The optimal aeration policy in a post-aeration basin is investigated. The physical problem is formulated using a dispersion model to describe the dissolved oxygen and the pollutant concentrations. The mathematical model is amenable to the Pontryagin’s continuous maximum principle which reduces the optimization problem to a boundary value problem. The optimal aeration policy is determined by numerically integrating the boundary value problem. Simulations are made to show the important effects of the inlet waste strength, the flow pattern and the flow retention on the optimal aeration policy. © 1979 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
