Relationship between turbidity and total suspended solids concentration within a combined sewer system.

Ali Hannouche (1, 2) , Chebbo Ghassan (3) , Gwenaël Ruban (4) , Bruno Tassin (1) , Bruno J. Lemaire (1) , Claude Joannis (5)

1 LEESU - Laboratoire Eau, Environnement et Systèmes Urbains
2 SEPIA Conseils (entreprise)
3 OPUR - Observatoire des polluants urbains [Paris]
4 Assainissement
5 LCPC/EAU - Division Eau et Environnement

This article confirms the existence of a strong linear relationship between turbidity and total suspended solids (TSS) concentration. However, the slope of this relation varies between dry and wet weather conditions, as well as between sites. The effect of this variability on estimating the instantaneous wet weather TSS concentration is assessed on the basis of the size of the calibration dataset used to establish the turbidity - TSS relationship. Results obtained indicate limited variability both between sites and during dry weather, along with a significant inter-event variability. Moreover, turbidity allows an evaluation of TSS concentrations with an acceptable level of accuracy for a reasonable rainfall event sampling campaign effort.

Mots clés: wet weather; calibration; dry weather; TSS concentration; turbidity; variability

Domaines: Sciences de l'environnement; Applications [stat.AP]

Ali Hannouche, Chebbo Ghassan, Gwenaël Ruban, Bruno Tassin, Bruno J. Lemaire, et al.. Relationship between turbidity and total suspended solids concentration within a combined sewer system.. Water Science and Technology, 2011, 64 (12), pp.2445-52. ⟨10.2166/wst.2011.779⟩. ⟨hal-00722662⟩