River basin quality simulation

The set of interrelated quality routing models described in this paper are useful for the prediction of the temporal and spatial distribution of temperature, biochemical oxygen demand, dissolved oxygen, and conservative minerals within a segment of a river basin. The governing differential equation is solved by an implicit-finite-difference-technique under the assumption that advection along the primary axis of flow (longitudinal axis of the stream channel) is the primary mode of transport. Comparison of the predictions of this modeling system and field data from a segment of a river basin containing multiple headwater sources, waste loadings, and branching streams produced good agreement between predicted and observed quality profiles.