Date of Award:

5-2012

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department:

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Committee Chair(s)

Gary P. Merkley

Committee

Gary P. Merkley

Committee

Andrew Keller

Committee

Judith L. Sims

Committee

Mac McKee

Committee

David K. Stevens

Abstract

Population growth, urbanization and water scarcity in many parts of the world has resulted in transfer of agricultural water to municipal and industrial users on one hand and excessive production of wastewater on the other hand. Due to importance of agriculture in food production and in the economy of many regions around the world,
water resources management and considering new water resources (such as treated wastewater) is critical.This study focused on analyzing the effects of population and
urban growth on water demand for various users and municipal wastewater quantity changes; as well as investigating the feasibility of wastewater reuse projects.

This study focuses on development of two new mathematical models using VB.NET:

  1. Water Availability Model which is a suitable tool that can assist decision makers in the appropriate and judicious allocation of water resources. Forecast of future population of an urban area, analysis of urbanization on the area of various land covers, forecast of future water demand for municipal, industrial and agricultural users and also analyzes the excessive quantity of wastewater production are some of the calculations considered in this model.
  2. Water Reuse Model assists the decision makers in choosing the appropriate water reuse project, with proper crop types, and suitable water management with the least undesirable environmental effects on ground water and surface water. The Water Reuse Model was developed to allow the user define up to three scenarios after providing the following parameters: land data; soil data; crop data; climate data; and water resources data. The Water Reuse Model is responsible for comparing the scenarios defined by the user in various aspects, such as: Crop yield; changes of soil salinity; environmental effects (nitrogen and phosphorus leached to ground water and lost to runoff); and pumping and conveyance requirements and costs of water delivery to farmland.

Both of the models were successfully developed, tested, and validated (for a case study in Utah) as part of this research.

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