Channel Rehabilitation for Water Quality Improvement

To meet dissolved oxygen standards on Segment 15 of the South Platte River, the Metro Wastewater Reclamation District has utilized combination of traditional and nontraditional approaches to ammonia management. The nontraditional approach includes improving the river channel to increase reaeration of flow. Channel improvements include addition of a drop structure designed to optimize reaeration and development of a stable channel gradient to eliminate a backwater pool upstream of a grade control structure. Ancillary improvements to the river channel include development of wetlands and secondary channels, and relocation and protection of infrastructure river crossings. Post-construction results indicate that the reaeration drop structure performs within 3 percent of its predicted performance and DO levels are well above standard.