Field observations and modeling of dispersion processes around ocean outfalls

Comprehensive field studies have been conducted around large ocean outfalls systems to study the outfall off Whites Points operated by the Sanitation districts of Los Angeles County. Results show that the dispersion and mixing of the outfalls depend strongly on local currents and density stratification. A technique for detecting the plume on the oceans was also developed and used in modeling plume dynamics based on measurements of currents and stratification. The model has been applied to produced water plume near California, CA. The test populations of marine invertebrates and the effects of the internal tide on the wastewater plume of the Sand Island outfall near Honolulu were also been studied using the proposed model.