PHOSPHORUS ELIMINATION BY LONGITUDINAL SUBDIVISION OF RESERVOIRS AND LAKES

An epilimnetic volume of nearly 350,000 m(3) was separated by the inst allation of an overflown, submerged flexible curtain (SFC, 160 m long, 6 m deep) perpendicular to the flow direction in the Haselbach mouth region of the Saidenbach Reservoir (Saxony, Germany). The SFC produced (i) an interruption df hydraulic short circuits between inlet and mai n reservoir basin, (ii) a longer retention time of the inflowing water , and (iii) a 30% to 40% increase of the elimination of soluble reacti ve phosphorus in the mouth region during summer stratification. It is conclusive that flexible curtains may be cost-effective substitutes fo r conventional pre-dams of thermally stratified lakes or reservoirs. ( C) 1998 IAWQ. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.