Year

2022

Degree Name

Master of Philosophy in Environmental Engineering

Department

School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering

Abstract

Shanghai is the largest city in China and third largest in the world. It is home to more than 24 million people and is the largest commercial and industrial centre in China. Challenges to water supply in coastal mega cities are becoming apparent worldwide, and Shanghai was predicted to be among one of the most likely to suffer severe water crisis. To meet its rapidly growing demand for municipal water supply, Shanghai has turned to the enormous fresh water resource provided by the Yangtze River at its estuary. Coastal reservoirs have been constructed to capture, store and protect water supplies in the estuary; these reservoirs now provide around 70% of Shanghai’s water supply.

This thesis is designed to examine the implications of using coastal reservoirs in Shanghai’s municipal water supply system by describing relevant water quality characteristics of the Yangtze River at points of diversion to Shanghai’s coastal reservoirs and evaluating the effect of water quality processes in these reservoirs on downstream water treatment operations. A critical literature review covering Shanghai’s municipal water supply and the water quality at the Yangtze River Estuary was undertaken. From literature sources, data on key water quality parameters at the estuary and the Qingcaosha Reservoir, Shanghai’s largest coastal reservoir, has been collected. The data has been assembled and compared with relevant standards, and Mann-Kendall analysis applied to trends in key nutrients and total suspended solids concentrations. The settling characteristics of the Qingcaosha Reservoir have been assessed by treating the reservoir as an ideal settling basin and potential algal growth behaviour analysed using the lake ecology model PCLake+. Potential management options for algal blooming in the Qingcaosha Reservoir are explored.

FoR codes (2008)

0907 ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

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Unless otherwise indicated, the views expressed in this thesis are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the University of Wollongong.