Storm runoff events in the flooding season affect the water quality of reservoirs and increase risks to the water supply, but coping strategies have seldom been reported. The phenomenon of turbid current intrusion resulting in water turbidity and anoxic conditions reappearing after storm runoff, resulting in the deterioration of water quality, was observed in the flooding season in the deep canyon-shaped Heihe Reservoir. The objective of this work was to elucidate the effects of storm runoff on the Heihe Reservoir water quality and find a coping strategy. In this study, an intensive sampling campaign measuring water temperature, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, nutrients, and metals were conducted in the reservoir over a period of two years, and the water-lifting aerators were improved to achieve single aeration and a full layer of mixing and oxygenation functions using different volumes of gas. The operation of the improved water-lifting aerators mixed the reservoir three months ahead of the natural mixing time, and good water quality was maintained during the induced mixing period, thereby extending the good water quality period. The results can provide an effective coping strategy to improve the water quality of a source water reservoir and ensure the safety of drinking water.
Thermal stratification has a significant impact on water quality and ecological characteristics. Reservoir operation and climate change have an effect on the thermal regime. The Jinpen Reservoir is a large canyon-shaped reservoir located in Shaanxi Province with a strong thermal stratification, which resulted in an anaerobic condition in the hypolimnion. We used a hydrodynamic module based on MIKE 3 to simulate the thermal structure of the Jinpen Reservoir and study the relationship between the thermal regime, reservoir operation and climate change. Based on the daily hydrological and climatic data from 2004 to 2013, we made 13 hypothetical simulated conditions that included extreme change of inflow volume, water level, air temperature, radiation, inflow water temperature and selective withdrawal to explore the effect of different factors on the thermal regime. The results showed that the period of thermal stratification, water column stability and surface water temperature were influenced by these factors. With the increase of air temperature, the simulation results indicated a stronger thermal stratification and a higher surface water temperature, which could cause water safety problems. Deep withdrawal could decrease water column stability and prompt water column mixing early, which could be used by reservoir managers to optimize the reservoir operation.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.