Emission Loads

This tool calculates the load of previously selected APIs at each WWTP within a catchmment. The load is calculated according to the formula (2):

(2)\[m_{WW,eff} = i_{WWTP} \cdot m_{i,y} \cdot (1 - r_{WWTP}) \cdot 10^{-6}\]

With:

  • \(m_{WW,eff}\) = load [\(kg/a\)]

  • \(i_{WWTP}\) = connected inhabitants [\(inh\)]

  • \(m_{i,y}\) = yearly consumption of y API [\(mg/inh/a\)]

  • \(r_{WWTP}\) = removal rate [-]

The plugin retrieves the technical class assigned to each treatmant plant and identifies the corresponding removal rate for each API from the data pool. This value (\(r_{WWTP}\)) is then used as input for formula (2) to calculate the reduced emissions after treatment.

Input data

The following input data are necessary for this tool:

The WWTP.shp is a point shapefile containing the emission point of the WWTPs as geometry and important information of the facilities in the attribute table. The required information are: ID and name of the WWTP; number of connected inhabitant; number representing the type of treatment (1=primary, 2=secondary, 3=tertiary, 4=quaternary). An example of these information can be summarized by Table 5.

Table 5 Example of attribute table with required data for WWTPs.

ID

Name

Connected Inhabitants

Type of treatment

163

KA Vorbeck

98

2

202

KA Groß Lüsewitz

913

1

691

KA Schwaan

10004

3

156

KA Hanstorf

312

2

169

KA Güstrow/Parum

34333

3

Important

The column “Type of treatment” needs to be a number from 1 to 4. The emission point should be within 500 m to the closest river section.

Workflow

  1. Add the input data to the project by clicking on “Layer -> Add Layer -> Add Vector Layer”

  2. Go in the Processing Toolbox and look for the APRIORA plugin. Click on API emission and open 6 - Emission Loads

  3. Choose WWTP.shp as input for Emission Points of WWTP

  4. Select the correct field of WWTP.shp for Connected Inhabitants and optionally for WWTP annual effluent flow

  5. If in Accumulation you would like to calculate the dilution ratio, select also the correct field of WWTP.shp for WWTP annual effluent flow, otherwise leave it empty

  6. Choose API_parameters.csv as input file for API Parameters Table

  7. Click on Run

Important

Video tutorial will follow soon.

../_images/emission_loads_interface.png

Fig. 18 Interface of the “Emission Loads” window.

Output data:

  • emission_loads.shp

The output is a point shapefile with the same geometry as the WWTP.shp. The attribute table contains the ID and Name columns from WWTP.shp and n columns related to the emission load of n selected APIs (e.g., if the user selects 3 APIs, 3 load columns are added). Finally, the load is expressed in kg/a.