Research Note: Modeling of the Water Quality of BüyUksu Stream, Bolu, Turkey.

The QUAL2E model was applied to the Büyüksu Stream, Bolu, Turkey, to predict the effect of conventional and industrial pollutant sources on stream quality. The model parameters were conditioned using data from eight sampling stations on a 24-km stretch of the stream during a steady-state period between May 2003 and June 2004. The higher biochemical oxygen demand (>50 mg/L) and lower dissolved oxygen concentrations measured (<4.0 mg/L), with their expected values, indicated that the water quality of the Buyuksu Stream was threatened by industrial and domestic pollution. The oxygen-sag curves obtained by the model calculations proved that discharges of the Bolu City wastewater and wood- processing plant effluent were the two primary pollutant sources affecting the stream. Results suggested that the conditioned model can be used as a tool to show the effects of pollutant sources on the Büyüksu Stream and to assess improvements expected by reducing the contribution of pollutant sources. Water Environ. Res., 81, 325 (2009). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]