1.

0 Introduction

QUAL2K (Q2K) is a river and stream water quality model that developed by United
State Environment Protection Agency (US EPA) (Zainudin et al., 2010). It is typically used to
simulate various water quality parameters in branching stream system and assess the
environmental impact of multiple pollution discharges along rivers. Pollutants might come from
point sources such as industrial wastewater, municipal sewers, and storm water. Pollutants might
also come from non-point sources such as agricultural or urban runoff, and commercial activity
such as forestry, mining, and construction.
Q2K is the modernization version of QUAL2E (Q2E) with several modifications to
overcome the limitation of Q2E. The features in Q2E and Q2K are shown in Table 1. Q2K is
written in Microsoft Windows Visual Basic and Microsoft Excel is used as the graphical user
interface. All input and outputs are organized in a series of worksheet tabs with different colors
(Figure 1). In order to reduce the time for calculation, all the algorithms are implemented in Fortran
90.

Figure 1: View of Q2K in Microsoft Excel

Similar with Q2E, Q2K uses one-dimensional modeling and the river is assumed to be
fully-mixed in the vertical and lateral directions. Also, it is assumed that the hydraulic
parameters and the concentrations of the aquatic components are constant over the time scale of
the simulation period. The model also assumes a trapezoidal cross section of the channel being
modeled. Q2K has been enhanced with two species of CBOD and internal sediment processes.

Table 1: Features of Q2E and Q2K

QUAL2E QUAL2K
One-dimensional mass transport mechanisms
Steady state hydraulics
Similarities Abstractions, point and non-point loads are simulated
Diurnal water-quality kinetics
Diurnal heat budget
Software Environment and Interface
Model segmentation
Carbonaceous BOD
Anoxia
New features Sediment-water interaction
Bottom algae
Light extinction
pH
Pathogens

Physical-chemical processes simulated by Q2K include water quality kinetics, chemical

equilibrium, advection, dispersion, settling, and interactions with the atmosphere and riverbed
(sediment oxygen demand). Water quality parameters that can be predicted throughout the
modeled river include dissolved oxygen concentration (DO), carbonaceous biochemical oxygen
demand (CBOD), suspended solid (SS), pH, nitrogen, salinity and temperature, in addition to the
various pollutant quantities.
Q2K had been widely applied in modeling the dispersion of pollutants in river and
simulating river water quality. It is used for environmental impact assessment of the multiple
pollutants discharged along the rivers by urban wastewaters, sewers, runoff, and storm waters or
caused by anthropogenic activities (Iuliana, 2016). Besides, Q2K can be used as a tool for
pollution control. This model has been applied to medium-sized rivers with small width to depth
ratios to track the fate and transport of targeted pollutants (Zhu et al., 2015)
2.0 Concept of Q2K Model
2.1 Segmentation and flow balance
As shown in Figure 2, Q2K divides a study river stream into segments which are called reaches,
that are further divided into elements and these elements are the basic computational unit. In this
model, the reaches are sequentially numbered starting from the headwaters of the main channel.
Sections of river with similar slope, Manning roughness coefficient, bottom width, and side slope
will be defined as a reach.

Figure 2: Transformation of stream into reaches for a river with tributaries (Parveen & Singh,
2016).

Figure 3: Q2K segmentation scheme for a river without tributaries (Karim Ghani et al., 2013).
For these elements, hydrological balance is maintained through flow; heat balance (Figure 4)
through temperature and material balance (Figure 5) is kept through concentration. Both point
and non-point sources and point and non-point withdrawals (abstractions) can be positioned
anywhere along the channel’s length (Figure 3). A steady-state flow is implemented for each
model element as equation below:

Figure 4: Flow diagram of the heat balance of the river system in reach ‘i’.

Figure 5: Flow diagram of the mass balance of the river system in reach ‘i’.

Besides, all constituent concentration in the water column (except bottom algae) of a reach ‘i’
was simulated in the mass balance equation (Eq.2):

(2)
2.2 Hydraulic characteristics
3.0 Implementation of Q2K

Generally, Q2K requires a set of data for calibration and validation. These data were obtained
after the field and laboratory measurement. The performance of the model was evaluated using
statistics based on standard errors (SE) and mean multiplicative errors (MME) (Kalburgi, 2010).
In spite of these minor differences between the measured and simulated data set at some points,
the calibration and validation results are acceptable due to financial resources for frequent
monitoring works and higher accuracy data analysis are very limited (Hadgu et al., 2014). Figure
6 shows the steps for Q2K modeling.

Figure 6: Flowchart for Q2K modeling steps

The calibration and validation process is to determine confidence in model simulations and the
overall reliability of the calibrated model. Calibration is the process of adjusting or “tuning” the
parameter values to obtain an optimal agreement between the simulated and observed data.
During model calibration, numerical values for each of the parameters, state variable initial
condition, boundary conditions etc. must be supplied for the model. Model validation is the
process of assessing the degree of reliability of the calibrated model using one or more
independent data sets data i.e. not the same data used for calibration. It is a process of testing
whether the model meets the objectives stated. The calibrated model parameters are held
constant (i.e. hydraulic conditions, climatic conditions etc.) and the initial and boundary
conditions (stream water quality, headwater stream discharge) are entered into the model to
simulate new conditions (Mohamed, 2008).
3.1 Input Data

Q2K requires various input parameters such as river hydraulics, rates and constants, and
pollutant source quality. River hydraulics includes channel length, elevation, widths, slopes, and
roughness. Manning’s equation (Eq. 1) is used to calculate the flow rate from these parameters.
Flow rates are required for the river entering the model and for each pollution source. Kinetic
processes and mass transfer processes incorporated in Q2K model are shown in Table 2. Rates
and constants include the processes to be simulated such as CBOD decay coefficients, re-
aeration rate, and settling velocity (Iuliana, 2016). Table 3 shows an example for rates and
constants used in Q2K model. The pollutant source quality needs parameters such as dissolved
oxygen, CBOD, nitrogen and phosphorus species, alkalinity, and pH.
1/2
S0 A5c
Manning equation: Q = 2/3
(1)
nP

Table 2: Kinetic processes and mass transfer processes incorporated in the Q2K model (Parveen
& Singh, 2016).

Low-flow analysis allows water supply planning to calculate allowable water transfer and water
withdrawals from a stream without causing detrimental effects to the ecosystem. Therefore, as
water quality of a river is affected during low-flow periods, water quality models such as Q2K
use the low-flow analysis for creating a worst condition scenario. The commonly used low-flow
index is the 7Q10, which is defined as the minimum 7-day flow that would be expected to occur
every 10 years. This low-flow index is generally accepted as the standard design flow for water
quality modeling (Chapra, 1997).
 Table 3: Calibrated parameters for the Tunggak River in 2012 (Hossain, Sujaul, & Nasly, 2014).
Auto-
Parameters Values Units Min. value Max. value
calibration
Carbon 40 gC No 30 50
Nitrogen 7.2 gN No 3 9
Phosphorus 1 gP No 0 4.2
Dry weight 100 gD No 100 100
Chlorophyll 1 gA No 0.4 2
ISS settling velocity 0.01 m/day Yes 0 2
O2 re-aeration model Internal No
Slow CBOD hydrolysis rate 2.7636 day-1 Yes 0 5
Slow CBOD oxidation rate 0.213085 day-1 Yes 0 0.5
Fast CBOD oxidation rate 3.0658 day-1 Yes 0 5
Organic N hydrolysis 2.27565 day-1 Yes 0 5
Organic N settling velocity 1.67572 m/day Yes 0 2
Ammonium nitrification 0.1505 day-1 Yes 0 10
Nitrate denitrification 0.98572 day-1 Yes 0 2
Sed. denitrification transfer
0.09598 m/day Yes 0 1
coefficient
Organic P hydrolysis 2.112 day-1 Yes 0 5
Organic P settling velocity 0.72152 m/day Yes 0 2
Inorganic P settling velocity 1.38792 m/day Yes 0 2
Sed. P oxygen attenuation half
1.81956 mgO2/L Yes 0 2
sat constant
Bottom
Growth model zero-order
Max Growth rate 72.631 mgA/ m2/day Yes 0 100
First-order model carrying 2
100 mgA/m No 50 200
capacity
Basal Respiration rate 0.48434 day-1 Yes 0 0.5
Excretion rate 0.47967 day-1 Yes 0 0.5
Death rate 0.062045 day-1 Yes 0 0.5
External nitrogen half sat
193.179 ugN/L Yes 0 300
constant
External phosphorus half sat
31.623 ugN/L Yes 0 100
constant
Inorganic carbon half sat
1.13E-04 moles/L Yes 1.30E-06 1.30E-04
constant
Light model Half saturation
Light constant 24.59071 langleys/day Yes 1 100
Ammonia preference 61.74442 ugN/L Yes 1 100
Subsistence quota for nitrogen 61.87110 mgN/gD Yes 0.072 72
Subsistence quota for
6.3753283 mgP/gD Yes 0.01 10
phosphorus
Max. uptake rate for nitrogen 1303.12 mgN/gD/d Yes 350 1500
Max. uptake rate for phosphorus 79.1345 mgP/gD/d Yes 50 200
Internal nitrogen half sat ratio 3.7176325 Yes 1.05 5
Internal phosphorus half sat
3.260499 Yes 1.05 5
ratio
-1
Detritus dissolution rate 1.4653 day Yes 0 5
Detritus settling velocity 0.94975 m/day Yes 0 5
COD decay rate 0.8 day-1 Yes 0.8 0.8
COD settling velocity 1 m/day Yes 1 1
3.1 Output Data

There are two output types that are produced by QUAL2K, spatial and temporal outputs.
Spatial outputs are defined by pink tabs for each parameter. The graphs generated for these
outputs show the change in each parameter through the entire section of river defined at one
specified time period. Temporal outputs are defined by light blue tabs for each parameter. The
graphs generated show the change in concentration at one specified river reach over a 24 hour
period. Thus, the user can see how each measured parameter in the river changes with space and
time. Table 4 shows the parameters that can be simulated in Q2K model.

Table 4: Water quality parameters simulated in Q2K model (Parveen & Singh, 2016)
In Q2K, output data can be viewed in tabular or graphical format within Excel. The model
produces diurnal data for each reach, and also tabulates the average, maximum, and minimum
value of each parameter or constituent for each reach of the stream system. The average,
minimum, and maximum values of each modeled parameter are automatically organized into
three separate tabs within the Q2K model and it gives a 24-hr diurnal plot of specified
parameters for each reach of the system or a plot of the average, maximum, and minimum values
for each parameter as a function of distance downstream (Parveen & Singh, 2016).

4.0 Conclusion
The advantage of the Q2K model is its ability to incorporate hourly data. It has the ability to
simulate a system stream which is comprised of a main branch and several tributaries as well.
River quality modeling plays an important role in watershed management and water quality
control. Q2K is an user-friendly software that helps in water quality modeling.