) the high results obtained of TON and H2S concentrations during earlier aging times, (ii) the observations obtained in odor intensity tests, (iii) the relation found between the H2S average flux and sediment aging times; and (iv) the decreasing tendency in average flux with a water layer above the sediment, propose the possibility that there will be potential odor problems in the McCook vicinity during a earlier sediment aging times. This suggests the possibility of exploring new odor control techniques as the addition of water content to the sediment to increase water content and thus reduce odor problems in the vicinity of the Reservoir.