Necessary data are not available in most areas to determine or predict distributions of storm water runoff and combined sewage flows and pollutant concentrations. To alleviate this problem, a procedure was developed to permit rapid, economical, and accurate assessments of system performance based on 3 different and important water quality criteria. The first criterion establishes an absolute maximum pollutant concentration which cannot be exceeded. The second criterion establishes an acceptable distribution of pollutant concentration by specifying the greatest frequency of occurrence for a particular concentration value. The third criterion establishes the maximum acceptable excession frequency for a particular pollutant frequency. A computer model was then used with a modified rational runoff method to perform preliminary design tasks and weigh alternatives to the designs. Then the least costly system developed for the Sacramento, California area as an example.

The water impounded at Indian Creek Reservoir near Lake Tahoe, California is approximately one-third surface runoff and direct precipitation and two-thirds reclaimed water exported from South Tahoe Public Utility District Plant. Discussed are the results of tests which determined the temporal changes and relationships between water quality characteristics of Indian Creek Reservoir and those of the reclaimed water. Initially the reservoir would not support fish life, but as the reservoir matured, ammonia levels declined to less than 4 mg/l and by 1970 it was an excellent trout fishery. Approximately 70% of the ammonia nitrogen was lost to the atmosphere by nitrification-denitrification. Good biological productivity indicated access to other phosphorus sources, probably runoff. Relative to conductivity and chemical components the water is of good irrigation quality. Various parameters showed that the reservoir responds to more complex factors than those measurable in the reclaimed waste water, raising the question of the effectiveness of tertiary treatment for recreational impoundments.

The Southern California coastal sewage outfalls were investigated in relation to their effect upon standing stocks of phytoplankton, and on primary production. Kinetic parameters for the assimilation of ammonium, nitrate, and urea were determined at the outfall sites using N-15 labeled substrates. Laboratory studies investigated the utilization of various forms of nitrogen by phytoplankton, mechanisms and rates of nitrogen assimilation, and enzymes of nitrogen assimilation. It was found that the maximum growth rate was a variable, while the saturation constant was uniform over a range of dilution rates of N-limited chemostat cultures. The chemical composition of phytoplankton varied with dilution rate in reproducible ways. By varying the dilution rate of such cultures one seems to regulate the degree of nitrogen-deficiency of the phytoplankton.