Development of a Dynamic Model for Sustainable Management of Dairy Shed Effluent Using Two-Stage Stabilisation Pond System With Effluent Recycling

Contemporary modelling of the treatment processes and related nutrient cycling and losses that occur in typical Australian dairy shed effluent (DSE) stabilisation pond systems is limited to simple percentage-based partitioning to account for settling and volatilisation losses. The forms of nutrients and the biological and chemical changes they undergo have received little attention. In addition, there has been limited research conducted in Australia into understanding or modelling the treatment mechanisms and performance of DSE ponds. This research set out to address this gap through the development of a dynamic biokinetic model of a primary anaerobic pond treating DSE that encompasses a comprehensive suite of soluble and particulate wastewater constituents and treatment processes present in these ponds.