A study of the impact of student population on selected water quality parameters of wastewater effluent discharge

Abstract

The selected water quality parameters of Biochemical Oxygen Demand, Suspended Solids, pH (acidity-basicity), and Fecal Coliform count were used to ascertain the quality of effluent discharge from two separate wastewater facilities. The two plants were the Texas A&M University and College Station, Texas, wastewater treatment facilities. Sampling schedules were selected to represent the times when the student population of Texas A&M University was absent or present. The twelve day testing periods were from January 5 through January 16, 1976, and from April 5 through April 16, 1976. Tests performed on wastewater samples adhered strictly to those methods described in Standard Methods for the Examination of Water, Sewage, and Industrial Wastes (2). It was hypothesized that the influx of population would increase the hydraulic loading of these facilities and this would, in turn, be a determining factor in the quality of effluent discharged. A factorial analysis as well as separate linear regressions on data were performed to investigate the effect of hydraulic loading on the selected water quality parameters. Results. Significant differences at the .05 level were found in the hydraulic loading between the months of January and April. Differences in suspended solids raw, biochemical oxygen demand raw, pH raw and pH final, and coliform count occurred between months as well as facilities. No predictions could be made as to effluent quality from the hydraulic loadings, however. Conclusions The problem of this study was to investigate the impact of student population of Texas A&M University on selected wastewater effluent parameters. Within the limitations of this study and based upon results, the author concluded: 1. Significant hydraulic loading does exist when the student population is present. 2. In selected water quality parameters, there seemed to be a relationship between this loading and effluent quality.