Search

This special edition is a compilation of papers delivered orally at the workshop on regionalization of models for operational purposes in developing countries held during the joint International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS) and International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH) International Convention in Hyderabad, India during September 2009. The overall theme of the convention was 'Water: A vital resource under stress -- how can science help?' How science can help solve practical water resources management problems and regionalization of models have been recurring themes in hydrological science over the last few decades. If anything, however, the gap between scientific developments and their application in practice has widened, notably in developing countries where financial and institutional constraints continue to be difficult to overcome. While data scarcity remains a major problem, a combination of developments in models, availability of remotely sensed data and an understanding of the treatment of uncertainty implies that we can overcome many of the data deficiency issues. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be the case in practice, and effective and sustainable technology transfer remains elusive in many developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents results of a novel application of coupling the Activated Sludge Model No. 3 (ASM3) and the Anaerobic Digestion Model No.1 (ADM1) to assess a tropical wastewater treatment plant in a developing country (Surat, India). In general, the coupled model was very capable of predicting current plant operation. The model proved to be a useful tool in investigating various scenarios for optimising treatment performance under present conditions and examination of upgrade options to meet stricter and upcoming effluent discharge criteria regarding N removal. It appears that use of plant-wide modelling of wastewater treatment plants is a promising approach towards addressing often complex interactions within the plant itself. It can also create an enabling environment for the implementations of the novel side processes for treatment of nutrient-rich, side-streams (reject water) from sludge treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]