Water Science and Engineering, 2012, 5(3): 278-290

doi:10.3882/j.issn.1674-2370.2012.03.004

http://www.waterjournal.cn
e-mail: wse2008@vip.163.com

Extended activated sludge model no. 1 (ASM1) for

simulating biodegradation process using
bacterial technology
Ya-jing SONG*1, Yue-bo XIE1, Doddi YUDIANTO2
1. College of Hydrology and Water Resources, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, P. R. China
2. Civil Engineering Department, Parahyangan Catholic University, West Java 112548, Indonesia
Abstract: Phosphorus is one of the most important nutrients required to support various kinds of
biodegradation processes. As this particular nutrient is not included in the activated sludge model
no. 1 (ASM1), this study extended this model in order to determine the fate of phosphorus during
the biodegradation processes. When some of the kinetics parameters are modified using observed
data from the restoration project of the Xuxi River in Wuxi City, China, from August 25 to 31 in
2009, the extended model shows excellent results. In order to obtain optimum values of
coefficients of nitrogen and phosphorus, the mass fraction method was used to ensure that the final
results were reasonable and practically relevant. The temporal distribution of the data calculated
with the extended ASM1 approximates that of the observed data.
Key words: stream restoration; bacterial technology; extended activated sludge model no. 1
(ASM1); mass fraction; Xuxi River

1 Introduction
Although regulations have been implemented for maintaining the sustainability of the
water environment, direct disposal of wastewater into rivers still widely occurs, especially in
many developing countries. Various pollutants of high concentration have caused many rivers
to lose their self-purification ability, and led to black and smelly river water. Pollutants have
also caused the degradation of aquatic habitats. In addition, as rivers play a crucial role in
many aspects of daily life, severe pollution in rivers will endanger the supply of clean water.
Research has been conducted to improve the surface water environment. Methods have
evolved from the conventional biological filter pond to wetland restoration and standard
wastewater treatment (Crites et al. 2006). Constructed wetlands, among the available
alternatives, have been found to be the most effective way to treat polluted streams, and cost
much less in construction, operation, and maintenance than conventional wastewater treatment
plants (Zhou et al. 2007). However, based on the research by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, wetlands cannot effectively remove phosphorus from water when

*Corresponding author (e-mail: syj111188@sina.com)

Received May 25, 2011; accepted Dec. 13, 2011

operating at different scales. It has even been found that the concentration of phosphorus tends
to increase at the end of treatment (Richardson and Qian 1999). Similar results were also
published by Juang and Chen (2007), who found generally low removal efficiency of nutrient
substances by this technology.
In biological treatment, microorganisms (i.e., bacteria) are employed either to degrade
pollutants into simple harmless substances or to treat and to restore the surface water
(Akgerman et al. 1992; Wilson and Jones 1993; Awadallah et al. 1998; Chen and White 2004;
Arzayus and Canuel 2005). In China, bacterial technology has been successfully used in the
restoration of polluted lakes (Nie et al. 2008), the quality control of effluent from wastewater
treatment plants (Liao et al. 2008), and the restoration of polluted urban streams (Yudianto and
Xie 2010). Based on restoration project on the Xuxi River, in Wuxi City, bacterial technology
offers an innovative solution for restoring the water quality in urban streams. It also results in
better water quality. For instance, the water in the Xuxi River is now clearer and available for
aquatic life. This study mainly aimed to investigate the influence of phosphorus in the
biodegradation process during the restoration of the Xuxi River. An extended version of the
activated sludge model no. 1 (ASM1) was used to study the fate of phosphorus under
biodegradation processes.

2 Development of numerical model

2.1 Combination of Streeter-Phelps equation and ASM1
As it is critical and important to have sufficient dissolved oxygen (DO) in rivers for
supporting sustainable ecosystems and aquatic life, all problems associated with the reduction
of the DO concentration in rivers have become matters of concern since a century ago.
Although various quantitative techniques have been used to assess the impacts of pollutants on
river systems, significant development of water quality models was truly achieved only after
the establishment of the classic BOD-DO models by Streeter and Phelps in the 1920s (Streeter
and Phelps 1925).
Presented in a very simple form, the Streeter-Phelps equation in fact is insufficient to
illustrate the whole degradation process. Rivers are strongly influenced by advection and
dispersion processes, resulting in complex interactions of various constituents in the water.
Under the specific condition of the restoration project of the Xuxi River, bacteria play a key role
in biodegradation for the restoration of river water quality. The sources and sinks in the
Streeter-Phelps equation mainly describe the transformation processes of substances. Therefore,
the combination of the Streeter-Phelps equation and ASM1 was considered most appropriate for
this study.

2.2 Introduction of phosphorus into model

In general, as various wastewaters are directly discharged into urban streams, the water
Ya-jing SONG et al. Water Science and Engineering, Sep. 2012, Vol. 5, No. 3, 278-290

279

quality deteriorates day by day. Some facts show that the deterioration of water quality in
urban streams is mainly caused by high concentrations of total nitrogen and phosphorus
contained in domestic, industrial, and agricultural wastewater (Malmqvist and Rundle 2002;
Walsh et al. 2005; Garnier et al. 2005).
Although ASM1 is probably still the most widely used model to describe the
biodegradation processes in rivers (Yudianto and Xie 2010; Maryns and Bauwens 1997;
Stamou 1994) and oxidation ditches (Stamou 1997), it is still limited because phosphorus is
ignored in the original ASM1. Due to the role of phosphorus in river water quality and its
specific cycling course, it is crucial to involve phosphorus in the biodegradation model. As the
original ASM1 only simulates certain biodegradation processes such as carbon oxidation,
nitration, and denitrification, the model must be extended to the whole process. With the
changing course of phosphorus included, the model can also be used as a tool to predict the
possibility of eutrophication occurrence.
Though research has already been done on the simulation of phosphorus with other
models from the ASM family, i.e., ASM2, ASM2D, and ASM3 Bio-P, different assumptions
are made here to describe the removal process of phosphorus in natural rivers. In stark contrast
to the sludge in sewage treatment plants, the sludge in rivers cannot be circulated or
discharged. At the same time, there is no unambiguous aerobic or anaerobic zone over distance.
Therefore, the storage of phosphate-accumulating organisms (PAOs) is ignored in this research,
while its growth has been included in the development of heterotrophic bacteria.
As opposed to nitrogen, phosphorus cannot be transformed into oxidants. As it has the
characteristic of cycling between the dissolved form and the solid, ASM1 has to be completed
by another process to make it reasonable with phosphorus. In this model, phosphorus is divided
into two parts: dissolved phosphorus and particulate phosphorus. When phosphorus enters the
water, the dissolved part enhances the growth of active heterotrophic and autotrophic bacteria.
On the other hand, the particulate part increases with the decay of bacteria. Due to hydrolysis
of phosphorus in the following stage, the particulate part is then transformed into the dissolved
part. As the hydrolysis of particulate phosphorus is defined similarly to the hydrolysis of
entrapped organic nitrogen, the complete calculation matrix of the whole process is given in
Table 1, where SS is the concentration of readily biodegradable chemical oxygen demand
(COD); X H and X A are the concentrations of active heterotrophic and autotrophic bacteria,
respectively; S NO3 is the concentration of nitrate nitrogen; S NH is the concentration of
4
ammonium nitrogen; X S is the concentration of slowly biodegradable COD; X P is the
concentration of particulate products from COD decay; S ND and X ND are the concentrations
of the soluble and particulate degradable organic nitrogen, respectively; C is the concentration
of dissolved oxygen; S PO4 and X PO4 are the concentrations of dissolved and particulate
phosphorus, respectively; S N2 is the concentration of nitrogen gas; YH is the heterotrophic
yield; max H is the maximum heterotrophic specific growth rate; K OH is the half-saturation
280

Ya-jing SONG et al. Water Science and Engineering, Sep. 2012, Vol. 5, No. 3, 278-290

Ya-jing SONG et al. Water Science and Engineering, Sep. 2012, Vol. 5, No. 3, 278-290

281

Anoxic growth of
heterotrophs

Hydrolysis of
phosphorus

Hydrolysis of
entrapped organic
nitrogen

Hydrolysis of
entrapped organics

Ammonification of
soluble organic
nitrogen

Decay of autotrophs

Decay of
heterotrophs

Aerobic growth of
autotrophs

1
YH

XH

1
YH

SS

Aerobic growth of
heterotrophs

Process

XA

1
YA

1 YH
2.86YH

S NO3

iNBM

1
YA

0.024

0.024

S NH4

fP

1 fP

fP

XP

1 fP

XS

S ND

0.041

0.041

X ND

1 YH
YH

0.01

0.01

SPO4

4.57 YA
0.019
YA

0.013

0.013

X PO4

1 YH
2.86YH

S N2

Table 1 Complete computation matrix of extended ASM1

kh

kh

kh

XH

XH

X PO4 X H
SPO4
K OH
C
+ h

K X + X S X H K OH + C
K OH + C K PO4 + SPO4

XH

S NO3
K OH
C
+ h

K OH + C
+
+ S NO3
K
C
K
OH
NO
3

X ND X H
KX + X S X H

S NO3
K OH
C
+ h

K OH + C
+
+ S NO3
K
C
K
OH
NO
3

kaN S ND X H

kdA X A nA

kdH X H nH

S NH4
SPO4
C
XA
K OA + C K NH4 + S NH4 K PO4 + SPO4

XS XH
KX + X S X H

max A

S NO3
SPO4
K OH
SS
XH
K OH + C KS + SS K NO3 + S NO3 K PO4 + SPO4

S NH 4
SPO4
SS
C
XH
K OH + C K S + SS K NH4 + S NH 4 K PO4 + SPO4

max Hg

max H

Process rate

coefficient of oxygen in heterotrophic growth; K NH4 is the half-saturation coefficient of

ammonium nitrogen in heterotrophic growth; KS is the half-saturation coefficient for
heterotrophs; K PO4 is the half-saturation coefficient of phosphorus; g is the correction
factor for anoxic heterotrophic growth; K NO3 is the half-saturation coefficient of nitrate
nitrogen in anoxic heterotrophic growth; YA is the autotrophic yield; iNBM is the mass ratio
of nitrogen to COD in biomass; max A is the maximum autotrophic specific growth rate; K OA
is the half-saturation coefficient of oxygen in nitrifying bacterial growth; f P is the fraction of
biomass yielding particulate products; kdH is the decay coefficient of heterotrophic bacteria;

nH is the decay reaction order of heterotrophic bacteria; kdA is the decay coefficient of
autotrophic bacteria; nA is the decay reaction order of autotrophic bacteria; kaN is the
ammonification rate by anoxic hydrolysis of heterotrophs; kh is the maximum hydrolysis rate
constant at 20; K X is the half-saturation coefficient of organic in hydrolysis; and h is the
correction factor for anoxic hydrolysis.

2.3 Estimation of model coefficients

In the new extended ASM1, some unknown coefficients should first be established using
the conservation principle that electrons and net electrical charges may neither be formed nor
destroyed. This is basically the main rule followed by each substance throughout the process.
Based on the conservation principle, the equilibrium equation has to be determined to describe
each process j and substance c. Mathematically, the complete equations can be written
as follows:

i =0

ji ci

(1)

where v ji is the stoichiometric coefficient for component i in process j, and ici is the
conservation factor used to convert the units of component i to the units of the substance c.
In general, each conservation equation contains a priori information and may be applied
to each process. Each conservation equation allows the prediction of one stoichiometric
coefficient without performing an experiment whenever the other coefficients are known
(Henze et al. 1999, 2000). This study uses a method similar to ASM2, ASM2D, and ASM3 to
predict the coefficients.
For this extended ASM1, the grey-marked data in Table 1 are the known stoichiometric
coefficients of special substances, such as the readily biodegradable COD, the active
heterotrophic bacteria, and nitrate nitrogen. Basically, they are used to calculate the unknown
coefficients at given v ji . As the values of iNBM , YH , YA , and f P do not change with
temperature, the values of the kinetics parameters determined under 20 are used for further
calculation. As each substance is made of five elements, C, H, O, N, and P, for one special
substance, the fractions of these elements are supposed to be the same. The complete fraction
values for each substance, given by Reichert et al. (2001) in the river water quality model no. 1

282

Ya-jing SONG et al. Water Science and Engineering, Sep. 2012, Vol. 5, No. 3, 278-290

(RWQM1), are presented in Table 2.

Table 2 Coefficients of various elements for different substances based on mass fraction (Reichert et al. 2001)
Substance

Readily biodegradable COD

0.57

0.08

0.28

0.06

0.01

Active heterotrophic bacteria

0.52

0.08

0.25

0.12

0.03

Active autotrophic bacteria

0.52

0.08

0.25

0.12

0.03

Slowly biodegradable COD

0.57

0.08

0.28

0.06

0.01

As the model is developed based on COD, all coefficients of the organic substances based
on COD (Table 3), j , can then be defined based on j (j represents C, H, O, N, or P)
as follows:
C H O 3 N 5 P
j
+

+
4 32 56 124
12

j = 32

(2)

Table 3 Coefficients of various elements for COD based on mass fraction

Substance

Readily biodegradable COD

0.318

0.045

0.156

0.034

0.006

Active heterotrophic bacteria

0.323

0.050

0.155

0.075

0.019

Active autotrophic bacteria

0.323

0.050

0.155

0.075

0.019

Slowly biodegradable COD

0.318

0.045

0.156

0.034

0.006

In the extended model, the stoichiometric coefficients of ammonium nitrogen and soluble
degradable organic nitrogen can be calculated based on the conservation of nitrogen, while the
coefficients of dissolved phosphorus and particulate phosphorus should be defined based on
the conservation of phosphorus. For example, in the process of the aerobic growth of
heterotrophs, the coefficient of S NH4 can be established from the conservation balance of
nitrogen by Eq. (1):

v1,SS iN,SS + v1,X H iN,X H + v1,S NH 1 = 0

4

v1,S NH =

(3)

v1,SS iN,SS v1,X H iN,X H

(4)
1
Using the same method, all unknown coefficients can be computed. The complete extended
4

model equations are given in Eqs. (5) through (7), taking dissolved oxygen, dissolved
phosphorus, and particulate phosphorus as examples:
S NH4
1 YH SS
dC
dC
d 2C
C
= u x
+ Ex 2 + ka ( Cs C ) max H

dt
dx
dx
YH KS + SS K OH + C K NH4 + S NH4
S PO4
K PO4 + SPO4

X H max A

S NH4
SPO4
4.57 YA
C
XA
YA
K NH4 + S NH4 K OA + C K PO4 + SPO4

Ya-jing SONG et al. Water Science and Engineering, Sep. 2012, Vol. 5, No. 3, 278-290

(5)

283

dSPO4
dt

= u x

dSPO4
dx

d 2 S PO4

+ Ex

dx

0.01max H

S NO3
S NH4
K OH
C
+ g

K OH + C K NH + S NH
K OH + C K NO3 + S NO3
4
4

S PO4
K PO4 + SPO4

X A + kh
dX PO4
dt

SPO4
SS

KS + SS K PO4 + SPO4

S NH4
C

X H 0.019 max A

K NH4 + S NH4 K OA + C

S NO3
K OH
C
+ h

X H K OH + C
K OH + C K NO3 + S NO3

X PO4 X H
KX + X S

= u x

dX PO4
dx

+ Ex

d 2 X PO4
dx

S NO3
K OH
C
+ h

K OH + C
K OH + C K NO3 + S NO3

kh

X PO4 X H
KX + X S X H

(6)

(7)

n
n
X H + 0.013 kdH X H H + kdA X A A

XH

where Cs is the saturated dissolved oxygen concentration.

Other equations regarding the coefficients, such as SS , X H , X A , S NO3 , S NH4 , X S ,
X P , S ND , and X ND , can be established with the same method.
Moreover, as described by the advection-dispersion equations, the velocity and
longitudinal dispersion coefficient are very important parameters of the hydraulic
characteristics of rivers. The longitudinal dispersion coefficient is a key parameter in the river,
especially when velocity is low in urban rivers. The reaeration coefficient is one of the most
important parameters to express the fate of oxygen. Though there are many methods of giving
the expressions of the parameters, the widely used and accepted equations for the average
velocity u x (Manning 1891), longitudinal dispersion coefficient Ex (Wallis and Manson
2005), and reaeration coefficient ka (Schnoor 1996) are as follows:
1 A
ux =
n P

23

1.428

u
Ex = 5.915 x
u*

S1 2
W

H

(8)
0.62

Hu*

(9)

cu x m
(10)
Hl
where W is the width of water surface, H is the average water depth, u* is the shear velocity
or friction velocity, A is the wet area of the channel cross-section, P is the wet perimeter, S is
the channel bed slope, n is Mannings roughness coefficient, and c , m, and l are empirical
constants depending on the physical and hydraulic conditions of the channel.
ka =

3 Model validation
3.1 Xuxi River
The Xuxi River, previously known as the Shaoxiangbang River, is located in the

284

Ya-jing SONG et al. Water Science and Engineering, Sep. 2012, Vol. 5, No. 3, 278-290

Changnan District of Wuxi City in China. It originates from a gate at the Grand Canal and
flows into the ancient canal towards the end of its lower reaches. The total length of the Xuxi
River is 1.36 km with an average surface width of 4.5 m and water depth of about 1.4 m.
Along its course, the Xuxi River receives wastewater from five refuse transfer stations, five
public toilets, four car washing stations, and 43 drain outlets. Based on field investigation, it
was calculated that about 10 100 m3 of sewage was discharged into the river without treatment
every day. For this reason, the water quality of the Xuxi River was deteriorating continuously.
Besides, it had a bad odour, and the water was fully covered by algae, which caused very low
concentration of DO. No living thing could be found in the Xuxi River.
The Xuxi River flows through a small bridge of the Rong Lane (#1), the Xuxi Bridge
(#2), the Xishanxincun Bridge (#3), Wuai Road (#4), and the Xiaomu Bridge (#5) (Fig. 1).
Data collected from these five points are used in the new extended model. A weir, which is
about 50 cm high, was built on the Xiaomu Bridge (#5) on the lower Xuxi River.

Fig. 1 Sketch of Xuxi River

Without having control of sources of pollution and any artificial oxygenation, selected
bacteria (which contain many kinds of aerobic, anaerobic, and facultative anaerobic bacteria)
and microbial accelerators (which supply the trace elements to the bacteria) were directly
injected into the river to activate the native bacteria in the original water and sediment. About
34 buckets of bacteria, each of which had a volume of 150 kg, were used to restore the quality
of the Xuxi River. Water samplings were conducted from August 25 to 31 in 2009.
Fig. 2 shows the time average values of water quality parameters at different locations of
the Xuxi River before and after restoration. Compared with the background data, great
improvements have been made. After being intensively treated for about two months, the
water quality of the Xuxi River has improved from inferior to Grade V to Grade V standards
according to the Environmental Quality Standards for Surface Water of China. Without
artificial oxygenation, it can be seen that the DO concentration increased by about 0.94 to
2.62 mg/L at the five locations and reached more than 2.0 mg/L for the whole stream
(Fig. 2(a)). Similar good results are also given for COD, NH3-N, and TP. As shown in
Fig. 2(b), the COD concentration decreased to 8.03 mg/L at the outlet (#5) after restoration,

Ya-jing SONG et al. Water Science and Engineering, Sep. 2012, Vol. 5, No. 3, 278-290

285

and the average removal rate was larger than 43%. The maximum removal rate of NH3-N
reached about 54.6% (Fig. 2(c)). With an average removal rate of 54%, TP had a similar
degradation trend (Fig. 2(d)).

Fig. 2 Water quality parameters before and after the restoration of Xuxi River

3.2 Calibration of coefficients

Based on the above conditions, the extended ASM1 should be initially calibrated using
values of the kinetics parameters obtained at 20. However, the average water temperature
observed was 28.3 . Table 4 shows the values of some key kinetics parameters modified
under different temperatures. According to the literature (Jeppsson 1996), the model shows
good agreement with the observed data in time only when three key parameters are modified:
the heterotrophic maximum specific growth rate ( max H ), the half-saturation coefficient of
ammonium nitrogen in growth of hetertrophs ( K NH4 ), and the half-saturation coefficient of
phosphorus ( K PO4 ). The complete calibrated results at 28.3 are given in Table 4.
Table 4 Calibrated parameters for extended model at 28.3
Item

iNBM (g/g)

Literature

YH (g/g)

YA (g/g)

0.38-0.75

0.07-0.28

f P (g/g)

max H
(d1)

kdA (d1)

KS
K OH (g/m3)
(g/m3)

0.05-1.60

0.05-0.20

5-225

0.01-0.20

max A (d1) kdH (d1)

0.60-13.20 0.20-1.00

20

0.09

0.67

0.24

0.08

0.8

0.62

0.2

20

0.2

10

0.09

0.67

0.24

0.08

0.3

0.2

0.1

20

0.2

28.3

0.09

0.67

0.24

0.08

12

0.8

0.62

0.2

20

0.2

K PO4

K OA
(g/m3)

kh (d1)

kaN (d1)

Item

K NO3 (g/m3) K X (g/m3) K NH4 (g/m3)

(g/m3)

Literature

0.10-0.50

20

0.5

0.03

0.01

0.4

0.08

0.8

0.4

10

0.5

0.01

0.01

0.4

0.04

0.8

0.4

28.3

0.5

0.03

0.02

0.4

0.08

0.8

0.4

286

0.40-2.00

0.60-1.00

Ya-jing SONG et al. Water Science and Engineering, Sep. 2012, Vol. 5, No. 3, 278-290

3.3 Initial and boundary conditions

According to the observed data, the initial conditions for this model were 2.14 mg/L for
DO, 10.12 mg/L for COD, 8.34 mg/L for NH3-N, and 0.75 mg/L for TP. Throughout the
treatment process, all the boundary conditions were the Neumann conditions. The different
dispersion coefficients for the substances were 6 Ex

for COD, 0.3Ex

for active

heterotrophic bacteria, 0.25Ex for NH3-N, 0.1Ex for dissolved phosphorus, and 0.01Ex
for particulate phosphorus.

3.4 Results and discussion

The results for the calibration of the extended model are in two aspects: time and space.
The water quality in the Xuxi River is relatively steady for each day after two months
treatment, and there are only small differences of each substance over distance. In order to
avoid the errors from individual data, the averaged data along the distance were used for
stimulation in the model. Fig. 3 shows the variation of parameters with time.

Fig. 3 Comparison of temporal distribution of observed and simulated concentrations

The velocity and the dispersion coefficient show the fate of substances in a given water
volume. For the transfer process of one special substance, the flow rate and the mean
concentration can be used to determine the fate of advection. For dispersion, the dispersion
coefficient is one of the most important parameters for determining the distribution of
dispersion. Due to solubility, diffusion, settling characteristics, and transfer velocity, the
dispersion coefficient for each substance is not constant. The extended model takes this into
consideration for different substances to ensure that the calculated data fit well with the
observed data.
As presented in Fig. 3(a), the COD concentration first increases and then decreases,

Ya-jing SONG et al. Water Science and Engineering, Sep. 2012, Vol. 5, No. 3, 278-290

287

which is probably caused by the increase of wastewater discharged into the river. Besides,
both ammonium nitrogen and phosphorus need a long time to transform and be released in the
water column. Therefore, lower values of dispersion are employed in this extended model to
fit the observed data of those particular variables. As presented in Figs. 3(b) and (d), the
transformation process of ammonium nitrogen and phosphorus contributes to the degradation
of dissolved oxygen (Fig. 3(c)).
The total phosphorus includes the dissolved part and particulate part. The variations of
these two parts with time are shown in Fig. 4. From Fig. 4, it is clearly shown that the
particulate part of phosphorus increased quickly before it reached the balance state.
Comparing Fig. 3(d) with Fig. 4, the trend of the dissolved part shows a greater effect on total
phosphorus. Thus, the increasing concentration basically comes from the dissolved part, which,
in the end, played a key role in the concentration of total phosphorus in the water volume.

Fig. 4 Concentrations of observed and simulated dissolved and particulate phosphorus

4 Conclusions
(1) As the flow velocity of the Xuxi River is very low, and the hydraulic retention time is
long, the biodegradation process may be optimized by enhancing complete mixing.
(2) This extended model uses a new method to describe the transformation process of
phosphorus in the river combined with the characteristics of the restoration project of the Xuxi
River and hence differs from the assumptions of the ASM-family models. By using the
methods of mass fraction and the conservation equation, the parameters are determined.
(3) By taking into account the role of phosphorus in ASM1, the model calibration shows
good results. Not only do the concentration curves of the readily biodegradable COD, NH3-N,
and DO fit well with the observed data, but the newly added substance, phosphorus, is also
well simulated. Through simulation using this extended model, the transformation of all
related substances can be better explained.
(4) In simulating the variation of the concentrations with time, because of a possible
increase of wastewater discharged into the river, the concentration of COD first increased and
then decreased. Both ammonium nitrogen and phosphorus needed a longer time to transform
and could be released into the water column. As a consequence, lower values of dispersion are
employed in this extended model to fit the observed data of those particular variables. The
288

Ya-jing SONG et al. Water Science and Engineering, Sep. 2012, Vol. 5, No. 3, 278-290

transformation processes of ammonium nitrogen and phosphorus contributes to the

degradation of dissolved oxygen.
(5) The temporal distribution of the data calculated with the extended ASM1 shows
excellent approximation to that of the observed data.

References
Akgerman, A., Autenrieth, R., and Bonner, J. 1992. In situ remediation through contaminant mobilization by
vacuum stripping combined with biodegradation. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 32(2-3), 323-382.
[doi:10.1016/0304-3894(92)85101-6]
Arzayus, K. M., and Canuel, E. A. 2005. Organic matter degradation in sediments of the York River estuary:
Effects of biological vs. physical mixing. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 69(2), 455-464.
[doi:10.1016/j.gca.2004.06.029]
Awadallah, R. M., Soltan, M. E., Shabeb, M. S. A., and Moalla, S. M. N. 1998. Bacterial removal of nitrate,
nitrite and sulphate in wastewater. Water Research, 32(10), 3080-3084. [doi:10.1016/S0043-1354(98)
00069-4]
Chen, G., and White, P. A. 2004. The mutagenic hazards of aquatic sediments: A review. Reviews in Mutation
Research, 567(2-3), 151-225. [doi:10.1016/j.mrrev.2004.08.005]
Crites, R. W., Middlibrooks, E. J., and Reed, S. C. 2006. Natural Wastewater Treatment Systems. Boca Raton:
CRC Press.
Garnier, G. J., Nmry, J. N., Billen, G., and Thry, S. 2005. Nutrient dynamics and control of eutrophication in
the Marne River system: Modelling the role of exchangeable phosphorus. Journal of Hydrology, 304(1-4),
397-412. [doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2004.07.040]
Henze, M., Gujer, W., Mino, T., Matsuo, T., Wentzel, C., Marais, G. V. R., and Van Loosdrecht, M. C. M. 1999.
Activated sludge model no. 2D, ASM2D. Water Science and Technology, 39(1), 165-182. [doi:10.1016/
S0273-1223(98)00829-4]
Henze, M., Gujer, W., and Takashi, M. 2000. Activated Sludge Models ASM1, ASM2, ASM2D and ASM3
(Scientific and Technical Report). London: IWA Publishing.
Jeppsson, U. 1996. A General Description of the Activated Sludge Model No. 1 (ASM1): Modelling Aspects of
Wastewater Treatment Processes. Lund: Lund Institute of Technology, Lund University.
Juang, D. F., and Chen, P. C. 2007. Treatment of polluted river water by a new constructed wetland.
International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 4(4), 481-488.
Liao, J., Xie, Y. B., Zong, X. C., and Cao, G. J. 2008. Pilot study on treatment of complicated chemical
industrial effluent with CABRM process. Pollution Control Technology, 21(1), 11-15. (in Chinese)
Malmqvist, B., and Rundle, S. 2002. Threats to the running water ecosystems of the world. Environmental
Conservation, 29(2), 134-153. [doi:10.1017/S0376892902000097]
Manning, R. 1891. On the flow of water in open channels and pipes. Transactions of the Institution of Civil
Engineers of Ireland, 20, 161-207.
Maryns, F., and Bauwens, W. 1997. The application of the activated sludge model no. 1 to a river environment,
Water Science and Technology, 36(5), 201-208. [doi:10.1016/S0273-1223(97)00475-7]
Nie, Q. Y., Xie, Y. B., Zhuang, J., and She, L. L. 2008. Cyanobacteria control using microorganism. World
Sci-Tech Research and Development, 30(4), 430-432. (in Chinese)
Reichert, P., Borchardt, D., Henze, M., Rauch, W., Shanahan, P., Somlydy, L., and Vanrolleghem, P. 2001.
River water quality model no. 1 (RWQM1), II: biochemical process equations. Water Science and
Technology, 43(5), 11-30.
Richardson, C. J., and Qian, S. S. 1999. Long-term phosphorus assimilative capacity in freshwater wetlands: A
new paradigm for sustaining ecosystem structure and function. Environmental Science and Technology,
33(10), 1545-1551. [doi:10.1021/es980924a]
Schnoor, J. L. 1996. Environmental Modeling: Fate and Transport of Pollutants in Water, Air, and Soil. New

Ya-jing SONG et al. Water Science and Engineering, Sep. 2012, Vol. 5, No. 3, 278-290

289

York: John Wiley and Sons.

Stamou, A. I. 1994. Modelling oxidation ditches using the IAWPRC model with hydrodynamic effects. Water
Science and Technology, 30(2), 185-192.
Stamou, A. I. 1997. Modelling of oxidation ditches using an open channel flow 1-D advection-dispersion
equation and ASM1 process description. Water Science and Technology, 36(5), 269-276. [doi:10.1016/
S0273-1223(97)00483-6]
Streeter, H. W., and Phelps, E. B. 1925. A study of the pollution and natural purification of the Ohio River, III:
Factors concerned in the phenomena of oxidation and reaeration. Public Health Bulletin No. 146.
Washionshon: U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service.
Wallis, S., and Manson, R. 2005. On the theoretical prediction of longitudinal dispersion coefficients in a
compound channel. Water Quality Hazards and Dispersion of Pollutants, 69-84. Springer.
Walsh, C. J., Roy, A. H., Feminella, J. W., Cottingham, P. D., Groffman, P. M., and Morgan II, R. P. 2005. The
urban stream syndrome: Current knowledge and the search for a cure. Journal of the North American
Benthological Society, 24(3), 706-723. [doi:10.1899/0887-3593(2005)024[0706:TUSSCK]2.0.CO;2]
Wilson, S. C., and Jones, K. C. 1993. Bioremediation of soil contaminated with polynuclear aromatic
hydrocarbons (PAHs): A review. Environmental Pollution, 81(3), 229-249. [doi:10.1016/0269-7491(93)
90206-4]
Yudianto, D., and Xie, Y. B. 2010. Influences of limited ammonium nitrogen and water temperature on the
urban stream restoration using bacterial technology: View from the perspective of numerical modeling.
Journal of Water Resource and Protection, 2(3), 227-234. [doi:10.4236/jwarp.2010.23026]
Zhou, J. B., Jiang, M. M., Chen, B., and Chen, G. Q. 2007. Emergy evaluations for constructed wetland and
conventional wastewater treatments. Communications in Nonlinear Science and Numerical Simulation,
14(4), 1781-1789. [doi:10.1016/j.cnsns.2007.08.010]
(Edited by Yun-li YU)

290

Ya-jing SONG et al. Water Science and Engineering, Sep. 2012, Vol. 5, No. 3, 278-290