📚 About This Method

What is the Volume Treated Method?

The Volume Treated method quantifies Volumetric Water Benefits (VWB) from wastewater treatment projects. It calculates the effective volume of water that has been improved by treatment, accounting for water quality improvements toward regulatory or environmental standards.

When to Use This Method

  • Treatment Beyond Compliance: When treatment exceeds regulatory requirements
  • Water Quality Challenges: When addressing local water quality issues not covered by regulations
  • Beneficial Reuse: When treated water is provided for beneficial use in the catchment
  • Measuring Progress: Tracking improvements over multiple sampling periods

Two Ways to Enter Data

Option 1: Upload CSV File - If you have your water quality data in a spreadsheet, export it as CSV with columns: Parameter, Unit, Inlet, Outlet, Standard. The calculator will automatically populate the table and detect DO as a beneficial parameter.

Option 2: Select Parameters Manually - Check the boxes for parameters you measured (organized by ecological importance), then enter inlet and outlet values in the table. You can also add custom parameters.

Calculation Methodology

For each water quality parameter:

For Pollutants (Lower is Better): If Inlet Concentration > Standard: Fraction Improved = MIN((Inlet - Outlet) / (Inlet - Standard), 1.0) For Beneficial Parameters (Higher is Better - e.g., DO): If Inlet Concentration < Standard: Fraction Improved = MIN((Outlet - Inlet) / (Standard - Inlet), 1.0) For Range Parameters (Must be Within Range - e.g., pH 6-9): If Inlet is Below Minimum: - If Outlet reaches range: Fraction = 1.0 - If Outlet improves but still below: Fraction = (Outlet-Inlet)/(Min-Inlet) - If Outlet crosses to above Maximum: Fraction = 0 (wrong direction) If Inlet is Above Maximum: - If Outlet reaches range: Fraction = 1.0 - If Outlet improves but still above: Fraction = (Inlet-Outlet)/(Inlet-Max) - If Outlet crosses to below Minimum: Fraction = 0 (wrong direction) If Inlet Already Meets Standard: Parameter is excluded (already compliant) Overall Quality Factor: Quality Factor = Average of all Fraction Improved values Volumetric Water Benefit: VWB = Annual Treatment Volume × Quality Factor

Note: The Quality Factor represents the fraction of water that has been "effectively treated" considering all parameters. A value of 1.0 means all parameters that exceeded standards were brought to compliance. A value of 0.75 means treatment achieved 75% of the improvement needed to meet standards.

Beneficial Parameters: Dissolved Oxygen (DO) is treated as a beneficial parameter where higher values are better (indicated with ↑). All other parameters are pollutants where lower values are better. For custom parameters, you can specify if they are beneficial.

Range Format: For pH or other range parameters, enter as "min-max" (e.g., "6-9"). You can use regular hyphen (-), en dash (–), or em dash (—).

🏭 Project Information

🧪 Select Water Quality Parameters

📁 Upload CSV File (Optional)

Upload a CSV file with your water quality data. Required columns: Parameter, Unit, Inlet, Outlet, Standard

— OR —

✓ Select Parameters Manually

Select the parameters you measured for your treatment system. Parameters are ordered by ecological importance.