Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange
Abstract
The successful operation of sewage stabilization ponds by a number of North and South Dakota communities during the past few years has shown this method of disposal to be adequate in taking care of the needs of small communities. Since land is relatively cheap compared to construction work involved in the building of a sewage treatment plant, and since the actual construction cost of a stabilization pond I s a comparatively small figure, this type of treatment has been readily accepted by the smaller communities. Because stabilization ponds are primarily successful due to solar radiation and vary according to climatic seasons, the concentrated study was for a three-day period during each of the four seasons in 1955. The first field study was begun in January, 1955, at which time all stabilization ponds were heavily covered with ice. The other three seasonal studies were carried out in the spring, shortly after transition from ice cover to open water, but before hot summer weather, during the summer, and during the fall just before freeze up. The five installations listed below were selected for study on the basis of variation of design, loading, depth, area, type of inlet and outlet structures, and other considerations and characteristics. The installations were: Kadoka, SD; Wall, SD; Lemmon, SD; Maddock, ND; and Wishek, ND. The three types of observations made throughout the investigation which conformed to the standards of the 10th Edition of Standard methods for the Examination of Water and Sewage published by the American Public Health Association were: physical, biological, and chemical
