Development and Evaluation of Efiective Turbidity Monitoring
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Development and Evaluation of Effective Turbidity Monitoring Methods for Construction Projects Bruce Wilson, Principal Investigator Departments of Bioproducts/Biosystems and Civil Engineering University of Minnesota July 2014 Research Project Final Report 2014-24 To request this document in an alternative format call 651-366-4718 or 1-800-657-3774 (Greater Minnesota) or email your request to [email protected]. Please request at least one week in advance. Technical Report Documentation Page 1. Report No. 2. 3. Recipients Accession No. MN/RC 2014-24 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date Development and Evaluation of Effective Turbidity Monitoring July 2014 Methods for Construction Projects 6. 7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Report No. R. Perkins, B. Hansen, B. Wilson and J. Gulliver CTS Project #2011108 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Project/Task/Work Unit No. Departments of Bioproducts/Biosystems and Civil Engineering University of Minnesota 11. Contract (C) or Grant (G) No. 1390 Eckles Avenue Contract number: (c) 89261 (wo) 250 St. Paul, MN 55108 12. Sponsoring Organization Name and Address 13. Type of Report and Period Covered Minnesota Department of Transportation Final Report Research Services & Library 14. Sponsoring Agency Code 395 John Ireland Boulevard, MS 330 St. Paul, MN 55155 15. Supplementary Notes http://www.lrrb.org/pdf/201424.pdf 16. Abstract (Limit: 250 words) Various agencies have discussed the possibility of using turbidity as an effluent standard for construction site. Turbidity monitoring can be difficult for dynamic construction sites. This project investigated turbidity relationships for conditions of Minnesota and developed protocols for the design and installation of cost-effective monitoring systems. Turbidity characteristics of fourteen different soils in Minnesota were investigated using the laboratory protocols. Trends in turbidity with sediment concentrations were well represented by power functions. The exponent of these power functions was relatively constant between soils and the log-intercept, or scaling parameter varied substantially among the different soils. A regression analysis for the scaling parameter was a function of percent silt, interrill erodibility, and maximum abstraction. A power value of 7/5 was chosen to represent all soils. The field studies were also used to develop turbidity monitoring systems that would be adaptable to construction sites and to collect turbidity data on construction site runoff. Construction site turbidities often exceeded 1000 NTUs and sometimes surpassed 3000 NTUs. 17. Document Analysis/Descriptors 18. Availability Statement Turbidity, construction management, erosion, best practices No restrictions. Document available from: National Technical Information Services, Alexandria, VA 22312 19. Security Class (this report) 20. Security Class (this page) 21. No. of Pages 22. Price Unclassified Unclassified 158 Development and Evaluation of Effective Turbidity Monitoring Methods for Construction Projects Final Report Prepared by: Rebekah Perkins Department of Civil Engineering Brad Hansen Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering Bruce Wilson Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering John Gulliver Department of Civil Engineering University of Minnesota July 2014 Published by: Minnesota Department of Transportation Research Services & Library 395 John Ireland Boulevard Mail Stop 330 St. Paul, Minnesota 55155-1899 This report represents the results of research conducted by the authors and does not necessarily represent the views or policies of the Minnesota Local Road Research Board, the Minnesota Department of Transportation, or the University of Minnesota. This report does not contain a standard or specified technique. The authors, the Minnesota Local Road Research Board, the Minnesota Department of Transportation, and the University of Minnesota do not endorse products or manufacturers. Any trade or manufacturers’ names that may appear herein do so solely because they are considered essential to this report. Table of Contents Executive Summary .............................................................................................................. iii Chapter 1: Introduction.......................................................................................................... 1 Background Information ................................................................................................................1 Measurement of Turbidity .............................................................................................................2 Factors Affecting Turbidity .............................................................................................................4 Turbidity and Sediment Concentration ...........................................................................................7 Scope of Project .............................................................................................................................8 Chapter 2: Experimental Design of Laboratory Component................................................... 10 Introduction ................................................................................................................................10 Soil Acquisition ............................................................................................................................ 10 Rainfall Simulator ........................................................................................................................ 12 Soil Box and Runoff Collection ...................................................................................................... 14 Soil Processing ............................................................................................................................. 15 Rainfall Procedure ....................................................................................................................... 16 Soil Box Preparation ........................................................................................................................................... 16 Pre-rainfall .......................................................................................................................................................... 16 Rainfall ............................................................................................................................................................... 17 Aliquot Sample Analysis ............................................................................................................... 17 Total Runoff Sample Analysis ............................................................................................................................. 18 Determination of Rainfall Duration .................................................................................................................... 19 Soil Properties ............................................................................................................................. 19 Comparison of Turbidity Meters ................................................................................................... 23 Chapter 3: Evaluation of Turbidity-Concentration Relationships ........................................... 27 Introduction ................................................................................................................................27 General Power Relationship ......................................................................................................... 27 ƐƚŝŵĂƚŝŽŶŽĨɴ ................................................................................................................................................... 28 ƐƚŝŵĂƚŝŽŶŽĨɲ ................................................................................................................................................... 30 Evaluation of Regression Models ....................................................................................................................... 31 Data Normalization ...................................................................................................................... 34 Normalization by a Standard.............................................................................................................................. 35 Normalization with a Single Known Data Value ................................................................................................. 36 Analysis of Turbidity Meters ......................................................................................................... 37 Summary .....................................................................................................................................44 Chapter 4: Evaluation of Turbidity with Particle Settling....................................................... 46 Introduction ................................................................................................................................46 Theoretical Framework ................................................................................................................ 46 Turbidity-Fraction-Finer Relationship ................................................................................................................ 46 Simplified Forms................................................................................................................................................. 48 Data Collection