Effect of residential water conservation practices on wastewater treatment was modeled for influent flow reductions up to 54% at constant mass loading rates of COD, TKN, and total phosphorus. Models for three Colorado treatment plants with design flow rates of 0.53, 1.10, and 6.13 m3/s (12, 25, and 140 mgd) were calibrated and validated using the program BioWin 5.0 (EnviroSim LLC, Hamilton, ON). Effluent total ammonia nitrogen, nitrate, nitrite, and total inorganic nitrogen were predicted to increase significantly when the influent flow rate was reduced by greater than 43%, associated with loss of nitrification due to alkalinity limitation and low pH. Modeled populations of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria decreased by as much as 30% and effluent pH fell to below 6.0. Trends are similar for all three plants and nonlinear regression is used to fit model output results for these parameters as a function of flow reduction as the independent variable. Caustic addition was modeled to determine the sensitivity of pH and nitrification to increased influent alkalinity. For one of the modeled plants, the cost of caustic alkalinity addition to achieve an effluent pH of 6.8 was estimated to be $0.14/m3 ($518/million gallons).
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