Characterization and first flush analysis in road and roof runoff in Shenyang, China.

PubMed

Li, Chunlin; Liu, Miao; Hu, Yuanman; Gong, Jiping; Sun, Fengyun; Xu, Yanyan

2014-01-01

As urbanization increases, urban runoff is an increasingly important component of total urban non-point source pollution. In this study, the properties of urban runoff were examined in Shenyang, in northeastern China. Runoff samples from a tiled roof, a concrete roof and a main road were analyzed for key pollutants (total suspended solids (TSS), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), chemical oxygen demand (COD), Pb, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, and Zn). The event mean concentration, site mean concentration, M(V) curves (dimensionless cumulative curve of pollutant load with runoff volume), and mass first flush ratio (MFF30) were used to analyze the characteristics of pollutant discharge and first flush (FF) effect. For all events, the pollutant concentration peaks occurred in the first half-hour after the runoff appeared and preceded the flow peaks. TN is the main pollutant in roof runoff. TSS, TN, TP, Pb, and Cr are the main pollutants in road runoff in Shenyang. There was a significant correlation between TSS and other pollutants except TN in runoff, which illustrated that TSS was an important carrier of organic matter and heavy metals. TN had strong positive correlations with total rainfall (Pearson's r = 0.927), average rainfall (Pearson's r = 0.995), and maximum rainfall intensity (Pearson's r = 0.991). TP had a strong correlation with rainfall intensity (Pearson's r = 0.940). A significant positive correlation between COD and rainfall duration (Pearson's r = 0.902, significance level = 0.05) was found. The order of FF intensity in different surfaces was concrete roof > tile roof > road. Rainfall duration and the length of the antecedent dry period were positively correlated with the FF. TN tended to exhibit strong flush for some events. Heavy metals showed a substantially stronger FF than other pollutant.

Modelling and optimization of land use/land cover change in a developing urban catchment.

PubMed

Xu, Ping; Gao, Fei; He, Junchao; Ren, Xinxin; Xi, Weijin

2017-06-01

The impacts of land use/cover change (LUCC) on hydrological processes and water resources are mainly reflected in changes in runoff and pollutant variations. Low impact development (LID) technology is utilized as an effective strategy to control urban stormwater runoff and pollution in the urban catchment. In this study, the impact of LUCC on runoff and pollutants in an urbanizing catchment of Guang-Ming New District in Shenzhen, China, were quantified using a dynamic rainfall-runoff model with the EPA Storm Water Management Model (SWMM). Based on the simulations and observations, the main objectives of this study were: (1) to evaluate the catchment runoff and pollutant variations with LUCC, (2) to select and optimize the appropriate layout of LID in a planning scenario for reducing the growth of runoff and pollutants under LUCC, (3) to assess the optimal planning schemes for land use/cover. The results showed that compared to 2013, the runoff volume, peak flow and pollution load of suspended solids (SS), and chemical oxygen demand increased by 35.1%, 33.6% and 248.5%, and 54.5% respectively in a traditional planning scenario. The assessment result of optimal planning of land use showed that annual rainfall control of land use for an optimal planning scenario with LID technology was 65%, and SS pollutant load reduction efficiency 65.6%.

CONSTRUCTED WETLANDS VS. RETENTION POND BMPS: MESOCOSM STUDIES FOR IMPROVED POLLUTANT MANAGEMENT IN URBAN STORMWATER TREATMENT

EPA Science Inventory

Increased urbanization has increased the amount of directly connected impervious area that results in large quantities of stormwater runoff. This runoff can contribute significant amounts of debris and pollutants to receiving waters. Urban watershed managers often incorporate b...

Frequency analysis of urban runoff quality in an urbanizing catchment of Shenzhen, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qin, Huapeng; Tan, Xiaolong; Fu, Guangtao; Zhang, Yingying; Huang, Yuefei

2013-07-01

This paper investigates the frequency distribution of urban runoff quality indicators using a long-term continuous simulation approach and evaluates the impacts of proposed runoff control schemes on runoff quality in an urbanizing catchment in Shenzhen, China. Four different indicators are considered to provide a comprehensive assessment of the potential impacts: total runoff depth, event pollutant load, Event Mean Concentration, and peak concentration during a rainfall event. The results obtained indicate that urban runoff quantity and quality in the catchment have significant variations in rainfall events and a very high rate of non-compliance with surface water quality regulations. Three runoff control schemes with the capacity to intercept an initial runoff depth of 5 mm, 10 mm, and 15 mm are evaluated, respectively, and diminishing marginal benefits are found with increasing interception levels in terms of water quality improvement. The effects of seasonal variation in rainfall events are investigated to provide a better understanding of the performance of the runoff control schemes. The pre-flood season has higher risk of poor water quality than other seasons after runoff control. This study demonstrates that frequency analysis of urban runoff quantity and quality provides a probabilistic evaluation of pollution control measures, and thus helps frame a risk-based decision making for urban runoff quality management in an urbanizing catchment.

Snowmelt Runoff: A New Focus of Urban Nonpoint Source Pollution

PubMed Central

Zhu, Hui; Xu, Yingying; Yan, Baixing; Guan, Jiunian

2012-01-01

Irregular precipitation associated with global climate change had been causing various problems in urban regions. Besides the runoff due to rainfall in summer, the snowmelt runoff in early spring could also play an important role in deteriorating the water quality of the receiving waters. Due to global climate change, the snowfall has increased gradually in individual regions, and snowstorms occur more frequently, which leads to an enhancement of snowmelt runoff flow during the melting seasons. What is more, rivers just awaking from freezing cosntitute a frail ecosystem, with poor self-purification capacity, however, the urban snowmelt runoff could carry diverse pollutants accumulated during the winter, such as coal and/or gas combustion products, snowmelting agents, automotive exhaust and so on, which seriously threaten the receiving water quality. Nevertheless, most of the research focused on the rainfall runoff in rainy seasons, and the study on snowmelt runoff is still a neglected field in many countries and regions. In conclusion, due to the considerable water quantity and the worrisome water quality, snowmelt runoff in urban regions with large impervious surface areas should be listed among the important targets in urban nonpoint source pollution management and control. PMID:23202881

Snowmelt runoff: a new focus of urban nonpoint source pollution.

PubMed

Zhu, Hui; Xu, Yingying; Yan, Baixing; Guan, Jiunian

2012-11-30

Irregular precipitation associated with global climate change had been causing various problems in urban regions. Besides the runoff due to rainfall in summer, the snowmelt runoff in early spring could also play an important role in deteriorating the water quality of the receiving waters. Due to global climate change, the snowfall has increased gradually in individual regions, and snowstorms occur more frequently, which leads to an enhancement of snowmelt runoff flow during the melting seasons. What is more, rivers just awaking from freezing constitute a frail ecosystem, with poor self-purification capacity, however, the urban snowmelt runoff could carry diverse pollutants accumulated during the winter, such as coal and/or gas combustion products, snowmelting agents, automotive exhaust and so on, which seriously threaten the receiving water quality. Nevertheless, most of the research focused on the rainfall runoff in rainy seasons, and the study on snowmelt runoff is still a neglected field in many countries and regions. In conclusion, due to the considerable water quantity and the worrisome water quality, snowmelt runoff in urban regions with large impervious surface areas should be listed among the important targets in urban nonpoint source pollution management and control.

Stormwater runoff pollutant loading distributions and their correlation with rainfall and catchment characteristics in a rapidly industrialized city.

PubMed

Li, Dongya; Wan, Jinquan; Ma, Yongwen; Wang, Yan; Huang, Mingzhi; Chen, Yangmei

2015-01-01

Fast urbanization and industrialization in developing countries result in significant stormwater runoff pollution, due to drastic changes in land-use, from rural to urban. A three-year study on the stormwater runoff pollutant loading distributions of industrial, parking lot and mixed commercial and residential catchments was conducted in the Tongsha reservoir watershed of Dongguan city, a typical, rapidly industrialized urban area in China. This study presents the changes in concentration during rainfall events, event mean concentrations (EMCs) and event pollution loads per unit area (EPLs). The first flush criterion, namely the mass first flush ratio (MFFn), was used to identify the first flush effects. The impacts of rainfall and catchment characterization on EMCs and pollutant loads percentage transported by the first 40% of runoff volume (FF40) were evaluated. The results indicated that the pollutant wash-off process of runoff during the rainfall events has significant temporal and spatial variations. The mean rainfall intensity (I), the impervious rate (IMR) and max 5-min intensity (Imax5) are the critical parameters of EMCs, while Imax5, antecedent dry days (ADD) and rainfall depth (RD) are the critical parameters of FF40. Intercepting the first 40% of runoff volume can remove 55% of TSS load, 53% of COD load, 58% of TN load, and 61% of TP load, respectively, according to all the storm events. These results may be helpful in mitigating stormwater runoff pollution for many other urban areas in developing countries.

Stormwater Runoff Pollutant Loading Distributions and Their Correlation with Rainfall and Catchment Characteristics in a Rapidly Industrialized City

PubMed Central

Li, Dongya; Wan, Jinquan; Ma, Yongwen; Wang, Yan; Huang, Mingzhi; Chen, Yangmei

2015-01-01

Fast urbanization and industrialization in developing countries result in significant stormwater runoff pollution, due to drastic changes in land-use, from rural to urban. A three-year study on the stormwater runoff pollutant loading distributions of industrial, parking lot and mixed commercial and residential catchments was conducted in the Tongsha reservoir watershed of Dongguan city, a typical, rapidly industrialized urban area in China. This study presents the changes in concentration during rainfall events, event mean concentrations (EMCs) and event pollution loads per unit area (EPLs). The first flush criterion, namely the mass first flush ratio (MFFn), was used to identify the first flush effects. The impacts of rainfall and catchment characterization on EMCs and pollutant loads percentage transported by the first 40% of runoff volume (FF40) were evaluated. The results indicated that the pollutant wash-off process of runoff during the rainfall events has significant temporal and spatial variations. The mean rainfall intensity (I), the impervious rate (IMR) and max 5-min intensity (Imax5) are the critical parameters of EMCs, while Imax5, antecedent dry days (ADD) and rainfall depth (RD) are the critical parameters of FF40. Intercepting the first 40% of runoff volume can remove 55% of TSS load, 53% of COD load, 58% of TN load, and 61% of TP load, respectively, according to all the storm events. These results may be helpful in mitigating stormwater runoff pollution for many other urban areas in developing countries. PMID:25774922

First flush of storm runoff pollution from an urban catchment in China.

PubMed

Li, Li-Qing; Yin, Cheng-Qing; He, Qing-Ci; Kong, Ling-Li

2007-01-01

Storm runoff pollution process was investigated in an urban catchment with an area of 1.3 km2 in Wuhan City of China. The results indicate that the pollutant concentration peaks preceded the flow peaks in all of 8 monitored storm events. The intervals between pollution peak and flow peak were shorter in the rain events with higher intensity in the initial period than those with lower intensity. The fractions of pollution load transported by the first 30% of runoff volume (FF30) were 52.2%-72.1% for total suspended solids (TSS), 53.0%-65.3% for chemical oxygen demand (COD), 40.4%-50.6% for total nitrogen (TN), and 45.8%-63.2% for total phosphorus (TP), respectively. Runoff pollution was positively related to non-raining days before the rainfall. Intercepting the first 30% of runoff volume can remove 62.4% of TSS load, 59.4% of COD load, 46.8% of TN load, and 54.1% of TP load, respectively, according to all the storm events. It is suggested that controlling the first flush is a critical measure in reduction of urban stormwater pollution.

[Total pollution features of urban runoff outlet for urban river].

PubMed

Luo, Hong-Bing; Luo, Lin; Huang, Gu; He, Qiang; Liu, Ping

2009-11-01

The urban stormwater runoff discharged to urban river, especially to rainfall source river, cannot be ignored. In this study, the Futian River watershed in Shenzhen city in a typical southern city of China is taken as the research object. In order to guide the pollution control for urban river, the eighteen rainfall events were monitored, and the total pollution features of the urban runoff outlet for this urban river were analyzed and discussed by using the process of pollutographs, the identifying to first flush, event mean concentration (EMC), etc. Results show that the concentrations of COD, SS, TN, TP and BOD5 are ten times more than the grade V of the environmental quality standards for surface water during the runoff time; the pollution caused by heavy metals (Cr, Ge, Cu, Hg and As) in runoff at a typical rainfall event is serious; the average and range of pollutant concentration at this runoff outlet in study area are evidently higher than at Shapingba in Chongqing city of China and at Silerwood in Canada, but are lower than at Shilipu in Wuhan city of China. The first flushes of COD, SS, BOD5, especially COD and SS, are evident, but the TN and TP are not. The average EMC of COD, TN, TP and BOD5 are 224.14, 571.15, 5.223, 2.04, 143.5 mg/L, respectively. To some extent, the EMC of COD is about two times of the value of the near cities, Macao and Zhuhai. The EMC of TN and TP are obviously higher than Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai. To compared with foreign counties, the EMC of the study area in Shenzhen is obviously much higher than the cities of Korean, USA and Canada. So the total pollution caused by the urban surface runoff in study area is serious and necessary to be treated.

[Pollution load and the first flush effect of phosphorus in urban runoff of Wenzhou City].

PubMed

Zhou, Dong; Chen, Zhen-lou; Bi, Chun-juan

2012-08-01

Five typical rainfalls were monitored in two different research areas of Wenzhou municipality. The pH and concentrations of total phosphorus (TP), dissolved phosphorus (DP), particulate phosphorus (PP), total inorganic carbon (TIC), total organic carbon (TOC), total suspended substances (TSS), BOD5 and COD in six different kinds of urban runoff were measured. The results showed that, the concentrations of TP, DP and PP in different kinds of urban runoff of Wenzhou ranged from 0.01 to 4.32 mg x L(-1), ND to 0.88 mg x L(-1) and ND to 4.31 mg x L(-1), respectively. In the early stages of runoff process PP was dominated, while in the later, the proportion of DP in most of the runoff samples would show a rising trend, especially in roof and outlet runoff. Judged by the event mean concentration (EMC) of TP and DP in these five rainfalls, some kinds of urban runoff could cause environmental pressure to the next level receiving water bodies. Meanwhile, the differences among the TP and DP content (maximum, minimum and mean content) in various urban runoffs were significant, and so were the differences among various rainfall events. According to the M (V) curve, the first flush effect of TP in most kinds of urban runoff was common; while the first flush effect of DP was more difficult to occur comparing with TP. Not only the underlying surface types but also many physico-chemical properties of runoff could affect the concentration of TP in urban runoff. All the results also suggested that different best management plans (BMPs) should be selected for various urban runoff types for the treatment of phosphorus pollution, and reducing the concentration of TSS is considered as one of the effective ways to decrease the pollution load of phosphorus in urban runoff.

WET-WEATHER POLLUTION PREVENTION BY PRODUCT SUBSTITUTION

EPA Science Inventory

A literature review of urban stormwater runoff and building/construction materials has shown that many materials such as galvanized metal, concrete, asphalt, and wood products, have the potential to release pollutants into urban stormwater runoff, and snowmelt. However, much of t...

Total pollution effect of urban surface runoff.

PubMed

Luo, Hongbing; Luo, Lin; Huang, Gu; Liu, Ping; Li, Jingxian; Hu, Sheng; Wang, Fuxiang; Xu, Rui; Huang, Xiaoxue

2009-01-01

For pollution research with regard to urban surface runoff, most sampling strategies to date have focused on differences in land usage. With single land-use sampling, total surface runoff pollution effect cannot be evaluated unless every land usage spot is monitored. Through a new sampling strategy known as mixed stormwater sampling for a street community at discharge outlet adjacent to river, this study assessed the total urban surface runoff pollution effect caused by a variety of land uses and the pollutants washed off from the rain pipe system in the Futian River watershed in Shenzhen City of China. The water quality monitoring indices were COD (chemical oxygen demand), TSS (total suspend solid), TP (total phosphorus), TN (total nitrogen) and BOD (biochemical oxygen demand). The sums of total pollution loads discharged into the river for the four indices of COD, TSS, TN, and TP over all seven rainfall events were very different. The mathematical model for simulating total pollution loads was established from discharge outlet mixed stormwater sampling of total pollution loads on the basis of four parameters: rainfall intensity, total land area, impervious land area, and pervious land area. In order to treat surface runoff pollution, the values of MFF30 (mass first flush ratio) and FF30 (first 30% of runoff volume) can be considered as split-flow control criteria to obtain more effective and economical design of structural BMPs (best management practices) facilities.

Urban Runoff and Nutrients Loading Control from Sustainable BMPs (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiao, Q.

2009-12-01

Climate change alters hydrodynamic and nutrient dynamic in both large and small geographic scales. These changes in our freshwater system directly affect drinking water, food production, business, and all aspects of our life. Along with climate change is increasing urbanization which alters natural landscape. Urban runoff has been identified as one of many potential drivers of the decline of pelagic fishes in san Francisco Bay-Delta region. Recent found of Pyrethroids in American River has increased scientists, public, and policy makers’ concern about our fresh water system. Increasing our understanding about the fundamental hydrodynamic, nutrient dynamics, and the transport mechanics of runoff and nutrients are important for future water resource and ecosystem management. Urbanization has resulted in significantly increasing the amount of impervious land cover. Most impervious land covers are hydrophobic that alters surface runoff because of the effects on surface retention storage, rainfall interception, and infiltration. Large volumes of excess storm runoff from urbanized areas cause flooding, water pollution, groundwater recharge deficits, destroyed habitat, beach closures, and toxicity to aquatic organisms. Parking lot alone accounts for more than 11% of these impervious surfaces. Contrast to impervious parking lot, turfgrass can accouter for 12% of urban land in California. Irrigated urban landscapes create considerable benefits to our daily living. However, the use of fertilizers and pesticides has caused environmental problems. Preventing fertilizers and pesticides from entering storm drains is an important goal for both landscape and storm runoff managers. Studies of urban runoff have found that the most fertilizers and pesticides are from dry weather runoff which conveys pollutants to sidewalks, streets, and storm drains. Controlling surface runoff is critical to preventing these pollutants from entering storm drains and water bodies. Large scale construction of runoff retention basins and treatment facilities to meet TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Load) regulations are not cost-effective or practical. An alternative approach is to control runoff and nutrients on-site through installation of decentralized BMPs that detain and infiltrate runoff before it reaches storm drains. Recent developed green-infrastructure which integrating engineered soil and trees to reduce runoff and nutrients loading is a self-sustained best management practice (BMP). This BMP has been testing and used in urban runoff control. In Davis, CA this type of BMPs were installed in a parking lot and a residential property to evaluate the system’s effectiveness on reducing storm runoff and pollutant loading from the parking lot and irrigated landscape. Storm runoff and pollutant loading were measured and monitored during February 2007 thru May 2009 from the parking lot. The BMP reduced surface runoff and nutrients by 88.8% and 95.3%, respectively. In the residential irrigated landscape, the dry-weather runoff was monitored during 2007 irrigation season, the BMP captured almost all dry weather runoff. The performance of these BMPs demonstrated their potential use for reducing runoff and nutrients loading. Control urban runoff from these 23% landscape (i.e., parking lot and irrigated turf grass) could largely alter the runoff and nutrients transport and their dynamic in our water system.

Modeling of storm runoff and pollutant wash off processes during storm event in rapidly urbanizing catchment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qin, H. P.; Yu, X. Y.; Khu, S. T.

2009-04-01

Many urban catchments in developing countries are undergoing fast economic growth, population expansion and land use/cover change. Due to the mixture of agricultural/industrial/residential land use or different urbanization level as well as lack of historical monitoring data in the developing area, storm-water runoff pollution modeling is faced with challenges of considerable spatial variations and data insufficiency. Shiyan Reservoir catchment is located in the rapidly urbanizing coastal region of Southeast China. It has six sub-catchments with largely different land use patterns and urbanization levels. A simple semi-distributed model was used to simulate the storm-water runoff pollution process during storm event in the catchment. The model adopted modified IHACRES model and exponential wash-off functions to describe storm-runoff and pollutant wash-off processes, respectively, in each of six sub-catchments. Temporary hydrological and water quality monitoring sites were set at the downstream section of each sub-catchment in Feb-May 2007, spanning non-rain and rain seasons. And the model was calibrated for storm-runoff and water quality data during two typical storm events with rainfall amount of 10mm/4hr and 73mm/5hr, respectively. The results indicated that the Nash-Sutcliffe (NS) coefficients are greater than 0.65 and 0.55 respectively for storm-runoff model calibration and validation. However although NS coefficients can reach 0.7~0.9 for pollutant wash-off model calibration based on measured data in each storm event, the simulation data can not fit well with the measured data in model validation. According to field survey observation, many litters and residuals were found to distribute in disorder in some sub-catchments or their drainage systems and to instantaneously wash off into the surface water when the rainfall amount and intensity are large enough. In order to improve storm-water runoff pollution simulation in the catchment, the variations of pollutant source and wash off processes in different storm intensity should be consider in future monitoring and model development. Keywords: storm runoff; wash off; urbanization; catchment modeling; litter; residual

WET-WEATHER POLLUTION PREVENTION THROUGH MATERIALS SUBSTITUTION AS PART OF INDUSTRIAL CONSTRUCTION

EPA Science Inventory

A literature review of urban stormwater runoff and building/construction materials has shown that many materials such as galvanized metal, concrete, asphalt, and wood products, have the potential to release pollutants into urban stormwater runoff and snowmelt. However, much of th...

Comparison between snowmelt-runoff and rainfall-runoff nonpoint source pollution in a typical urban catchment in Beijing, China.

PubMed

Chen, Lei; Zhi, Xiaosha; Shen, Zhenyao; Dai, Ying; Aini, Guzhanuer

2018-01-01

As a climate-driven event, nonpoint source (NPS) pollution is caused by rainfall- or snowmelt-runoff processes; however, few studies have compared the characteristics and mechanisms of these two kinds of NPS processes. In this study, three factors relating to urban NPS, including surface dust, snowmelt, and rainfall-runoff processes, were analyzed comprehensively by both field sampling and laboratory experiments. The seasonal variation and leaching characteristics of pollutants in surface dust were explored, and the runoff quality of snowmelt NPS and rainfall NPS were compared. The results indicated that dusts are the main sources of urban NPS and more pollutants are deposited in dust samples during winter and spring. However, pollutants in surface dust showed a low leaching ratio, which indicated most NPS pollutants would be carried as particulate forms. Compared to surface layer, underlying snow contained higher chemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids (TSS), Cu, Fe, Mn, and Pb concentrations, while the event mean concentration of most pollutants in snowmelt tended to be higher in roads. Moreover, the TSS and heavy metal content of snowmelt NPS was always higher than those of rainfall NPS, which indicated the importance of controlling snowmelt pollution for effective water quality management.

Forecasting land use change and its environmental impact at a watershed scale.

PubMed

Tang, Z; Engel, B A; Pijanowski, B C; Lim, K J

2005-07-01

Urban expansion is a major driving force altering local and regional hydrology and increasing non-point source (NPS) pollution. To explore these environmental consequences of urbanization, land use change was forecast, and long-term runoff and NPS pollution were assessed in the Muskegon River watershed, located on the eastern coast of Lake Michigan. A land use change model, LTM, and a web-based environmental impact model, L-THIA, were used in this study. The outcomes indicated the watershed would likely be subjected to impacts from urbanization on runoff and some types of NPS pollution. Urbanization will slightly or considerably increase runoff volume, depending on the development rate, slightly increase nutrient losses in runoff, but significantly increase losses of oil and grease and certain heavy metals in runoff. The spatial variation of urbanization and its impact were also evaluated at the subwatershed scale and showed subwatersheds along the coast of the lake and close to cities would have runoff and nitrogen impact. The results of this study have significant implications for urban planning and decision making in an effort to protect and remediate water and habitat quality of Muskegon Lake, which is one of Lake Michigan's Areas of Concern (AOC), and the techniques described here can be used in other areas.

Characterizations of the first flush in storm water runoff from an urban roadway.

PubMed

Lee, B C; Matsui, S; Shimizu, Y; Matsuda, T

2005-07-01

Storm water runoff from urban roadways contains anthropogenic pollutants, which are mainly generated from traffic-related activities. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the characteristics of pollutants from the roadway runoff as well as first flush effects. Storm water runoff was sampled during five storm events from the experimental site in Otsu, Shiga, Japan. From the hydrographs and pollutographs for the roadway runoff, the concentration of pollutants increased with increasing runoff flow in the low flow rate event, but did not significantly increase in the high flow rate event. Moreover, according to the analysis of cumulative pollutant mass versus runoff volume curves from five storm events, the first 50% of the runoff volume transported 62% of TOC and Mo, 60% of SS, 59% of Fe, Mn and Cu, 58% of Ni, 57% of Cd and Pb, 56% of Al, 55% of Zn, and 54% of Cr, as the mean values. The first 30% and 80% of the runoff volume also transported 34-43% mass of the pollutants and 82-88% mass of the pollutants, respectively. This study for storm water runoff may also provide useful information to correctly design treatment facilities, such as detention tanks and ponds, filtration and adsorption systems.

The use of simulated rainfall to study the discharge process and the influence factors of urban surface runoff pollution loads.

PubMed

Qinqin, Li; Qiao, Chen; Jiancai, Deng; Weiping, Hu

2015-01-01

An understanding of the characteristics of pollutants on impervious surfaces is essential to estimate pollution loads and to design methods to minimize the impacts of pollutants on the environment. In this study, simulated rainfall equipment was constructed to investigate the pollutant discharge process and the influence factors of urban surface runoff (USR). The results indicated that concentrations of total suspended solids (TSS), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) appeared to be higher in the early period and then decreased gradually with rainfall duration until finally stabilized. The capacity and particle size of surface dust, rainfall intensity and urban surface slopes affected runoff pollution loads to a variable extent. The loads of TP, TN and COD showed a positive relationship with the surface dust capacity, whereas the maximum TSS load appeared when the surface dust was 0.0317 g·cm⁻². Smaller particle sizes (<0.125 mm) of surface dust generated high TN, TP and COD loads. Increases in rainfall intensity and surface slope enhanced the pollution carrying capacity of runoff, leading to higher pollution loads. Knowledge of the influence factors could assist in the management of USR pollution loads.

Impact of climate change on runoff pollution in urban environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coutu, S.; Kramer, S.; Barry, D. A.; Roudier, P.

2012-12-01

Runoff from urban environments is generally contaminated. These contaminants mostly originate from road traffic and building envelopes. Facade envelopes generate lead, zinc and even biocides, which are used for facade protection. Road traffic produces particles from tires and brakes. The transport of these pollutants to the environment is controlled by rainfall. The interval, duration and intensity of rainfall events are important as the dynamics of the pollutants are often modeled with non-linear buildup/washoff functions. Buildup occurs during dry weather when pollution accumulates, and is subsequently washed-off at the time of the following rainfall, contaminating surface runoff. Climate predictions include modified rainfall distributions, with changes in both number and intensity of events, even if the expected annual rainfall varies little. Consequently, pollutant concentrations in urban runoff driven by buildup/washoff processes will be affected by these changes in rainfall distributions. We investigated to what extent modifications in future rainfall distributions will impact the concentrations of pollutants present in urban surface runoff. The study used the example of Lausanne, Switzerland (temperate climate zone). Three emission scenarios (time horizon 2090), multiple combinations of RCM/GCM and modifications in rain event frequency were used to simulate future rainfall distributions with various characteristics. Simulated rainfall events were used as inputs for four pairs of buildup/washoff models, in order to compare future pollution concentrations in surface runoff. In this way, uncertainty in model structure was also investigated. Future concentrations were estimated to be between ±40% of today's concentrations depending on the season and, importantly, on the choice of the RCM/GCM model. Overall, however, the dominant factor was the uncertainty inherent in buildup/washoff models, which dominated over the uncertainty in future rainfall distributions. Consequently, the choice of a proper buildup/washoff model, with calibrated site-specific coefficients, is a major factor in modeling future runoff concentrations from contaminated urban surfaces.

[Hydrology and pollution characteristics of urban runoff: Beijing as a sample].

PubMed

Dong, Xin; Du, Peng-Fei; Li, Zhi-Yi; Yu, Zheng-Rong; Wang, Rui; Huang, Jin-Liang

2008-03-01

The purpose of this study is identification and characterization of hydrological process of urban runoff, as well as concentration variation of pollutants in it. Samples were collected in 4 rainfall events in Beijing from Jun. 2006 to Aug. 2006. Hydrology and pollution of the rainfall-runoff process were analyzed on roof and road. Study results show that the shapes of hydrological curves of runoff, despite for a 5 - 20 min delay and a milder tendency, are similar to rainfall curves. Runoff coefficients of roof are 0.80 - 0.98, while 0.87 - 0.97 of road. Event mean concentrations (EMC) of pollutants are influenced by build-up and wash-off features, which leads to a higher concentration in road runoff than in roof runoff. Major pollutants that excess the water quality standards are COD, TN, and TP. Evident correlations (> 0.1) are found between pollutants. Correlation with particles are higher for COD and SO4(2-) (> 0.5), while lower for nutrients (<0.5). First flush effects (FFE) are found and affected by several factors, such as pollutant variety, types of land covers, and rainfall intensity. FFE are found more intense in SS, more frequently in road runoff, and more difficult to form for COD and nutrients with low rainfall intensity. Therefore, control of first period of runoff would be an effective approach for runoff management in Beijing.

Runoff of particle bound pollutants from urban impervious surfaces studied by analysis of sediments from stormwater traps.

PubMed

Jartun, Morten; Ottesen, Rolf Tore; Steinnes, Eiliv; Volden, Tore

2008-06-25

Runoff sediments from 68 small stormwater traps around the harbor of urban Bergen, Norway, were sampled and the concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), heavy metals, and total organic carbon (TOC) were determined in addition to grain size. Our study provides empirical data from a large area in the interface between the urban and marine environment, studying the active transport of pollutants from land-based sources. The results of the analyses clearly demonstrate the importance of the urban environment representing a variety of contamination sources, and that stormwater runoff is an important dispersion mechanism of toxic pollutants. The concentrations of different pollutants in urban runoff sediments show that there are several active pollution sources supplying the sewage systems with PCBs, PAHs and heavy metals such as lead (Pb), zinc (Zn) and cadmium (Cd). The concentration of PCB7 in the urban runoff sediments ranged between < 0.0004 and 0.704 mg/kg. For PAH16, the concentration range was < 0.2-80 mg/kg, whereas the concentration ranges of Pb, Zn and Cd were 9-675, 51.3-4670 and 0.02-11.1 mg/kg respectively. Grain size distribution in 21 selected samples varied from a median particle diameter of 13 to 646 microm. However, several samples had very fine-grained particles even up to the 90 percentile of the samples, making them available for stormwater dispersion in suspended form. The sampling approach proposed in this paper will provide environmental authorities with a useful tool to examine ongoing urban contamination of harbors and similar recipients.

Spatial variations of storm runoff pollution and their correlation with land-use in a rapidly urbanizing catchment in China.

PubMed

Qin, Hua-Peng; Khu, Soon-Thiam; Yu, Xiang-Ying

2010-09-15

The composition of land use for a rapidly urbanizing catchment is usually heterogeneous, and this may result in significant spatial variations of storm runoff pollution and increase the difficulties of water quality management. The Shiyan Reservoir catchment, a typical rapidly urbanizing area in China, is chosen as a study area, and temporary monitoring sites were set at the downstream of its 6 sub-catchments to synchronously measure rainfall, runoff and water quality during 4 storm events in 2007 and 2009. Due to relatively low frequency monitoring, the IHACRES and exponential pollutant wash-off simulation models are used to interpolate the measured data to compensate for data insufficiency. Three indicators, event pollutant loads per unit area (EPL), event mean concentration (EMC) and pollutant loads transported by the first 50% of runoff volume (FF50), were used to describe the runoff pollution for different pollutants in each sub-catchment during the storm events, and the correlations between runoff pollution spatial variations and land-use patterns were tested by Spearman's rank correlation analysis. The results indicated that similar spatial variation trends were found for different pollutants (EPL or EMC) in light storm events, which strongly correlate with the proportion of residential land use; however, they have different trends in heavy storm events, which correlate with not only the residential land use, but also agricultural and bare land use. And some pairs of pollutants (such as COD/BOD, NH(3)-N/TN) might have the similar source because they have strong or moderate positive spatial correlation. Moreover, the first flush intensity (FF50) varies with impervious land areas and different interception ratio of initial storm runoff volume should be adopted in different sub-catchments. Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Pollutant loads of surface runoff in Wuhan City Zoo, an urban tourist area.

PubMed

Zhao, Jian-wei; Shan, Bao-qing; Yin, Cheng-qing

2007-01-01

The pollutant loads of surface runoff in an urban tourist area have been investigated for two years in the Wuhan City Zoo, China. Eight sampling sites, including two woodlands, three animal yards, two roofs and one road, were selected for sampling and study. The results indicate that pollutants ranked in a predictable order of decreasing load (e.g. animal yard > roof > woodland > road), with animal yards acting as the key pollution source in the zoo. Pollutants were transported mainly by particulate form in runoff. Particulate nitrogen and particulate phosphorous accounted on average for 61%, 78% of total pollutant, respectively, over 13 monitored rainfall events. These results indicate the treatment practices should be implemented to improve particulate nutrient removal. Analysis of the M(V) curve indicate that no first flush effect existed in the surface runoff from pervious areas (e.g. woodland, animal ground yard), whereas a first flush effect was evident in runoff from impervious surfaces (e.g. animal cement yard, roof, road).

MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO STORMWATER MANAGEMENT IN URBAN AREAS

EPA Science Inventory

Uncaptured stormwater runoff from urban and urbanizing areas has negative impacts on both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Alters hydrologic regimes through conversion of precipitation to runoff, lowers extent of infiltration. Aggravates nonpoint source pollution issues.

The Other Water Pollution

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barton, Kathy

1978-01-01

Nonpoint source pollution, water pollution not released at one specific identifiable point, now accounts for 50 percent of the nation's water pollution problem. Runoff is the primary culprit and includes the following sources: agriculture, mining, hydrologic modifications, and urban runoff. Economics, legislation, practices, and management of this…

Assessing the Impact of Urban Runoff in Recreational Beaches in South Carolina and Florida Using Culturable and QPCR Fecal Indicator

EPA Science Inventory

Urban/suburban runoff carries a variety of pollutants that often includes bacterial pathogens and indicators of fecal contamination. The objective of this study was to assess the microbial water quality of recreational beaches impacted solely by urban runoff through the use of cu...

Grain size distribution of road-deposited sediment and its contribution to heavy metal pollution in urban runoff in Beijing, China.

PubMed

Zhao, Hongtao; Li, Xuyong; Wang, Xiaomei; Tian, Di

2010-11-15

Pollutant washoff from road-deposited sediment (RDS) is an increasing problem associated with the rapid urbanization of China that results in urban non-point source pollution. Here, we analyzed the RDS grain size distribution and its potential impact on heavy metal pollution in urban runoff from impervious surfaces of urban villages, colleges and residences, and main traffic roads in the Haidian District, Beijing, China. RDS with smaller grain size had a higher metal concentration. Specifically, particles with the smallest grain size (<44 μm) had the highest metal concentration in most areas (unit: mg/kg): Cd 0.28-1.31, Cr 57.9-154, Cu 68.1-142, Ni 25.8-78.0, Pb 73.1-222 and Zn 264-664. Particles with smaller grain size (<250 μm) contributed more than 80% of the total metal loads in RDS washoff, while suspended solids with a grain size <44 μm in runoff water accounted for greater than 70% of the metal mass in the total suspended solids (TSS). The heavy metal content in the TSS was 2.21-6.52% of that in the RDS. These findings will facilitate our understanding of the importance of RDS grain size distribution in heavy metal pollution caused by urban storm runoff. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Development of urban runoff model FFC-QUAL for first-flush water-quality analysis in urban drainage basins.

PubMed

Hur, Sungchul; Nam, Kisung; Kim, Jungsoo; Kwak, Changjae

2018-01-01

An urban runoff model that is able to compute the runoff, the pollutant loadings, and the concentrations of water-quality constituents in urban drainages during the first flush was developed. This model, which is referred to as FFC-QUAL, was modified from the existing ILLUDAS model and added for use during the water-quality analysis process for dry and rainy periods. For the dry period, the specifications of the coefficients for the discharge and water quality were used. During rainfall, we used the Clark and time-area methods for the runoff analyses of pervious and impervious areas to consider the effects of the subbasin shape; moreover, four pollutant accumulation methods and the washoff equation for computing the water quality each time were used. According to the verification results, FFC-QUAL provides generally similar output as the measured data for the peak flow, total runoff volume, total loadings, peak concentration, and time of peak concentration for three rainfall events in the Gunja subbasin. In comparison with the ILLUDAS, SWMM, and MOUSE models, there is little difference between these models and the model developed in this study. The proposed model should be useful in urban watersheds because of its simplicity and its capacity to model common pollutants (e.g., biological oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, Escherichia coli, suspended solids, and total nitrogen and phosphorous) in runoff. The proposed model can also be used in design studies to determine how changes in infrastructure will affect the runoff and pollution loads. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

EPA RESEARCH IN URBAN STORMWATER POLLUTION CONTROL

EPA Science Inventory

This state-of-the-art on the Environmental Protection Agency' s research in urban stormwater and combined sewer overflow pollution control describes the major elements of the Urban Runoff Pollution Control Program. roblem definition, users assistance tools, management alternative...

Spatial variability of characteristics and origins of urban wet weather pollution in combined sewers.

PubMed

Kafi-Benyahia, M; Gromaire, M G; Chebbo, G

2005-01-01

An experimental on-site observatory of urban pollutant loads in combined sewers was created in the centre of Paris to quantify and characterise the dry and wet weather flow in relation to spatial scale. Eight rainfall events were studied from April 2003 to May 2004. Samples were analysed for suspended solids, organic matter, nitrogen and heavy metals. Results confirm the extent of wet weather pollution. They have shown the relative homogeneity of SS and organic matter characteristics from one urban catchment area to another. Two groups of heavy metals were identified. The first one concerns Cu, which has a higher concentration in wet weather flow (WWF) than in dry weather flow (DWF), and runoff. The second includes Cd, Pb and Zn, where higher concentrations were measured in urban runoff than in WWF and DWF. A first evaluation of contribution of wastewater, urban runoff and sewer deposit erosion sources to wet weather pollution was established and has highlighted the contribution of wastewater and sewer deposits to this pollution. However, it has shown that sewer deposit erosion remains an important source of wet weather pollution at different spatial scales.

TREATMENT OF HEAVY METALS IN STORMWATER RUNOFF USING WET POND AND WETLAND MESOCOSMS

EPA Science Inventory

Urban stormwater runoff is being recognized as a major source of pollutants to receiving waters and a number of recent investigations have evaluated stormwater runoff quality and best management practices to minimize pollutant input to receiving waters. Particle-bound contaminant...

Assessing the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) pollution of urban stormwater runoff: a dynamic modeling approach.

PubMed

Zheng, Yi; Lin, Zhongrong; Li, Hao; Ge, Yan; Zhang, Wei; Ye, Youbin; Wang, Xuejun

2014-05-15

Urban stormwater runoff delivers a significant amount of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), mostly of atmospheric origin, to receiving water bodies. The PAH pollution of urban stormwater runoff poses serious risk to aquatic life and human health, but has been overlooked by environmental modeling and management. This study proposed a dynamic modeling approach for assessing the PAH pollution and its associated environmental risk. A variable time-step model was developed to simulate the continuous cycles of pollutant buildup and washoff. To reflect the complex interaction among different environmental media (i.e. atmosphere, dust and stormwater), the dependence of the pollution level on antecedent weather conditions was investigated and embodied in the model. Long-term simulations of the model can be efficiently performed, and probabilistic features of the pollution level and its risk can be easily determined. The applicability of this approach and its value to environmental management was demonstrated by a case study in Beijing, China. The results showed that Beijing's PAH pollution of road runoff is relatively severe, and its associated risk exhibits notable seasonal variation. The current sweeping practice is effective in mitigating the pollution, but the effectiveness is both weather-dependent and compound-dependent. The proposed modeling approach can help identify critical timing and major pollutants for monitoring, assessing and controlling efforts to be focused on. The approach is extendable to other urban areas, as well as to other contaminants with similar fate and transport as PAHs. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Nonpoint Source: Urban Areas

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Urbanization increases the variety and amount of pollutants carried into our nation's waters. Pavement and compacted landscapes do not allow rain and snow melt to soak into the ground. List of typical pollutants from Urban runoff.

Nitrogen and phosphorus associating with different size suspended solids in roof and road runoff in Beijing, China.

PubMed

Wu, Junliang; Ren, Yufen; Wang, Xuemei; Wang, Xiaoke; Chen, Liding; Liu, Gangcai

2015-10-01

Roofs and roads, accounting for a large portion of the urban impervious land surface, have contributed significantly to urban nonpoint pollution. In this study, in Beijing, China, roof and road runoff are sampled to measure the suspended solids (SS), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) contained in particles with different sizes. The SS content in the road runoff (151.59 mg/L) was sevenfold that in the roof runoff (21.13 mg/L, p < 0.05). The SS contained more coarse particulates in the roof runoff than in road runoff. The small particulates in the range of 0.45-50 μm consisted of 59 % SS in the roof runoff and 94 % SS in the road runoff. P was mainly attached to particle sizes of 10-50 μm in the roof (73 %) and road (48 %) runoffs, while N was mainly in a dissolved phase state in both runoffs. So, the different associations of N and P raise a challenge in preventing stormwater pollution in urban environments.

Physicochemical conditions and properties of particles in urban runoff and rivers: Implications for runoff pollution.

PubMed

Wang, Qian; Zhang, Qionghua; Wu, Yaketon; Wang, Xiaochang C

2017-04-01

In this study, to gain an improved understanding of the fate and fractionation of particle-bound pollutants, we evaluated the physicochemical conditions and the properties of particles in rainwater, urban runoff, and rivers of Yixing, a city with a large drainage density in the Taihu Lake Basin, China. Road runoff and river samples were collected during the wet and dry seasons in 2015 and 2016. There were significant differences between the physicochemical conditions (pH, oxidation-reduction potential (ORP), and electroconductivity (EC)) of rainwater, runoff, and rivers. The lowest pH and highest ORP values of rainwater provide the optimal conditions for leaching of particle-bound pollutants such as heavy metals. The differences in the physicochemical conditions of the runoff and rivers may contribute to the redistribution of pollutants between particulate and dissolved phases after runoff is discharged into waterways. Runoff and river particles were mainly composed of silt and clay (<63 μm, 88.3%-90.7%), and runoff particles contained a higher proportion of nano-scale particles (<1 μm) but a lower proportion of submicron-scale particles (1-16 μm) than rivers. The ratio of turbidity to TSS increased with the proportion of fine particles and was associated with the accumulation of pollutants and settling ability of particles, which shows that it can be used as an index when monitoring runoff pollution. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Urban Runoff: National Management Measures

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This helps citizens and municipalities in urban areas protect bodies of water from polluted runoff . These scientifically sound techniques are the best practices known today. The guidance helps states to implement their nonpoint source control program.

Concentrations and loads of PCBs, dioxins, PAHs, PBDEs, OC pesticides and pyrethroids during storm and low flow conditions in a small urban semi-arid watershed.

PubMed

Gilbreath, Alicia N; McKee, Lester J

2015-09-01

Urban runoff has been identified in water quality policy documents for San Francisco Bay as a large and potentially controllable source of pollutants. In response, concentrations of suspended sediments and a range of trace organic pollutants were intensively measured in dry weather and storm flow runoff from a 100% urban watershed. Flow in this highly urban watershed responded very quickly to rainfall and varied widely resulting in rapid changes of turbidity, suspended sediments and pollutant concentrations. Concentrations of each organic pollutant class were within similar ranges reported in other studies of urban runoff, however comparison was limited for several of the pollutants given information scarcity. Consistently among PCBs, PBDEs, and PAHs, the more hydrophobic congeners were transported in larger proportions during storm flows relative to low flows. Loads for Water Years 2007-2010 were estimated using regression with turbidity during the monitored months and a flow weighted mean concentration for unmonitored dry season months. More than 91% of the loads for every pollutant measured were transported during storm events, along with 87% of the total discharge. While this dataset fills an important local data gap for highly urban watersheds of San Francisco Bay, the methods, the uniqueness of the analyte list, and the resulting interpretations have applicability for managing pollutant loads in urban watersheds in other parts of the world. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A comparative study of the grain-size distribution of surface dust and stormwater runoff quality on typical urban roads and roofs in Beijing, China.

PubMed

Shen, Zhenyao; Liu, Jin; Aini, Guzhanuer; Gong, Yongwei

2016-02-01

The deposition of pollutants on impervious surfaces is a serious problem associated with rapid urbanization, which results in non-point-source pollution. Characterizing the build-up and wash-off processes of pollutants in urban catchments is essential for urban planners. In this paper, the spatial variation and particle-size distributions of five heavy metals and two nutrients in surface dust were analyzed, and the runoff water first-flush effect (FF30) and event-mean concentrations (EMCs) of 10 common constituents were characterized. The relationships between runoff variables and stormwater characteristics were examined from three typical urban impervious surfaces in Beijing, China. Dust on road surfaces with smaller grain sizes had higher pollutant concentrations, whereas concentrations of Mn, Zn, Fe, and TP in roof surface dust increased with grain size. Particles with grain sizes of 38-74 and 125-300 μm contributed most to the total pollutant load in roads, while particles with the smallest grain sizes (<38 μm) contributed most on roofs (23.46-41.71 %). Event-mean concentrations (EMCs) and FF30 values for most runoff pollutants tended to be higher on roofs than on roads. The maximum intensity (I max) and the antecedent dry days (ADD) were critical parameters for EMCs in roads, while ADD was the only dominant parameter for EMCs on our studied roof. The rainfall intensity (RI) and maximum intensity (I max) were found to be the parameters with the strongest correlation to the first-flush effect on both roads and roofs. Significant correlations of total suspended solids (TSS) concentration in runoff with grain-size fractions of surface dust indicated that coarser particles (74-300 μm) are most likely to contribute to the solid-phase pollutants, and finer particles (<38 μm) are likely the main source of dissolved pollutants.

[Transport and sources of runoff pollution from urban area with combined sewer system].

PubMed

Li, Li-Qing; Yin, Cheng-Qing

2009-02-15

Sampling and monitoring of runoff and sewage water in Wuhan urban area with combined sewer system were carried out during the period from 2003 to 2006, to study the transport and sources of runoff pollution at the catchment scale coupled with environmental geochemistry method. The results showed a change in quality between the runoff entering the sewer network and the combined storm water flow at the sewer's outlet. A significant increase was observed in the concentrations of total suspended solids (TSS), volatile suspended solids (VSS), COD, TN, and TP, and in the proportion of COD linked to particles. During the runoff production and transport, the concentrations of TSS and COD increased from 18.7 mg/L and 37.0 mg/L in roof runoff, to 225.3 mg/L and 176.5 mg/L in street runoff, and to 449.7 mg/L and 359.9 mg/L in combined storm water flow, respectively. The proportion of COD linked to particles was increased by 18%. In addition, the total phosphorus (P) and iron (Fe) contents in urban ground dust, storm drain sediment, sewage sewer sediment and combined sewer sediment were measured to identify the potential sources of suspended solids in the combined flow. The urban ground dust andstorm drain sediment wererich in Fe, whereas the sewage sewer sediment was rich in P. The P/Fe ratios in these groups were significantly distinct and able to differentiate them. A calculation of the two storm events based on the P/Fe rations showed that 56% +/- 26% of suspended solids in combined flow came from urban ground and storm drain. The rest wer e originated from the sewage sewer sediments which deposited in combined sewer on the dry weather days and were eroded on the wet weather days. The combined sewer network not only acts as a transport system, but also constitutes a physicochemical reactor that degrades the quality of urban water. Reducing the in-sewer pollution stocks would effectively control urban runoff pollution.

Heavy metal contents of road-deposited sediment along the urban-rural gradient around Beijing and its potential contribution to runoff pollution.

PubMed

Zhao, Hongtao; Li, Xuyong; Wang, Xiaomei

2011-09-01

Understanding the contribution of road-deposited sediment (RDS) and its washoff process is essential for controlling urban runoff pollution. Ninety-seven RDS samples were collected along the urban-suburban-rural gradient from areas of five administrative units in the Beijing metropolitan region, including central urban (UCA), urban village (UVA), central suburban county (CSA), rural town (RTA), and rural village (RVA) areas. RDS washoff was evaluated with different particle sizes using a rainfall simulator. Heavy metal elements (i.e., Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn) were estimated in both RDS and runoff samples. The RDS mass per unit area increased in the order UCA (21 ± 24 g/m(2)) ≈ CSA (20 ± 16 g/m(2)) < RTA (59 ± 63 g/m(2)) < RVA (147 ± 112 g/m(2)) ≈ UVA (147 ± 198 g/m(2)). Compared to RDS from the other administrative units, RDS from the UCA and CSA had higher metal concentrations and higher proportions of smaller particles, whereas that from the RVA and UVA had larger quantities of metals per unit area. UCA and CSA had lower potential runoff pollution contributions per unit area. Our findings imply that controlling the first flush in the UCA and CSA, and improving existing street cleaning methods and road surface conditions in the TRA, UVA, and RVA will be appropriate strategies for controlling runoff pollution from RDS.

Influences of Hydrological Regime on Runoff Quality and Pollutant Loadings in Tropical Urban Areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chow, M.; Yusop, Z.

2011-12-01

Experience in many developed countries suggests that non point source (NPS) pollution is still the main contributor to pollutant loadings into water bodies in urban areas. However, the mechanism of NPS pollutant transport and the influences of hydrologic regime on the pollutant loading are still unclear. Understanding these interactions will be useful for improving design criteria and strategies for controlling NPS pollution in urban areas. This issue is also extremely relevant in tropical environment because its rainfall and the runoff generation processes are so different from the temperate regions where most of the studies on NPS pollutant have been carried out. In this regard, an intensive study to investigate the extent of this pollution was carried out in Skudai, Johor, Malaysia. Three small catchments, each represents commercial, residential and industrial land use were selected. Stormwater samples and flow rate data were collected at these catchments over 52 storm events from year 2008 to 2009. Samples were analyzed for ten water quality constituents including total suspended solids, 5-day biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, oil and grease, nitrate nitrogen, nitrite nitrogen, ammonia nitrogen, soluble phosphorus, total phosphorus and zinc. Quality of stormwater runoff is estimated using Event Mean Concentration (EMC) value. The storm characteristics analyzed included rainfall depth, rainfall duration, mean intensity, max 5 minutes intensity, antecedent dry day, runoff volume and peak flow. Correlation coefficients were determined between storm parameters and EMCs for the residential, commercial and industrial catchments. Except for the antecedent storm mean intensity and antecedent dry days, the other rainfall and runoff variables were negatively correlated with EMCs of most pollutants. This study reinforced the earlier findings on the importance of antecedent dry days for causing greater EMC values with exceptions for oil and grease, nitrate nitrogen, total phosphorus and zinc. There is no positive correlation between rainfall intensity and EMC of constituents in all the studied catchments. In contrast, the pollutant loadings are influenced primarily by the rainfall and runoff characteristics. Rainfall depth, mean intensity, max 5 minute intensity, runoff volume and peak flow were positively correlated with the loadings of most of the constituents. Antecedent storm mean intensity and antecedent dry days seemed to be less important for estimating the pollutant loadings. Such study should be further conducted for acquiring a long term monitoring data related to storm runoff quality during rainfall, in order to have a better understanding on NPS pollution in urban areas.

Key factors affecting urban runoff pollution under cold climatic conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Valtanen, Marjo; Sillanpää, Nora; Setälä, Heikki

2015-10-01

Urban runoff contains various pollutants and has the potential of deteriorating the quality of aquatic ecosystems. In this study our objective is to shed light on the factors that control the runoff water quality in urbanized catchments. The effects of runoff event characteristics, land use type and catchment imperviousness on event mass loads (EML) and event mean concentrations (EMC) were studied during warm and cold periods in three study catchments (6.1, 6.5 and 12.6 ha in size) in the city of Lahti, Finland. Runoff and rainfall were measured continuously for two years at each catchment. Runoff samples were taken for total nutrients (tot-P and tot-N), total suspended solids (TSS), heavy metals (Zn, Cr, Al, Co, Ni, Cu, Pb, Mn) and total organic carbon (TOC). Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis (SMLR) was used to identify general relationships between the following variables: event water quality, runoff event characteristics and catchment characteristics. In general, the studied variables explained 50-90% of the EMLs but only 30-60% of the EMCs, with runoff duration having an important role in most of the SMLR models. Mean runoff intensity or peak flow was also often included in the runoff quality models. Yet, the importance (being the first, second or third best) and role (negative or positive impact) of the explanatory variables varied between the cold and warm period. Land use type often explained cold period concentrations, but imperviousness alone explained EMCs weakly. As for EMLs, the influence of imperviousness and/or land use was season and pollutant dependent. The study suggests that pollutant loads can be - throughout the year - adequately predicted by runoff characteristics given that seasonal differences are taken into account. Although pollutant concentrations were sensitive to variation in seasonal and catchment conditions as well, the accurate estimation of EMCs would require a more complete set of explanatory factors than used in this study.

The urban forest and ecosystem services: impact on urban water, heat, and pollution cycles at the tree, street, and city scale

Treesearch

S. J. Livesley; E. G. McPherson; C. Calfapietra

2016-01-01

Many environmental challenges are exacerbated within the urban landscape, such as stormwater runoff and flood risk, chemical and particulate pollution of urban air, soil and water, the urban heat island, and summer heat waves. Urban trees, and the urban forest as a whole, can be managed to have an impact on the urban water, heat, carbon and pollution cycles. However,...

IMPEDIMENTS AND SOLUTIONS TO SUSTAINABLE, WATERSHED-SCALE URBAN STORMWATER MANAGEMENT: LESSONS FROM AUSTRALIA AND THE UNITED STATES

EPA Science Inventory

In urban and exurban areas, stormwater runoff is a primary stressor on surface waters (streams, wetlands, lakes, estuaries, and coastal waters). Conventional urban stormwater drainage systems often route runoff directly to streams and rivers, thus exacerbating pollutant inputs a...

Variable Streamflow Contributions in Nested Subwatersheds of a US Midwestern Urban Watershed

DOE PAGES

Wei, Liang; Hubbart, Jason A.; Zhou, Hang

2017-09-09

Quantification of runoff is critical to estimate and control water pollution in urban regions, but variation in impervious area and land-use type can complicate the quantification of runoff. We quantified the streamflow contributions of subwatersheds and the historical changes in streamflow in a flood prone urbanizing watershed in US Midwest to guide the establishment of a future pollution-control plan. Streamflow data from five nested hydrological stations enabled accurate estimations of streamflow contribution from five subwatersheds with variable impervious areas (from 0.5% to 26.6%). We corrected the impact of Missouri river backwatering at the most downstream station by comparing its streamflowmore » with an upstream station using double-mass analysis combined with Bernaola-Galvan Heuristic Segmentation approach. We also compared the streamflow of the urbanizing watershed with seven surrounding rural watersheds to estimate the cumulative impact of urbanization on the streamflow regime. The two most urbanized subwatersheds contributed >365 mm streamflow in 2012 with 657 mm precipitation, which was more than fourfold greater than the two least urbanized subwatersheds. Runoff occurred almost exclusively over the most urbanized subwatersheds during the dry period. The frequent floods occurred and the same amount of precipitation produced ~100 mm more streamflow in 2008–2014 than 1967–1980 in the urbanizing watershed; such phenomena did not occur in surrounding rural watersheds. Our approaches provide comprehensive information for planning on runoff control and pollutant reduction in urban watersheds.« less

Variable Streamflow Contributions in Nested Subwatersheds of a US Midwestern Urban Watershed

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wei, Liang; Hubbart, Jason A.; Zhou, Hang

Quantification of runoff is critical to estimate and control water pollution in urban regions, but variation in impervious area and land-use type can complicate the quantification of runoff. We quantified the streamflow contributions of subwatersheds and the historical changes in streamflow in a flood prone urbanizing watershed in US Midwest to guide the establishment of a future pollution-control plan. Streamflow data from five nested hydrological stations enabled accurate estimations of streamflow contribution from five subwatersheds with variable impervious areas (from 0.5% to 26.6%). We corrected the impact of Missouri river backwatering at the most downstream station by comparing its streamflowmore » with an upstream station using double-mass analysis combined with Bernaola-Galvan Heuristic Segmentation approach. We also compared the streamflow of the urbanizing watershed with seven surrounding rural watersheds to estimate the cumulative impact of urbanization on the streamflow regime. The two most urbanized subwatersheds contributed >365 mm streamflow in 2012 with 657 mm precipitation, which was more than fourfold greater than the two least urbanized subwatersheds. Runoff occurred almost exclusively over the most urbanized subwatersheds during the dry period. The frequent floods occurred and the same amount of precipitation produced ~100 mm more streamflow in 2008–2014 than 1967–1980 in the urbanizing watershed; such phenomena did not occur in surrounding rural watersheds. Our approaches provide comprehensive information for planning on runoff control and pollutant reduction in urban watersheds.« less

The measurement of dry deposition and surface runoff to quantify urban road pollution in Taipei, Taiwan.

PubMed

Wang, Yunn-Jinn; Chen, Chi-Feng; Lin, Jen-Yang

2013-10-16

Pollutants deposited on road surfaces and distributed in the environment are a source of nonpoint pollution. Field data are traditionally hard to collect from roads because of constant traffic. In this study, in cooperation with the traffic administration, the dry deposition on and road runoff from urban roads was measured in Taipei City and New Taipei City, Taiwan. The results showed that the dry deposition is 2.01-5.14 g/m(2) · day and 78-87% of these solids are in the 75-300 µm size range. The heavy metals in the dry deposited particles are mainly Fe, Zn, and Na, with average concentrations of 34,978, 1,519 and 1,502 ppm, respectively. Elevated express roads show the highest heavy metal concentrations. Not only the number of vehicles, but also the speed of the traffic should be considered as factors that influence road pollution, as high speeds may accelerate vehicle wear and deposit more heavy metals on road surfaces. In addition to dry deposition, the runoff and water quality was analyzed every five minutes during the first two hours of storm events to capture the properties of the first flush road runoff. The sample mean concentration (SMC) from three roads demonstrated that the first flush runoff had a high pollution content, notably for suspended solid (SS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), oil and grease, Pb, and Zn. Regular sweeping and onsite water treatment facilities are suggested to minimize the pollution from urban roads.

Optimizing low impact development (LID) for stormwater runoff treatment in urban area, Korea: Experimental and modeling approach.

PubMed

Baek, Sang-Soo; Choi, Dong-Ho; Jung, Jae-Woon; Lee, Hyung-Jin; Lee, Hyuk; Yoon, Kwang-Sik; Cho, Kyung Hwa

2015-12-01

Currently, continued urbanization and development result in an increase of impervious areas and surface runoff including pollutants. Also one of the greatest issues in pollutant emissions is the first flush effect (FFE), which implies a greater discharge rate of pollutant mass in the early part in the storm. Low impact development (LID) practices have been mentioned as a promising strategy to control urban stormwater runoff and pollution in the urban ecosystem. However, this requires many experimental and modeling efforts to test LID characteristics and propose an adequate guideline for optimizing LID management. In this study, we propose a novel methodology to optimize the sizes of different types of LID by conducting intensive stormwater monitoring and numerical modeling in a commercial site in Korea. The methodology proposed optimizes LID size in an attempt to moderate FFE on a receiving waterbody. Thereby, the main objective of the optimization is to minimize mass first flush (MFF), which is an indicator for quantifying FFE. The optimal sizes of 6 different LIDs ranged from 1.2 mm to 3.0 mm in terms of runoff depths, which significantly moderate the FFE. We hope that the new proposed methodology can be instructive for establishing LID strategies to mitigate FFE. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Quality characterization and impact assessment of highway runoff in urban and rural area of Guangzhou, China.

PubMed

Gan, Huayang; Zhuo, Muning; Li, Dingqiang; Zhou, Yongzhang

2008-05-01

Accurate knowledge of the quality and environmental impact of the highway runoff in Pear River Delta, South China is required to assess this important non-point pollution source. This paper presents the quality characterization and environmental impact assessment of rainfall runoff from highways in urban and rural area of Guangzhou, the largest city of Pear River Delta over 1 year's investigation. Multiple regression and Pearson correlation analysis were used to determine influence of the rainfall characteristics on water quality and correlations among the constituents in highway runoff. The results and analysis indicates that the runoff water is nearly neutral with low biodegradability. Oil and grease (O&G), suspended solids (SS) and heavy metals are the dominant pollutants in contrast to the low level of nutrient constituents in runoff. Quality of highway runoff at rural site is better than that of at urban site for most constituents. Depth and antecedent dry period are the main rainfall factors influencing quality of highway runoff. The correlation patterns among constituents in highway runoff at urban site are consistent with their dominant phases in water. Strong correlations (r > or = 0.80) are found among chemical oxygen demand (COD), total phosphorus, Cu and Zn as well as conductivity, nitrate nitrogen and total nitrogen. O&G, COD, SS and Pb in highway runoff at urban site substantially exceed their concentrations in receiving water of Pear River. The soil directly discharged by highway runoff at rural site has contaminated seriously by heavy metals in surface layer accompanying with pH conversion from original acidic to alkaline at present.

[Nitrogen and phosphorus composition in urban runoff from the new development area in Beijing].

PubMed

Li, Li-Qing; Lü, Shu-Cong; Zhu, Ren-Xiao; Liu, Ze-Quan; Shan, Bao-Qing

2012-11-01

Stormwater runoff samples were collected from two impervious roof and road of the new development area in Beijing, during three rainfall events in an attempt to characterize the urban runoff and determine nitrogen and phosphorus composition. The outcomes are expected to offer the practical guidance in sources control of urban runoff pollution. The results indicated that the stormwater runoff from the studied area presented a strong first flush for all monitored events and constituents. Eighty percent of the total pollutant loads were transported by the first 10 mm flow volume for roof runoff, whereas 80% of the total pollutant loads were discharged by the first 15 mm flow volume for road runoff. Average EMCs of TSS, COD, TN, NH4(+) -N, NO3(-) -N and TP for roof runoff were 50.2 mg x L(-1), 81.7 mg x L(-1), 6.07 mg x L(-1), 2.94 mg x L(-1), 1.05 mg x L(-1), and 0.11 mg x L(-1), respectively. Average EMCs of TSS, COD, TN, NH4(+) -N, NO3(-)-N and TP for road runoff were 539.0 mg x L(-1), 276.4 mg x L(-1), 7.00 mg x L(-1), 1.71 mg x L(-1), 1.51 mg x L(-1), and 0.61 mg x L(-1), respectively. Moreover, for the roof runoff, the particle-bound fraction was 20.8% for COD, 12.3% for TN, and 49.7% for TP. For road runoff, the particle-bound fraction was 68.6% for COD, 20.0% for TN, and 73.6% for TP. Nitrogen in roof runoff was predominantly dissolved (87.7%), with ammonia (57.6%) and nitrate (22.5%). Nitrogen in road runoff was also predominantly dissolved (80.0%), with ammonia (42.1%) and nitrate (35.0%). These findings can assist the development of effective source control strategies to immobilize dissolved and particulate-bound nitrogen/phosphorus in urban stormwater.

Controlled-release Hydrogen Peroxide for On-site Treatment of Organic Pollutants in Urban Storm Runoff

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, E.; Sun, S.; Kim, Y.

2011-12-01

Nonpoint source (NPS) pollutants are the remaining cause of the environment problems, significantly impairing the hydrologic and biologic function of urban water systems and human health. Managing the NPS loads to urban aquatic systems remains a challenge because of ubiquitous contaminant sources and large pollutants loads in the first flush. Best management practices (BMPs) exist for reducing the NPS pollutants in urban storm waters, but the remedial efficiencies of these passive schemes are unpredictable. This study aims to develop a controlled-release system as part of an in situ chemical oxidation scheme designed for on-site treatment of organic pollutants in urban runoff. Controlled-release hydrogen peroxide (CR-HP) solids were manufactured by dispersing fine sodium percarbonate granules in paraffin wax matrices. Release kinetics and treatment efficiencies of CR-HP for BTEX and MTBE were investigated through a series of column tests. Release data indicated that the CR-HP could continually release hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in flowing water at controlled rates over 276-1756 days, and the release rates could be adjusted by changing the mixing ratios of sodium percarbonate and wax matrices. Additional column tests and model calculations demonstrated that CR-HP/UV systems can provide low-cost, target-specific, and persistent source of oxidants for efficient treatment of organic compounds in urban storm runoff.

Urban runoff treatment using nano-sized iron oxide coated sand with and without magnetic field applying

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Increase of impervious surfaces in urban area followed with increases in runoff volume and peak flow, leads to increase in urban storm water pollution. The polluted runoff has many adverse impacts on human life and environment. For that reason, the aim of this study was to investigate the efficiency of nano iron oxide coated sand with and without magnetic field in treatment of urban runoff. In present work, synthetic urban runoff was treated in continuous separate columns system which was filled with nano iron oxide coated sand with and without magnetic field. Several experimental parameters such as heavy metals, turbidity, pH, nitrate and phosphate were controlled for investigate of system efficiency. The prepared column materials were characterized with Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-ray analysis (EDXA) instruments. SEM and EDXA analyses proved that the sand has been coated with nano iron oxide (Fe3O4) successfully. The results of SEM and EDXA instruments well demonstrate the formation of nano iron oxide (Fe3O4) on sand particle. Removal efficiency without magnetic field for turbidity; Pb, Zn, Cd and PO4 were observed to be 90.8%, 73.3%, 75.8%, 85.6% and 67.5%, respectively. When magnetic field was applied, the removal efficiency for turbidity, Pb, Zn, Cd and PO4 was increased to 95.7%, 89.5%, 79.9%, 91.5% and 75.6% respectively. In addition, it was observed that coated sand and magnetic field was not able to remove NO3 ions. Statistical analyses of data indicated that there was a significant difference between removals of pollutants in two tested columns. Results of this study well demonstrate the efficiency of nanosized iron oxide-coated sand in treatment of urban runoff quality; upon 75% of pollutants could be removed. In addition, in the case of magnetic field system efficiency can be improved significantly. PMID:24360061

Urban stormwater runoff study at Davenport, Iowa

USGS Publications Warehouse

Schaap, Bryan D.

1995-01-01

Urban storm water runoff is being investigated as a nonpoint source of pollution across the country as urban areas with populations over 100,000 conduct studies designed to meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency guidelines for National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits for their stormwater discharges. From 1991 through 1994, the City of Davenport, Iowa (fig. 1), and the U.S. Geological Survey cooperatively conducted a study designed to meet technical conditions of the permit application and to develop the criteria for ongoing monitoring during the term of the permit. 

OPPORTUNITY COSTS OF RESIDENTIAL BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES FOR STORMWATER RUNOFF CONTROL

EPA Science Inventory

Excess stormwater runoff is a serious problem in a large number of urban areas, causing flooding, water pollution, groundwater recharge deficits and ecological damage to urban streams. Solutions currently proposed to deal with this problem often involve large centralized infrastr...

Export Mechanisms of Persistent Toxic Substances (PTSs) in Urban Land Uses during Rainfall-Runoff Events: Experimental and Modeling Studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Y.; Luo, X.; Lin, Z.

2016-12-01

The urban environment has a variety of Persistent Toxic Substances (PTS), such as Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) and mercury. Soil in pervious lands and dust deposited on impervious surfaces are two major sinks of PTSs in urbanized areas, which could contribute significant nonpoint source loadings of PTSs to adjacent waterbodies during rainfall-runoff events and therefore jeopardize aquatic ecosystems. However, PTSs have been much less understood regarding their export mechanisms in urban land uses, and efforts to model nonpoint source pollution processes of PTSs have been rare. We designed and performed in-lab rainfall-runoff simulation experiments to investigate transport of PAHs and mercury by runoff from urban soils. Organic petrology analysis (OPA) techniques were introduced to analyze the soil and sediment compositions. Our study revealed the limitation of the classic enrichment theory which attributes enrichment of pollutants in eroded sediment solely to the sediment's particle size distribution and adopts simple relationships between enrichment ratio and sediment flux. We found that carbonaceous materials (CMs) in soil are the direct and major sorbents for PAHs and mercury, and highly different in content, mobility and adsorption capacity for the PTSs. Anthropogenic CMs like black carbon components largely control the transport of soil PAHs, while humic substances have a dominant influence on the transport of soil mercury. A model was further developed to estimate the enrichment ratio of PAHs, which innovatively applies the fugacity concept.We also conducted field studies on export of PAHs by runoff from urban roads. A variable time-step model was developed to simulate the continuous cycles of PAH buildup and washoff on urban roads. The dependence of the pollution level on antecedent weather conditions was investigated and embodied in the model. The applicability of this approach and its value to environmental management was demonstrated by a case study in Beijing, China. Overall, our studies advanced the understanding of nonpoint source pollution of PTSs in the urban environment. The quantitative approaches developed can help improve existing nonpoint source pollution models. The study results also have important implications to watershed water quality management.

Evaluation of statistical distributions to analyze the pollution of Cd and Pb in urban runoff.

PubMed

Toranjian, Amin; Marofi, Safar

2017-05-01

Heavy metal pollution in urban runoff causes severe environmental damage. Identification of these pollutants and their statistical analysis is necessary to provide management guidelines. In this study, 45 continuous probability distribution functions were selected to fit the Cd and Pb data in the runoff events of an urban area during October 2014-May 2015. The sampling was conducted from the outlet of the city basin during seven precipitation events. For evaluation and ranking of the functions, we used the goodness of fit Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Anderson-Darling tests. The results of Cd analysis showed that Hyperbolic Secant, Wakeby and Log-Pearson 3 are suitable for frequency analysis of the event mean concentration (EMC), the instantaneous concentration series (ICS) and instantaneous concentration of each event (ICEE), respectively. In addition, the LP3, Wakeby and Generalized Extreme Value functions were chosen for the EMC, ICS and ICEE related to Pb contamination.

Treatment of suspended solids and heavy metals from urban stormwater runoff by a tree box filter.

PubMed

Geronimo, F K F; Maniquiz-Redillas, M C; Tobio, J A S; Kim, L H

2014-01-01

Particulates, inorganic and toxic constituents are the most common pollutants associated with urban stormwater runoff. Heavy metals such as chromium, nickel, copper, zinc, cadmium and lead are found to be in high concentration on paved roads or parking lots due to vehicle emissions. In order to control the rapid increase of pollutant loads in stormwater runoff, the Korean Ministry of Environment proposed the utilization of low impact developments. One of these was the application of tree box filters that act as a bioretention treatment system which executes filtration and sorption processes. In this study, a tree box filter located adjacent to an impervious parking lot was developed to treat suspended solids and heavy metal concentrations from urban stormwater runoff. In total, 11 storm events were monitored from July 2010 to August 2012. The results showed that the tree box filter was highly effective in removing particulates (up to 95%) and heavy metals (at least 70%) from the urban stormwater runoff. Furthermore, the tree box filter was capable of reducing the volume runoff by 40% at a hydraulic loading rate of 1 m/day and below.

Characterizing dry deposition of mercury in urban runoff

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fulkerson, M.; Nnadi, F.N.; Chasar, L.S.

2007-01-01

Stormwater runoff from urban surfaces often contains elevated levels of toxic metals. When discharged directly into water bodies, these pollutants degrade water quality and impact aquatic life and human health. In this study, the composition of impervious surface runoff and associated rainfall was investigated for several storm events at an urban site in Orlando, Florida. Total mercury in runoff consisted of 58% particulate and 42% filtered forms. Concentration comparisons at the start and end of runoff events indicate that about 85% of particulate total mercury and 93% of particulate methylmercury were removed from the surface before runoff ended. Filtered mercury concentrations showed less than 50% reduction of both total and methylmercury from first flush to final flush. Direct comparison between rainfall and runoff at this urban site indicates dry deposition accounted for 22% of total inorganic mercury in runoff. ?? 2007 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

TRADING ALLOWANCES FOR STORMWATER CONTROL: HYDROLOGY AND OPPORTUNITY COSTS

EPA Science Inventory

Excess stormwater runoff is a serious problem in a large number of urban areas, causing flooding, water pollution, groundwater recharge deficits and ecological damage to urban streams. It has been posited that to mitigate the effects of excess stormwater runoff, policy makers...

TRADING ALLOWANCES FOR STORMWATER CONTROL: HYDROLOGY AND OPPORTUNITY COSTS

EPA Science Inventory

Excess stormwater runoff is a serious problem in a large number of urban areas, causing flooding, water pollution, groundwater recharge deficits and ecological damage to urban streams. It has been posited that to mitigate the effects of excess stormwater runoff, policy makers cou...

The capture and destruction of E. coli from simulated urban runoff using conventional bioretention media and iron oxide-coated sand

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Given the magnitude of the threat to the quality of receiving water bodies posed by microbial pollutants in urban stormwater runoff, and the untested potential for their removal in bioretention systems, studies were performed to evaluate the removal efficiency of bacteria from simulated urban stormw...

Contribution of atmospheric dry deposition to stormwater loads for PAHs and trace metals in a small and highly trafficked urban road catchment.

PubMed

Al Ali, Saja; Debade, Xavier; Chebbo, Ghassan; Béchet, Béatrice; Bonhomme, Céline

2017-12-01

A deep understanding of pollutant buildup and wash-off is essential for accurate urban stormwater quality modeling and for the development of stormwater management practices, knowing the potential adverse impacts of runoff pollution on receiving waters. In the context of quantifying the contribution of airborne pollutants to the contamination of stormwater runoff and assessing the need of developing an integrated AIR-WATER modeling chain, loads of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and metal trace elements (MTEs) are calculated in atmospheric dry deposits, stormwater runoff, and surface dust stock within a small yet highly trafficked urban road catchment (~ 30,000 vehicles per day) near Paris. Despite the important traffic load and according to the current definition of "atmospheric" source, atmospheric deposition did not account for more than 10% of the PAHs and trace metal loads in stormwater samples for the majority of the events, based on the ratio of deposition to stormwater. This result shows that atmospheric deposition is not a major source of pollutants in stormwater, and thus, linking the air and water compartment in a modeling chain to have more accurate estimates of pollutant loads in stormwater runoff might not be relevant. Comparison of road dust with water samples demonstrates that only the fine fraction of the available stock is eroded during a rainfall event. Even if the atmosphere mostly generates fine particles, the existence of other sources of fine particles to stormwater runoff is highlighted.

The Measurement of Dry Deposition and Surface Runoff to Quantify Urban Road Pollution in Taipei, Taiwan

PubMed Central

Wang, Yunn-Jinn; Chen, Chi-Feng; Lin, Jen-Yang

2013-01-01

Pollutants deposited on road surfaces and distributed in the environment are a source of nonpoint pollution. Field data are traditionally hard to collect from roads because of constant traffic. In this study, in cooperation with the traffic administration, the dry deposition on and road runoff from urban roads was measured in Taipei City and New Taipei City, Taiwan. The results showed that the dry deposition is 2.01–5.14 g/m2·day and 78–87% of these solids are in the 75–300 µm size range. The heavy metals in the dry deposited particles are mainly Fe, Zn, and Na, with average concentrations of 34,978, 1,519 and 1,502 ppm, respectively. Elevated express roads show the highest heavy metal concentrations. Not only the number of vehicles, but also the speed of the traffic should be considered as factors that influence road pollution, as high speeds may accelerate vehicle wear and deposit more heavy metals on road surfaces. In addition to dry deposition, the runoff and water quality was analyzed every five minutes during the first two hours of storm events to capture the properties of the first flush road runoff. The sample mean concentration (SMC) from three roads demonstrated that the first flush runoff had a high pollution content, notably for suspended solid (SS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), oil and grease, Pb, and Zn. Regular sweeping and onsite water treatment facilities are suggested to minimize the pollution from urban roads. PMID:24135820

Trees and Streets as Drivers of Urban Stormwater Nutrient Pollution.

PubMed

Janke, Benjamin D; Finlay, Jacques C; Hobbie, Sarah E

2017-09-05

Expansion of tree cover is a major management goal in cities because of the substantial benefits provided to people, and potentially to water quality through reduction of stormwater volume by interception. However, few studies have addressed the full range of potential impacts of trees on urban runoff, which includes deposition of nutrient-rich leaf litter onto streets connected to storm drains. We analyzed the influence of trees on stormwater nitrogen and phosphorus export across 19 urban watersheds in Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN, U.S.A., and at the scale of individual streets within one residential watershed. Stormwater nutrient concentrations were highly variable across watersheds and strongly related to tree canopy over streets, especially for phosphorus. Stormwater nutrient loads were primarily related to road density, the dominant control over runoff volume. Street canopy exerted opposing effects on loading, where elevated nutrient concentrations from trees near roads outweighed the weak influence of trees on runoff reduction. These results demonstrate that vegetation near streets contributes substantially to stormwater nutrient pollution, and therefore to eutrophication of urban surface waters. Urban landscape design and management that account for trees as nutrient pollution sources could improve water quality outcomes, while allowing cities to enjoy the myriad benefits of urban forests.

IMPROVED POLLUTANT MANAGEMENT IN URBAN STORMWATER BMPS

EPA Science Inventory

Increased urbanization has resulted in a larger percentage of impervious areas that produce large quantities of stormwater runoff and contribute significant amounts of debris and pollutants (e.g., litter, oils, heavy metals, sediments, nutrients, organic matter, and microorganism...

Characteristics of the event mean concentration (EMC) from rainfall runoff on an urban highway.

PubMed

Lee, Ju Young; Kim, Hyoungjun; Kim, Youngjin; Han, Moo Young

2011-04-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the characterization of the event mean concentration (EMC) of runoff during heavy precipitation events on highways. Highway runoff quality data were collected from the 7th highway, in South Korea during 2007-2009. The samples were analyzed for runoff quantity and quality parameters such as COD(cr), TSS, TPHs, TKN, NO₃, TP, PO₄ and six heavy metals, e.g., As, Cu, Cd, Ni, Pb and Zn. Analysis of resulting hydrographs and pollutant graphs indicates that the peak of the pollutant concentrations in runoff occurs 20 min after the first rainfall runoff occurrence. The first flush effect depends on the preceding dry period and the rainfall intensity. The results of this study can be used as a reference for water quality management of urban highways. Crown Copyright © 2010. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

TRADING ALLOWANCES FOR STORMWATER CONTROL: ACCOUNTING FOR CONTINUOUS HYDROLOGY AND OPPORTUNITY COSTS

EPA Science Inventory

Excess stormwater runoff is a serious problem in a large number of urban areas, causing flooding, water pollution, groundwater recharge deficits and ecological damage to urban streams. It has been posited that to mitigate the effects of excess stormwater runoff, policy makers cou...

Mineral Adsorbents for Removal of Metals in Urban Runoff

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bjorklund, Karin; Li, Loretta

2014-05-01

The aim of this research was to determine the capacity of four different soil minerals to adsorb metals frequently detected in urban runoff. These are low-cost, natural and commercially available soil minerals. Contaminated surface runoff from urban areas is a major cause of concern for water quality and aquatic ecosystems worldwide. Pollution in urban areas is generated by a wide array of non-point sources, including vehicular transportation and building materials. Some of the most frequently detected pollutants in urban runoff are metals. Exhaust gases, tire wear and brake linings are major sources of such metals as Pb, Zn and Cu, while impregnated wood, plastics and galvanized surfaces may release As, Cd, Cr and Zn. Many metals have toxic effects on aquatic plants and animals, depending on metal speciation and bioavailability. The removal efficiency of pollutants in stormwater depends on treatment practices and on the properties the pollutant. The distribution of metals in urban runoff has shown, for example, that Pb is predominantly particle-associated, whereas Zn and Cd are present mainly in dissolved form. Many metals are also attached to colloids, which may act as carriers for contaminants, thereby facilitating their transport through conventional water treatment processes. Filtration of stormwater is one of the most promising techniques for removal of particulates, colloidal and truly dissolved pollutants, provided that effective filtration and adsorption media are used. Filtration and infiltration are used in a wide array of stormwater treatment methods e.g. porous paving, infiltration drains and rain gardens. Several soil minerals were investigated for their potential as stormwater filter materials. Laboratory batch tests were conducted to determine the adsorption capacity of these minerals. A synthetic stormwater was tested, with spiked concentrations corresponding to levels reported in urban runoff, ranging from 50-1,500 µg/L for Zn; 5-250 µg/L for Cu, 2-20 µg/L for Cd and 10-150 µg/L for Ni and Pb. Humic acids were used to imitate natural stormwater contaminated with natural organic matter. The adsorption kinetics was also investigated through a sequence (10-120 min) of batch tests. By studying the capacity of a range of sorbents in batch tests under identical conditions, the most promising sorbent can be identified. The research is ongoing. Preliminary results will be presented.

ESTIMATING URBAN WET WEATHER POLLUTANT LOADING

EPA Science Inventory

This paper presents procedures for estimating pollutant loads emanating from wet-weather flow discharge in urban watersheds. Equations are presented for: annual volume of litter and floatables; the quantity of sand from highway runoff; the quantity of dust-and-dirt accumulation ...

EVALUATING AN URBAN STREAM RESTORATION PROGRAM FOR IMPROVING WATER QUALITY, IN-STREAM HABITAT, AND BANK STABILITY

EPA Science Inventory

To improve water quality in urban and suburban areas, watershed managers often incorporate best management practices (BMPs) to reduce the quantity of runoff, as well as minimize pollutants and other stressors contained in stormwater runoff. It is well known that land use practice...

Characterization and source identification of pollutants in runoff from a mixed land use watershed using ordination analyses.

PubMed

Lee, Dong Hoon; Kim, Jin Hwi; Mendoza, Joseph A; Lee, Chang Hee; Kang, Joo-Hyon

2016-05-01

While identification of critical pollutant sources is the key initial step for cost-effective runoff management, it is challenging due to the highly uncertain nature of runoff pollution, especially during a storm event. To identify critical sources and their quantitative contributions to runoff pollution (especially focusing on phosphorous), two ordination methods were used in this study: principal component analysis (PCA) and positive matrix factorization (PMF). For the ordination analyses, we used runoff quality data for 14 storm events, including data for phosphorus, 11 heavy metal species, and eight ionic species measured at the outlets of subcatchments with different land use compositions in a mixed land use watershed. Five factors as sources of runoff pollutants were identified by PCA: agrochemicals, groundwater, native soils, domestic sewage, and urban sources (building materials and automotive activities). PMF identified similar factors to those identified by PCA, with more detailed source mechanisms for groundwater (i.e., nitrate leaching and cation exchange) and urban sources (vehicle components/motor oils/building materials and vehicle exhausts), confirming the sources identified by PCA. PMF was further used to quantify contributions of the identified sources to the water quality. Based on the results, agrochemicals and automotive activities were the two dominant and ubiquitous phosphorus sources (39-61 and 16-47 %, respectively) in the study area, regardless of land use types.

Performance of compost filtration practice for green infrastructure stormwater applications.

PubMed

Faucette, Britt; Cardoso, Fatima; Mulbry, Walter; Millner, Pat

2013-09-01

Urban storm water runoff poses a substantial threat of pollution to receiving surface waters. Green infrastructure, low impact development, green building ordinances, National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) storm water permit compliance, and Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) implementation strategies have become national priorities; however, designers need more sustainable, low-cost solutions to meet these goals and guidelines. The objective of this study was to determine the multiple-event removal efficiency and capacity of compost filter socks (FS) and filter socks with natural sorbents (NS) to remove soluble phosphorus, ammonium-nitrogen, nitrate-nitrogen, E. coli, Enterococcus, and oil from urban storm water runoff. Treatments were exposed to simulated storm water pollutant concentrations consistent with urban runoff originating from impervious surfaces, such as parking lots and roadways. Treatments were exposed to a maximum of 25 runoff events, or when removal efficiencies were < or = 25%, whichever occurred first. Experiments were conducted in triplicate. The filter socks with natural sorbents removed significantly greater soluble phosphorus than the filter socks alone, removing a total of 237 mg/linear m over eight runoff events, or an average of 34%. The filter socks with natural sorbents removed 54% of ammonium-nitrogen over 25 runoff events, or 533 mg/linear m, and only 11% of nitrate-nitrogen, or 228 mg/linear m. The filter socks and filter socks with natural sorbents both removed 99% of oil over 25 runoff events, or a total load of 38,486 mg/linear m. Over 25 runoff events the filter socks with natural sorbents removed E. coli and Enteroccocus at 85% and 65%, or a total load of 3.14 CFUs x 10(8)/ linear m and 1.5 CFUs x 10(9)/linear m, respectively; both were significantly greater than treatment by filter socks alone. Based on these experiments, this technique can be used to reduce soluble pollutants from storm water over multiple runoff events.

METHODS FOR OPTIMIZING URBAN WET-WEATHER CONTROL SYSTEM

EPA Science Inventory

To minimize impacts of urban nonpoint source pollution and associated costs of control (storage and treatment) associated with wet-weather flows (WWFs), stormwater runoff volumes and pollutant loads must be reduced. A number of control strategies, so-called “best management pract...

URBAN WET-WEATHER FLOW POLLUTION MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL

EPA Science Inventory

One of the challenges in protecting urban watersheds lies in effectively controlling the contaminants in both overland runoff and sewerage system overflows during wet-weather events. Abatement of wet-weather flow (WWF) pollution can be implemented at the source by land managemen...

Sustainable oil and grease removal from synthetic stormwater runoff using bench-scale bioretention studies.

PubMed

Hong, Eunyoung; Seagren, Eric A; Davis, Allen P

2006-02-01

One of the principal components of the contaminant load in urban stormwater runoff is oil and grease (O&G) pollution, resulting from vehicle emissions. A mulch layer was used as a contaminant trap to remove O&G (dissolved and particulate-associated naphthalene, dissolved toluene, and dissolved motor oil hydrocarbons) from a synthetic runoff during a bench-scale infiltration study. Approximately 80 to 95% removal of all contaminants from synthetic runoff was found via sorption and filtration. Subsequently, approximately 90% of the sorbed naphthalene, toluene, oil, and particulate-associated naphthalene was biodegraded within approximately 3, 4, 8, and 2 days after the event, respectively, based on decreases in contaminant concentrations coupled with increases of microbial populations. These results indicate the effectiveness and sustainability of placing a thin layer of mulch on the surface of a bioretention facility for reducing O&G pollution from urban stormwater runoff.

EVALUATION OF RETENTION POND AND CONSTRUCTED WETLAND BMPS FOR TREATING PARTICULATE-BOUND HEAVY METALS IN URBAN STORMWATER RUNOFF

EPA Science Inventory

Urban stormwater discharge during wet-weather flows is a major contributor to the pollution of many receiving waters. Heavy metals are of particular interest in stormwater runoff due to their toxicity, ubiquitousness, and their inability to degrade in the environment. The sources...

[Research on evaluation of water quality of Beijing urban stormwater runoff].

PubMed

Hou, Pei-Qiang; Ren, Yu-Fen; Wang, Xiao-Ke; Ouyang, Zhi-Yun; Zhou, Xiao-Ping

2012-01-01

The natural rainwater and stormwater runoff samples from three underlying surfaces (rooftop, campus road and ring road) were sampled and analyzed from July to October, 2010 in Beijing. Eight rainfall events were collected totally and thirteen water quality parameters were measured in each event. Grey relationship analysis and principal component analysis were applied to assess composite water quality and identify the main pollution sources of stormwater runoff. The results show that the composite water quality of ring road runoff is mostly polluted, and then is rooftop runoff, campus road runoff and rainwater, respectively. The composite water quality of ring road runoff is inferior to V class of surface water, while rooftop runoff, campus road runoff and rainwater are in II class of surface water. The mean concentration of TN and NH4(+)-N in rainwater and runoff is 5.49-11.75 mg x L(-1) and 2.90-5.67 mg x L(-1), respectively, indicating that rainwater and runoff are polluted by nitrogen (N). Two potential pollution sources are identified in ring road runoff: (1) P, SS and organic pollutant are possibly related to debris which is from vehicle tyre and material of ring road; (2) N and dissolved metal have relations with automobile exhaust emissions and bulk deposition.

Coho salmon spawner mortality in western US urban watersheds: bioinfiltration prevents lethal storm water impacts.

PubMed

Spromberg, Julann A; Baldwin, David H; Damm, Steven E; McIntyre, Jenifer K; Huff, Michael; Sloan, Catherine A; Anulacion, Bernadita F; Davis, Jay W; Scholz, Nathaniel L

2016-04-01

Adult coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch return each autumn to freshwater spawning habitats throughout western North America. The migration coincides with increasing seasonal rainfall, which in turn increases storm water run-off, particularly in urban watersheds with extensive impervious land cover. Previous field assessments in urban stream networks have shown that adult coho are dying prematurely at high rates (>50%). Despite significant management concerns for the long-term conservation of threatened wild coho populations, a causal role for toxic run-off in the mortality syndrome has not been demonstrated.We exposed otherwise healthy coho spawners to: (i) artificial storm water containing mixtures of metals and petroleum hydrocarbons, at or above concentrations previously measured in urban run-off; (ii) undiluted storm water collected from a high traffic volume urban arterial road (i.e. highway run-off); and (iii) highway run-off that was first pre-treated via bioinfiltration through experimental soil columns to remove pollutants.We find that mixtures of metals and petroleum hydrocarbons - conventional toxic constituents in urban storm water - are not sufficient to cause the spawner mortality syndrome. By contrast, untreated highway run-off collected during nine distinct storm events was universally lethal to adult coho relative to unexposed controls. Lastly, the mortality syndrome was prevented when highway run-off was pretreated by soil infiltration, a conventional green storm water infrastructure technology.Our results are the first direct evidence that: (i) toxic run-off is killing adult coho in urban watersheds, and (ii) inexpensive mitigation measures can improve water quality and promote salmon survival. Synthesis and applications . Coho salmon, an iconic species with exceptional economic and cultural significance, are an ecological sentinel for the harmful effects of untreated urban run-off. Wild coho populations cannot withstand the high rates of mortality that are now regularly occurring in urban spawning habitats. Green storm water infrastructure or similar pollution prevention methods should be incorporated to the maximal extent practicable, at the watershed scale, for all future development and redevelopment projects, particularly those involving transportation infrastructure.

Hydrologic data for urban storm runoff from nine sites in the Denver metropolitan area, Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gibbs, Johnnie W.

1981-01-01

Urban storm-runoff data were collected April through September 1980, from nine urbanrunoff sites in the Denver metropolitan area, and are presented in this report. The sites consist of two single-family residential areas, two multi-family residential areas, one commercial area (shopping center), one mixed commercial and multi-family residential area, one native area (open space), and two detention ponds. Precipitation, rainfall-runoff, water-quality (common constituents, nutrients, coliform bacteria, solids, and trace elements) and basin-area data are necessary to use the U.S. Geological Survey 's Distributed Routing Rainfall-Runoff Model, Version II. The urban storm-runoff data may be used to characterize runoff pollution loading for various land-use types in Denver and other semi-arid regions. (USGS)

Analysis of the influence of rainfall variables on urban effluents concentrations and fluxes in wet weather

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gooré Bi, Eustache; Monette, Frédéric; Gasperi, Johnny

2015-04-01

Urban rainfall runoff has been a topic of increasing importance over the past years, a result of both the increase in impervious land area arising from constant urban growth and the effects of climate change on urban drainage. The main goal of the present study is to assess and analyze the correlations between rainfall variables and common indicators of urban water quality, namely event mean concentrations (EMCs) and event fluxes (EFs), in order to identify and explain the impacts of each of the main rainfall variables on the generation process of urban pollutants during wet periods. To perform this analysis, runoff from eight summer rainfall events that resulted in combined sewer overflow (CSO) was sampled simultaneously from two distinct catchment areas in order to quantify discharges at the respective outfalls. Pearson statistical analysis of total suspended solids (TSS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand at 5 days (CBOD5), total phosphorus (Ptot) and total kedjal nitrogen (N-TKN) showed significant correlations (ρ = 0.05) between dry antecedent time (DAT) and EMCs on one hand, and between total rainfall (TR) and the volume discharged (VD) during EFs, on the other. These results show that individual rainfall variables strongly affect either EMCs or EFs and are good predictors to consider when selecting variables for statistical modeling of urban runoff quality. The results also show that in a combined sewer network, there is a linear relationship between TSS event fluxes and COD, CBOD5, Ptot, and N-TKN event fluxes; this explains 97% of the variability of these pollutants which adsorb onto TSS during wet weather, which therefore act as tracers. Consequently, the technological solution selected for TSS removal will also lead to a reduction of these pollutants. Given the huge volumes involved, urban runoffs contribute substantially to pollutant levels in receiving water bodies, a situation which, in a climate change context, may get much worse as a result of more frequent, shorter, but more intense rainfall events.

Storm water runoff concentration matrix for urban areas.

PubMed

Göbel, P; Dierkes, C; Coldewey, W G

2007-04-01

The infrastructure (roads, sidewalk, commercial and residential structures) added during the land development and urbanisation process is designed to collect precipitation and convey it out of the watershed, typically in existing surface water channels, such as streams and rivers. The quality of surface water, seepage water and ground water is influenced by pollutants that collect on impervious surfaces and that are carried by urban storm water runoff. Heavy metals, e.g. lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), mineral oil hydrocarbons (MOH) and readily soluble salts in runoff, contribute to the degradation of water. An intensive literature search on the distribution and concentration of the surface-dependent runoff water has been compiled. Concentration variations of several pollutants derived from different surfaces have been averaged. More than 300 references providing about 1300 data for different pollutants culminate in a representative concentration matrix consisting of medians and extreme values. This matrix can be applied to long-term valuations and numerical modelling of storm water treatment facilities.

2015/2016 Urban Waters Small Grants Request for Proposals

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The 2015/2016 Urban Waters Small Grants Request for Proposals: Proposed projects will address urban runoff pollution through diverse partnerships that produce multiple community benefits, with emphasis on underserved communities.

[Urban non-point source pollution control by runoff retention and filtration pilot system].

PubMed

Bai, Yao; Zuo, Jian-E; Gan, Li-Li; Low, Thong Soon; Miao, Heng-Feng; Ruan, Wen-Quan; Huang, Xia

2011-09-01

A runoff retention and filtration pilot system was designed and the long-term purification effect of the runoff was monitored. Runoff pollution characters in 2 typical events and treatment effect of the pilot system were analyzed. The results showed that the runoff was severely polluted. Event mean concentrations (EMCs) of SS, COD, TN and TP in the runoff were 361, 135, 7.88 and 0.62 mg/L respectively. The runoff formed by long rain presented an obvious first flush effect. The first 25% flow contributed more than 50% of the total pollutants loading of SS, TP, DTP and PO4(3-). The pilot system could reduce 100% of the non-point source pollution if the volume of the runoff was less than the retention tank. Otherwise the overflow will be purification by the filtration pilot system and the removal rates of SS, COD, TN, TP, DTP and PO4(3-) reached 97.4% , 61.8%, 22.6%, 85.1%, 72.1%, and 85.2% respectively. The system was stable and the removal rate of SS, COD, TN, and TP were 98.6%, 65.4%, 55.1% and 92.6%. The whole system could effectively remove the non-point source pollution caused by runoff.

Nonpoint source pollution of urban stormwater runoff: a methodology for source analysis.

PubMed

Petrucci, Guido; Gromaire, Marie-Christine; Shorshani, Masoud Fallah; Chebbo, Ghassan

2014-09-01

The characterization and control of runoff pollution from nonpoint sources in urban areas are a major issue for the protection of aquatic environments. We propose a methodology to quantify the sources of pollutants in an urban catchment and to analyze the associated uncertainties. After describing the methodology, we illustrate it through an application to the sources of Cu, Pb, Zn, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) from a residential catchment (228 ha) in the Paris region. In this application, we suggest several procedures that can be applied for the analysis of other pollutants in different catchments, including an estimation of the total extent of roof accessories (gutters and downspouts, watertight joints and valleys) in a catchment. These accessories result as the major source of Pb and as an important source of Zn in the example catchment, while activity-related sources (traffic, heating) are dominant for Cu (brake pad wear) and PAH (tire wear, atmospheric deposition).

Analysis of one dimension migration law from rainfall runoff on urban roof

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weiwei, Chen

2017-08-01

Research was taken on the hydrology and water quality process in the natural rain condition and water samples were collected and analyzed. The pollutant were included SS, COD and TN. Based on the mass balance principle, one dimension migration model was built for the rainfall runoff pollution in surface. The difference equation was developed according to the finite difference method, by applying the Newton iteration method for solving it. The simulated pollutant concentration process was in consistent with the measured value on model, and Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient was higher than 0.80. The model had better practicability, which provided evidence for effectively utilizing urban rainfall resource, non-point source pollution of making management technologies and measures, sponge city construction, and so on.

A three-stage treatment system for highly polluted urban road runoff.

PubMed

Hilliges, Rita; Schriewer, Alexander; Helmreich, Brigitte

2013-10-15

A three-stage treatment device for polluted urban road runoff was installed and tested at a highly trafficked urban road over a period of one year. In the first stage coarse material and particles from the runoff are removed by a special gutter system. The second stage eliminates particles using a hydrodynamic separator. In the third stage dissolved pollutants are adsorbed in a filter unit with lignite as filter material. Twenty-four rain events were sampled over the one year period and analyzed for dissolved and particulate copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), suspended solids (SS), total organic carbon (TOC), sodium (Na), and pH value. The treatment system was able to safely retain all relevant pollutants during the investigated period, except Na. In the effluent of the treatment device Pb could never be detected, values measured for Zn were in the range of the detection limit. Cu, the element most frequently detected in the effluent, never exceeded the critical value of 50 μg/L set by the German Federal Soil Protection Act and Ordinance. The median Cu concentration in the effluent of the treatment system was 8.13 μg/L. The treatment system proved to be very effective. Highly polluted road runoff can be purified by the system to an extent that no contamination risk for soil and groundwater remains when infiltrated into the soil. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Rainwater utilization and storm pollution control based on urban runoff characterization.

PubMed

Zhang, Mulan; Chen, Hao; Wang, Jizhen; Pan, Gang

2010-01-01

The characteristics of urban runoffs and their impact on rainwater utilization and storm pollution control were investigated in three different functional areas of Zhengzhou City, China. The results showed that in the same rain event the pollutant loads (chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total suspended solids (TSS)) in the sampling areas were in the order of industrial area > commercial area > residential area, and within the same area the COD and TSS concentrations of road runoffs were higher than those of roof runoffs. The first flush effects in roof and road runoffs were observed, hence the initial rainwater should be treated separately to reduce rainwater utilization cost and control storm pollution. The initial roof rainfall of 2 mm in residential area, 5 mm in commercial area and 10 mm in industrial area, and the initial road rainfall of 4 mm in residential area and all the road rainfall in commercial and industrial areas should be collected and treated accordingly before direct discharge or utilization. Based on the strong correlation between COD and TSS (R2, 0.87-0.95) and the low biodegradation capacity (biochemical oxygen demand BOD5/COD < 0.3), a sedimentation process and an effective filtration system composed of soil and slag were designed to treat the initial rainwater, which could remove over 90% of the pollutant loads. The above results may help to develop better rainwater utilization and pollution control strategies for cities with water shortages.

Optimal pollution trading without pollution reductions

EPA Science Inventory

Many kinds of water pollution occur in pulses, e.g., agricultural and urban runoff. Ecosystems, such as wetlands, can serve to regulate these pulses and smooth pollution distributions over time. This smoothing reduces total environmental damages when “instantaneous” damages are m...

CONSTRUCTED WETLANDS VS. RETENTION PONDS BMPS: THE ROLE OF VEGETATION IN IMPROVED POLLUTANT MANAGEMENT FOR URBAN STORMWATER TREATMENT

EPA Science Inventory

Increased urbanization has resulted in a larger percentage of impervious areas that produce large quantities of stormwater runoff and contribute significant amounts of debris and pollutants (e.g., litter, oils, heavy metals, sediments, nutrients, organic matter, and microorganism...

TREATMENT OF URBAN STORMWATER FOR DISSOLVED POLLUTANTS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THREE NATURAL ORGANIC MEDIA

EPA Science Inventory

The feasibility of using hard and soft wood tree mulch and processed jute fiber, as filter media, for treating mixtures of dissolved pollutants (toxic organic compounds and heavy metals) in urban stormwater (SW) runoff was evaluated. Copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr+6), l...

Metals and bacteria partitioning to various size particles in Ballona Creek storm water runoff.

PubMed

Brown, Jeffrey S; Stein, Eric D; Ackerman, Drew; Dorsey, John H; Lyon, Jessica; Carter, Patrick M

2013-02-01

Many storm water best management practice (BMP) devices function primarily by capturing particulate matter to take advantage of the well-documented association between storm water particles and pollutants. The hydrodynamic separation or settling methods used by most BMP devices are most effective at capturing medium to large particles; however, these may not be the most predominant particles associated with urban runoff. The present study examined particle size distribution in storm water runoff from an urban watershed in southern California and investigated the pollutant-particle associations of metals (Cu, Pb, Ni, and Zn) and bacteria (enterococci and Escherichia coli). During small storm events (≤0.7 cm rain), the highest concentration of pollutants were associated with a <6-µm filter fraction, which accounted for 70% of the per storm contaminant mass but made up more than 20% of the total particle mass. The pollutant-particle association changed with storm size. Most pollutant mass was associated with >35 µm size particles during a 5-cm rain event. These results suggest that much of the contaminant load in storm water runoff will not be captured by the most commonly used BMP devices, because most of these devices (e.g., hydrodynamic separators) are unable to capture particles smaller than 75 µm. Copyright © 2012 SETAC.

Optimal Pollution Trading without Pollution Reductions : A Note

EPA Science Inventory

Many kinds of water pollution occur in pulses, e.g., agricultural and urban runoff. Ecosystems, such as wetlands, can serve to regulate these pulses and smooth pollution distributions over time. This smoothing reduces total environmental damages when “instantaneous” damages are m...

BMP UNIT PROCESS DESIGN, MONITORING, AND PERFORMANCE

EPA Science Inventory

Urbanization results in more impervious areas that cause larger quantities of stormwater runoff. This runoff can contribute significant amounts of pollutants (e.g., litter, oils, microorganisms, sediments, nutrients, organic matter, and heavy metals) to receiving waters. To impro...

An investigation of wash-off controlling parameters at urban and commercial monitoring sites.

PubMed

Berretta, C; Gnecco, I; Lanza, L G; La Barbera, P

2007-01-01

The relationship between the parameters of the wash-off function and the controlling hydrologic variables are investigated in this paper, assuming that the pollutant generation process basically depends on the watershed rainfall-runoff response characteristics. Data collected during an intense monitoring program carried out by the Department of Environmental Engineering of the University of Genova (Italy) within a residential area, an auto dismantler facility, a tourism terminal and a urban waste truck depot are used to this aim. The observed runoff events are classified into different TSS mass delivery processes and the occurrence of the first flush phenomenon is also investigated. The correlation between the mathematical parameters describing the exponential process and the hydrological parameters of the corresponding rainfall-runoff event is analysed: runoff parameters and in particular the maximum flow discharge over the time of concentration of the drainage network are proposed as the controlling factor for the total mass of pollutant that is made available for wash-off during each runoff event.

Storm runoff quality and pollutant loading from commercial, residential, and industrial catchments in the tropic.

PubMed

Chow, M F; Yusop, Z; Shirazi, S M

2013-10-01

Information on the pollution level and the influence of hydrologic regime on the stormwater pollutant loading in tropical urban areas are still scarce. More local data are still required because rainfall and runoff generation processes in tropical environment are very different from the temperate regions. This study investigated the extent of urban runoff pollution in residential, commercial, and industrial catchments in the south of Peninsular Malaysia. Stormwater samples and flow rate data were collected from 51 storm events. Samples were analyzed for total suspended solids, 5-day biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, oil and grease (O&G), nitrate nitrogen (NO3-N), nitrite nitrogen, ammonia nitrogen, soluble reactive phosphorus, total phosphorus (TP), and zinc (Zn). It was found that the event mean concentrations (EMCs) of pollutants varied greatly between storm characteristics and land uses. The results revealed that site EMCs for residential catchment were lower than the published data but higher for the commercial and industrial catchments. All rainfall variables were negatively correlated with EMCs of most pollutants except for antecedent dry days (ADD). This study reinforced the earlier findings on the importance of ADD for causing greater EMC values with exceptions for O&G, NO3-N, TP, and Zn. In contrast, the pollutant loadings are influenced primarily by rainfall depth, mean intensity, and max 5-min intensity in all the three catchments. Overall, ADD is an important variable in multiple linear regression models for predicting the EMC values in the tropical urban catchments.

Untreated runoff quality from roof and road surfaces in a low intensity rainfall climate.

PubMed

Charters, Frances J; Cochrane, Thomas A; O'Sullivan, Aisling D

2016-04-15

Sediment and heavy metals in stormwater runoff are key pollutants of urban waterways, and their presence in stormwater is driven by climatic factors such as rainfall intensity. This study describes the total suspended solids (TSS) and heavy metal concentrations found in runoff from four different urban surfaces within a residential/institutional catchment, in a climate where rainfall is typically of low intensity (<5.1mm·h(-1)). The results were compared to untreated runoff quality from a compilation of international studies. The road runoff had the highest TSS concentrations, while copper and galvanized roof runoff had the highest copper and zinc concentrations, respectively. Pollutant concentrations were found to be significantly different between surfaces; quantification and prediction of pollutant contributions from urban surfaces should thus take account of the different surface materials, instead of being aggregated into more generalized categories such as land use. The TSS and heavy metal concentrations were found to be at the low to medium end of ranges observed internationally, except for total copper and zinc concentrations generated by dissolution of copper and galvanized roofing material respectively; these concentrations were at least as high as those reported internationally. TSS wash-off from the roofs was seen to be a source-limited process, where all available TSS is washed off during the rain event despite the low intensity rainfall, whereas both road TSS and heavy metals wash-off from roof and road surfaces appeared to all be transport-limited and therefore some carryover of pollutants occurs between rain events. A first flush effect was seen from most surfaces for TSS, but not for heavy metals. This study demonstrates that in low intensity rainfall climates, quantification of untreated runoff quality from key individual surface types in a catchment are needed to enable development of targeted and appropriately sized stormwater treatment systems. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Management of Urban Stormwater Runoff in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hogan, Dianna M.

2008-01-01

Urban and suburban development is associated with elevated nutrients, sediment, and other pollutants in stormwater runoff, impacting the physical and environmental health of area streams and downstream water bodies such as the Chesapeake Bay. Stormwater management facilities, also known as Best Management Practices (BMPs), are increasingly being used in urban areas to replace functions, such as flood protection and water quality improvement, originally performed by wetlands and riparian areas. Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have partnered with local, academic, and other Federal agency scientists to better understand the effectiveness of different stormwater management systems with respect to Chesapeake Bay health. Management of stormwater runoff is necessary in urban areas to address flooding and water quality concerns. Improving our understanding of what stormwater management actions may be best suited for different types of developed areas could help protect the environmental health of downstream water bodies that ultimately receive runoff from urban landscapes.

Evaluating the Hydrologic Performance of Low Impact Development Scenarios in a Micro Urban Catchment.

PubMed

Li, Chunlin; Liu, Miao; Hu, Yuanman; Han, Rongqing; Shi, Tuo; Qu, Xiuqi; Wu, Yilin

2018-02-05

As urbanization progresses, increasingly impervious surfaces have changed the hydrological processes in cities and resulted in a major challenge for urban stormwater control. This study uses the urban stormwater model to evaluate the performance and costs of low impact development (LID) scenarios in a micro urban catchment. Rainfall-runoff data of three rainfall events were used for model calibration and validation. The pre-developed (PreDev) scenario, post-developed (PostDev) scenario, and three LID scenarios were used to evaluate the hydrologic performance of LID measures. Using reduction in annual runoff as the goal, the best solutions for each LID scenario were selected using cost-effectiveness curves. The simulation results indicated that the three designed LID scenarios could effectively reduce annual runoff volumes and pollutant loads compared with the PostDev scenario. The most effective scenario (MaxPerf) reduced annual runoff by 53.4%, followed by the sponge city (SpoPerf, 51.5%) and economy scenarios (EcoPerf, 43.1%). The runoff control efficiency of the MaxPerf and SpoPerf scenarios increased by 23.9% and 19.5%, respectively, when compared with the EcoPerf scenario; however, the costs increased by 104% and 83.6%. The reduction rates of four pollutants (TSS, TN, TP, and COD) under the MaxPerf scenario were 59.8-61.1%, followed by SpoPerf (53.9-58.3%) and EcoPerf (42.3-45.4%), and the costs of the three scenarios were 3.74, 3.47, and 1.83 million yuan, respectively. These results can provide guidance to urban stormwater managers in future urban planning to improve urban water security.

Evaluating the Hydrologic Performance of Low Impact Development Scenarios in a Micro Urban Catchment

PubMed Central

Li, Chunlin; Liu, Miao; Hu, Yuanman; Han, Rongqing; Shi, Tuo; Qu, Xiuqi; Wu, Yilin

2018-01-01

As urbanization progresses, increasingly impervious surfaces have changed the hydrological processes in cities and resulted in a major challenge for urban stormwater control. This study uses the urban stormwater model to evaluate the performance and costs of low impact development (LID) scenarios in a micro urban catchment. Rainfall-runoff data of three rainfall events were used for model calibration and validation. The pre-developed (PreDev) scenario, post-developed (PostDev) scenario, and three LID scenarios were used to evaluate the hydrologic performance of LID measures. Using reduction in annual runoff as the goal, the best solutions for each LID scenario were selected using cost-effectiveness curves. The simulation results indicated that the three designed LID scenarios could effectively reduce annual runoff volumes and pollutant loads compared with the PostDev scenario. The most effective scenario (MaxPerf) reduced annual runoff by 53.4%, followed by the sponge city (SpoPerf, 51.5%) and economy scenarios (EcoPerf, 43.1%). The runoff control efficiency of the MaxPerf and SpoPerf scenarios increased by 23.9% and 19.5%, respectively, when compared with the EcoPerf scenario; however, the costs increased by 104% and 83.6%. The reduction rates of four pollutants (TSS, TN, TP, and COD) under the MaxPerf scenario were 59.8–61.1%, followed by SpoPerf (53.9–58.3%) and EcoPerf (42.3–45.4%), and the costs of the three scenarios were 3.74, 3.47 and 1.83 million yuan, respectively. These results can provide guidance to urban stormwater managers in future urban planning to improve urban water security. PMID:29401747

Predicting nonpoint stormwater runoff quality from land use

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Evaluating the impact of urban development on natural ecosystem processes has become an increasingly complex task for planners, environmental scientists, and engineers. As the built environment continues to grow, unregulated nonpoint pollutants from increased human activity and large-scale development severely stress urban streams and lakes resulting in their currently impaired or degraded state. In response, integrated water quality management programs have been adopted to address these unregulated nonpoint pollutants by utilizing best management practices (BMPs) that treat runoff as close to the source as possible. Knowing where to install effective BMPs is no trivial task, considering budget constraints and the spatially extensive nature of nonpoint stormwater runoff. Accordingly, this paper presents an initial, straightforward and cost-effective methodology to identify critical nonpoint pollutant source watersheds through correlation of water quality with land use. Through an illustrative application to metropolitan Denver, Colorado, it is shown how this method can be used to aid stormwater professionals to evaluate and specify retrofit locations in need of water quality treatment features reduce, capture and treat stormwater runoff prior to entering receiving waters. PMID:29742172

Predicting nonpoint stormwater runoff quality from land use.

PubMed

Zivkovich, Brik R; Mays, David C

2018-01-01

Evaluating the impact of urban development on natural ecosystem processes has become an increasingly complex task for planners, environmental scientists, and engineers. As the built environment continues to grow, unregulated nonpoint pollutants from increased human activity and large-scale development severely stress urban streams and lakes resulting in their currently impaired or degraded state. In response, integrated water quality management programs have been adopted to address these unregulated nonpoint pollutants by utilizing best management practices (BMPs) that treat runoff as close to the source as possible. Knowing where to install effective BMPs is no trivial task, considering budget constraints and the spatially extensive nature of nonpoint stormwater runoff. Accordingly, this paper presents an initial, straightforward and cost-effective methodology to identify critical nonpoint pollutant source watersheds through correlation of water quality with land use. Through an illustrative application to metropolitan Denver, Colorado, it is shown how this method can be used to aid stormwater professionals to evaluate and specify retrofit locations in need of water quality treatment features reduce, capture and treat stormwater runoff prior to entering receiving waters.

REMOVAL OF DISSOLVED POLLUTANTS FROM URBAN STORMWATER RUNOFF

EPA Science Inventory

Stormwater runoff, because of its heavy metals and poly aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) content, may be considered toxic for discharge to receiving surface waters without further treatment. A number of structural devices, collectively known as structural best management practices (...

[A landscape ecological approach for urban non-point source pollution control].

PubMed

Guo, Qinghai; Ma, Keming; Zhao, Jingzhu; Yang, Liu; Yin, Chengqing

2005-05-01

Urban non-point source pollution is a new problem appeared with the speeding development of urbanization. The particularity of urban land use and the increase of impervious surface area make urban non-point source pollution differ from agricultural non-point source pollution, and more difficult to control. Best Management Practices (BMPs) are the effective practices commonly applied in controlling urban non-point source pollution, mainly adopting local repairing practices to control the pollutants in surface runoff. Because of the close relationship between urban land use patterns and non-point source pollution, it would be rational to combine the landscape ecological planning with local BMPs to control the urban non-point source pollution, which needs, firstly, analyzing and evaluating the influence of landscape structure on water-bodies, pollution sources and pollutant removal processes to define the relationships between landscape spatial pattern and non-point source pollution and to decide the key polluted fields, and secondly, adjusting inherent landscape structures or/and joining new landscape factors to form new landscape pattern, and combining landscape planning and management through applying BMPs into planning to improve urban landscape heterogeneity and to control urban non-point source pollution.

Catchment-scale evaluation of pollution potential of urban snow at two residential catchments in southern Finland.

PubMed

Sillanpää, Nora; Koivusalo, Harri

2013-01-01

Despite the crucial role of snow in the hydrological cycle in cold climate conditions, monitoring studies of urban snow quality often lack discussions about the relevance of snow in the catchment-scale runoff management. In this study, measurements of snow quality were conducted at two residential catchments in Espoo, Finland, simultaneously with continuous runoff measurements. The results of the snow quality were used to produce catchment-scale estimates of areal snow mass loads (SML). Based on the results, urbanization reduced areal snow water equivalent but increased pollutant accumulation in snow: SMLs in a medium-density residential catchment were two- to four-fold higher in comparison with a low-density residential catchment. The main sources of pollutants were related to vehicular traffic and road maintenance, but also pet excrement increased concentrations to a high level. Ploughed snow can contain 50% of the areal pollutant mass stored in snow despite its small surface area within a catchment.

Comparison of heavy metal loads in stormwater runoff from major and minor urban roads using pollutant yield rating curves.

PubMed

Davis, Brett; Birch, Gavin

2010-08-01

Trace metal export by stormwater runoff from a major road and local street in urban Sydney, Australia, is compared using pollutant yield rating curves derived from intensive sampling data. The event loads of copper, lead and zinc are well approximated by logarithmic relationships with respect to total event discharge owing to the reliable appearance of a first flush in pollutant mass loading from urban roads. Comparisons of the yield rating curves for these three metals show that copper and zinc export rates from the local street are comparable with that of the major road, while lead export from the local street is much higher, despite a 45-fold difference in traffic volume. The yield rating curve approach allows problematic environmental data to be presented in a simple yet meaningful manner with less information loss. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Characterization and source identification of stormwater runoff in tropical urban catchments.

PubMed

Chow, M F; Yusop, Z

2014-01-01

The characteristics of urban stormwater pollution in the tropics are still poorly understood. This issue is crucial to the tropical environment because its rainfall and runoff generation processes are so different from temperate regions. In this regard, a stormwater monitoring program was carried out at three urban catchments (e.g. residential, commercial and industrial) in the southern part of Peninsular Malaysia. A total of 51 storm events were collected at these three catchments. Samples were analyzed for total suspended solids, 5-day biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand (COD), oil and grease, nitrate nitrogen, nitrite nitrogen, ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N), soluble reactive phosphorus and total phosphorus. Principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis were used to interpret the stormwater quality data for pattern recognition and identification of possible sources. The most likely sources of stormwater pollutants at the residential catchment were from surface soil and leachate of fertilizer from domestic lawns and gardens, whereas the most likely sources for the commercial catchment were from discharges of food waste and washing detergent. In the industrial catchment, the major sources of pollutants were discharges from workshops and factories. The PCA factors further revealed that COD and NH3-N were the major pollutants influencing the runoff quality in all three catchments.

STORMWATER POLLUTION ABATEMENT TECHNOLOGIES

EPA Science Inventory

This publication presents information regarding best management practices (BMP's) and pollution abatement technologies that can provide treatment of urban stormwater runoff. ncluded in the text are a general approach which considers small storm hydrology, and watershed practices ...

REMOVAL OF SELECTED POLLUTANTS FROM AQUEOUS MEDIA BY HARDWOOD MULCH

EPA Science Inventory

Generic hardwood mulch, usually used for landscaping, was utilized to remove several selected pollutants (heavy metals and toxic organic compounds) typically found in urban stormwater (SW) runoff. The hardwood mulch sorbed all the selected pollutants from a spiked stormwater mix...

Road traffic impact on urban water quality: a step towards integrated traffic, air and stormwater modelling.

PubMed

Fallah Shorshani, Masoud; Bonhomme, Céline; Petrucci, Guido; André, Michel; Seigneur, Christian

2014-04-01

Methods for simulating air pollution due to road traffic and the associated effects on stormwater runoff quality in an urban environment are examined with particular emphasis on the integration of the various simulation models into a consistent modelling chain. To that end, the models for traffic, pollutant emissions, atmospheric dispersion and deposition, and stormwater contamination are reviewed. The present study focuses on the implementation of a modelling chain for an actual urban case study, which is the contamination of water runoff by cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn) in the Grigny urban catchment near Paris, France. First, traffic emissions are calculated with traffic inputs using the COPERT4 methodology. Next, the atmospheric dispersion of pollutants is simulated with the Polyphemus line source model and pollutant deposition fluxes in different subcatchment areas are calculated. Finally, the SWMM water quantity and quality model is used to estimate the concentrations of pollutants in stormwater runoff. The simulation results are compared to mass flow rates and concentrations of Cd, Pb and Zn measured at the catchment outlet. The contribution of local traffic to stormwater contamination is estimated to be significant for Pb and, to a lesser extent, for Zn and Cd; however, Pb is most likely overestimated due to outdated emissions factors. The results demonstrate the importance of treating distributed traffic emissions from major roadways explicitly since the impact of these sources on concentrations in the catchment outlet is underestimated when those traffic emissions are spatially averaged over the catchment area.

The effect of particle size distribution on the design of urban stormwater control measures

USGS Publications Warehouse

Selbig, William R.; Fienen, Michael N.; Horwatich, Judy A.; Bannerman, Roger T.

2016-01-01

An urban pollutant loading model was used to demonstrate how incorrect assumptions on the particle size distribution (PSD) in urban runoff can alter the design characteristics of stormwater control measures (SCMs) used to remove solids in stormwater. Field-measured PSD, although highly variable, is generally coarser than the widely-accepted PSD characterized by the Nationwide Urban Runoff Program (NURP). PSDs can be predicted based on environmental surrogate data. There were no appreciable differences in predicted PSD when grouped by season. Model simulations of a wet detention pond and catch basin showed a much smaller surface area is needed to achieve the same level of solids removal using the median value of field-measured PSD as compared to NURP PSD. Therefore, SCMs that used the NURP PSD in the design process could be unnecessarily oversized. The median of measured PSDs, although more site-specific than NURP PSDs, could still misrepresent the efficiency of an SCM because it may not adequately capture the variability of individual runoff events. Future pollutant loading models may account for this variability through regression with environmental surrogates, but until then, without proper site characterization, the adoption of a single PSD to represent all runoff conditions may result in SCMs that are under- or over-sized, rendering them ineffective or unnecessarily costly.

Estimation of urban runoff and water quality using remote sensing and artificial intelligence.

PubMed

Ha, S R; Park, S Y; Park, D H

2003-01-01

Water quality and quantity of runoff are strongly dependent on the landuse and landcover (LULC) criteria. In this study, we developed a more improved parameter estimation procedure for the environmental model using remote sensing (RS) and artificial intelligence (AI) techniques. Landsat TM multi-band (7bands) and Korea Multi-Purpose Satellite (KOMPSAT) panchromatic data were selected for input data processing. We employed two kinds of artificial intelligence techniques, RBF-NN (radial-basis-function neural network) and ANN (artificial neural network), to classify LULC of the study area. A bootstrap resampling method, a statistical technique, was employed to generate the confidence intervals and distribution of the unit load. SWMM was used to simulate the urban runoff and water quality and applied to the study watershed. The condition of urban flow and non-point contaminations was simulated with rainfall-runoff and measured water quality data. The estimated total runoff, peak time, and pollutant generation varied considerably according to the classification accuracy and percentile unit load applied. The proposed procedure would efficiently be applied to water quality and runoff simulation in a rapidly changing urban area.

Study on road surface source pollution controlled by permeable pavement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Chaocheng

2018-06-01

The increase of impermeable pavement in urban construction not only increases the runoff of the pavement, but also produces a large number of Non-Point Source Pollution. In the process of controlling road surface runoff by permeable pavement, a large number of particulate matter will be withheld when rainwater is being infiltrated, so as to control the source pollution at the source. In this experiment, we determined the effect of permeable road surface to remove heavy pollutants in the laboratory and discussed the related factors that affect the non-point pollution of permeable pavement, so as to provide a theoretical basis for the application of permeable pavement.

LONG TERM HYDROLOGICAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (LTHIA)

EPA Science Inventory

LTHIA is a universal Urban Sprawl analysis tool that is available to all at no charge through the Internet. It estimates impacts on runoff, recharge and nonpoint source pollution resulting from past or proposed land use changes. It gives long-term average annual runoff for a lan...

Urban hydrology in mountainous middle eastern cities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grodek, T.; Lange, J.; Lekach, J.; Husary, S.

2011-03-01

The Mediterranean climate together with the type of urban setting found in mountainous Middle Eastern cities generate much lower runoff yields than previously reported and than usually estimated for urban design. In fact, a close analysis shows that most of the rainwater remains within the cities as a possible source for urban groundwater recharge. The present study examined two locales - Ramallah, an old traditional Palestinian Arab town, and Modiin, a new township in Israel - both situated on the karstic Yarkon Taninim aquifer. This aquifer supplies the only high-quality drinking water in the region (one quarter of the Israeli-Palestinian water demand), which is characterized by dense populations and limited water resources. This paper provides the first measured information on the hydrological effects of urbanization in the area. It was found that the shift of the mountainous natural steep slopes into a series of closed-terraces with homes and gardens create areas that are disconnected from the urban runoff response. Roofs drained into the attached gardens create favorable recharge units. Mainly low-gradient roads became the principal source for urban runoff already following 1-4 mm of rainfall. Parallel roads converted single peak hydrographs towards multi-peak runoff responses, increasing flow duration and reducing peak discharges. The remaining urban area (public parks, natural areas, etc.) generated runoff only as a result of high-magnitude rainstorms. All of the above conditions limited urban runoff coefficients to an upper boundary of only 35% and 30% (Ramallah and Modiin, respectively). During extreme rainstorms (above 100 mm) similar runoff coefficients were measured in urban and natural catchments as a result of the limited areas contributing to runoff in the urban areas, while natural terrain does not have these artificial limits. Hence, the effects of urbanization decrease with event magnitude and there is significant potential for urban groundwater recharge. However, frequent low-magnitude rainstorms often generate highly polluted stormwater in urban sewer systems and this water should only be used with great caution.

Urban hydrology in mountainous middle eastern cities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grodek, T.; Lange, J.; Lekach, J.; Husary, S.

2010-09-01

The Mediterranean climate together with the type of urban setting found in mountainous Middle Eastern cities generate much lower runoff yields than previously reported and than usually estimated for urban design. In fact, a close analysis shows that most of the rainwater remains within the cities as a possible source for urban groundwater recharge. The present study examined two locales - Ramallah, an old traditional Palestinian Arab town, and Modiin, a new township in Israel - both situated on the karstic Yarkon Taninim aquifer. This aquifer supplies the only high-quality drinking water in the region (one quarter of the Israeli-Palestinian water demand), which is characterized by dense populations and limited water resources. This paper provides the first measured information on the hydrological effects of urbanization in the area. It was found that the shift of the mountainous natural steep slopes into a series of closed-terraced homes and gardens created areas that are disconnected from the urban runoff response. Roofs drained into the attached gardens and created favorable recharge units. Mainly low-gradient roads became the principal source for urban runoff already following 1-4 mm of rainfall. Parallel roads converted single peak hydrographs towards multi-peak runoff responses, increasing flow duration and reducing peak discharges. The remaining urban area (public parks, natural areas, etc.) generated runoff only as a result of high-magnitude rainstorms. All of the above conditions limited urban runoff coefficients to an upper boundary of only 22% and 30% (Ramallah and Modiin, respectively). During extreme rainstorms (above 100 mm) similar runoff coefficients were measured in urban and natural catchments as a result of the limited areas contributing to runoff in the urban areas, while natural terrain does not have these artificial limits. Hence, it was found, the effects of urbanization decrease with event magnitude and there is significant potential for urban groundwater recharge. However, frequent low-magnitude rainstorms often generate highly polluted stormwater in urban sewer systems and this water should only be used with great caution.

A comparative analysis: storm water pollution policy in California, USA and Victoria, Australia.

PubMed

Swamikannu, X; Radulescu, D; Young, R; Allison, R

2003-01-01

Urban drainage systems historically were developed on principles of hydraulic capacity for the transport of storm water to reduce the risk of flooding. However, with urbanization the percent of impervious surfaces increases dramatically resulting in increased flood volumes, peak discharge rates, velocities and duration, and a significant increase in pollutant loads. Storm water and urban runoff are the leading causes of the impairment of receiving waters and their beneficial uses in Australia and the United States today. Strict environmental and technology controls on wastewater treatment facilities and industry for more than three decades have ensured that these sources are less significant today as the cause of impairment of receiving waters. This paper compares the approach undertaken by the Environmental Protection Authority Victoria for the Melbourne metropolitan area with the approach implemented by the California Environmental Protection Agency for the Los Angeles area to control storm water pollution. Both these communities are largely similar in population size and the extent of urbanization. The authors present an analysis of the different approaches contrasting Australia with the USA, comment on their comparative success, and discuss the relevance of the two experiences for developed and developing nations in the context of environmental policy making to control storm water and urban runoff pollution.

MARKET INCENTIVES AND NONPOINT SOURCES: AN APPLICATION OF TRADABLE CREDITS TO URBAN STORMWATER MANAGEMENT

EPA Science Inventory

Excess stormwater runoff can cause serious pollution, habitat degradation and flooding in cities where growth in impervious surface area (such as pavement, buildings, etc.) has created a situation where stormwater runoff routinely exceeds the normal capacity of natural and constr...

BENEFICIAL USE OF URBAN STORMWATER

EPA Science Inventory

This chapter presents a conceptual system for the control of stormwater pollution in which the stormwater runoff is collected in designated storage reservoirs throughout an industrial park, treated to remove pollutants, and further treated for use. With this concept, the benefit...

URBAN RUNOFF POLLUTION CONTROL - STATE-OF-THE-ART

EPA Science Inventory

Combined sewer overflows are major sources of water pollution problems, but even discharges of stormwater alone can seriously affect water quality. Current approaches involve control of overflows, treatment, and combinations of the two. Control may involve maximizing treatment wi...

Complete Lesson 6: Keeping All of Our Waterways Clean

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Looking outside, this lesson explores waterways (streams, rainwater runoff, drainage pollution) with a focus on urban waterways. Students learn about the water cycle and how to keep pollution out of waterways. Mercury in fish is also addressed.

Treatability Aspects of Urban Stormwater Stressors

EPA Science Inventory

Eleven years into the 21st century, pollution from diffuse sources (pollution from contaminants picked up and carried into surface waters by stormwater runoff) remains the nation's largest source of water quality problems. Scientists and engineers still seek solutions that will ...

Rapid modification of urban land surface temperature during rainfall

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Omidvar, H.; Bou-Zeid, E.; Song, J.; Yang, J.; Arwatz, G.; Wang, Z.; Hultmark, M.; Kaloush, K.

2017-12-01

We study the runoff dynamics and heat transfer over urban pavements during rainfall. A kinematic wave approach is combined with heat storage and transfer schemes to develop a model for impervious (with runoff) and pervious (without runoff) pavements. The resulting framework is a numerical prognostic model that can simulate the temperature fields in the subsurface and runoff layers to capture the rapid cooling of the surface, as well as the thermal pollution advected in the runoff. Extensive field measurements were then conducted over experimental pavements in Arizona to probe the physics and better represent the relevant processes in the model, and then to validate the model. The experimental data and the model results were in very good agreements, and their joint analysis elucidated the physics of the rapid heat transfer from the subsurface to the runoff layer. Finally, we apply the developed model to investigate how the various hydrological and thermal properties of the pavements, as well as ambient environmental conditions, modulate the surface and runoff thermal dynamics, what is the relative importance of each of them, and how we can apply the model mitigate the adverse impacts of urbanization.

Redefining the stormwater first flush phenomenon.

PubMed

Bach, Peter M; McCarthy, David T; Deletic, Ana

2010-04-01

The first flush in urban runoff has been an important, yet disputed phenomenon amongst many researchers. The vast differences in the evidence could be solely due to limitations of the first flush current definition and the approach used for its assessment. There is a need for revisiting the first flush theory in the light of its practical applications to urban drainage management practices. We propose that a catchment's first flush behaviour is to be quantified by the runoff volume required to reduce a catchment's stormwater pollutant concentrations to background levels. The proposed method for assessment of this runoff volume starts by finding the average catchment pollutant concentrations for a given increment of discharged volume using a number of event pollutographs. Non-parametric statistics are then used to establish the characteristic pollutograph by pooling statistically indifferent runoff increments (known as slices) together. This allows the identification of the catchment's initial and background pollutant concentrations and for quantification of the first flush volume and its strength. The novel technique was used on seven catchments around Melbourne, Australia, with promising results. Sensitivity to the chosen increment of runoff (for which mean concentrations are calculated) indicated that when dealing with discrete flow-weighted water quality data, a suitable slice size should closely match the flow-weighting of samples. The overall sensitivity to runoff increment and level of significance was found to be negligible. Further research is needed to fully develop this method. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Discussion about initial runoff and volume capture ratio of annual rainfall.

PubMed

Zhang, Kun; Che, Wu; Zhang, Wei; Zhao, Yang

2016-10-01

In recent years, runoff pollution from urban areas has become a major concern all over the world. But there exists a worldwide confusion about how much stormwater should be captured for the purpose of runoff pollution control. Furthermore, the construction cost and pollution control efficiency are closely linked with the size of stormwater facilities, which is then related to the first flush (FF) phenomenon and volume capture ratio of annual rainfall (VCRa). Based on this background, analysis of the random and changeable characteristics of the occurrence of FF was carried out first, which was proved to vary with catchment characteristics and pollutant types. Secondly, the distribution of design rainfall depth toward 85% VCRa in China and its causes have been analyzed. Thirdly, the relationship between initial runoff and VCRa has been studied at both conceptual and numerical levels, and the change rule of VCRa along with design rainfall depth in different regions has been studied. The limitation of initial runoff has been illustrated from the perspective of runoff characteristics of single rainfall events in the first part, and from the perspective of regional differences in the two subsequent parts.

BEYOND WATER QUALITY: CAN THE CLEAN WATER ACT BE USED TO REDUCE THE QUANTITY OF STORMWATER RUNOFF?

EPA Science Inventory

Improving water quality by targeting stormwater runoff and the pollutants it carries has become an increasingly important and discussed issue in both environmental policy and urban management literature. Although this is certainly an important concern in both realms of policy, l...

Urban stormwater run-off promotes compression of saltmarshes by freshwater plants and mangrove forests.

PubMed

Geedicke, Ina; Oldeland, Jens; Leishman, Michelle R

2018-05-08

Subtropical and temperate coastal saltmarsh of Australia is listed as an endangered ecological community under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act). Saltmarshes are under threat from sea level rise, landward migration of mangroves, and in urban regions from habitat loss, input of litter, nutrients, and other contaminants. In urbanised catchments, saltmarsh areas receive nutrient-enriched and pollutant-contaminated run-off, such as heavy metals, through the stormwater system. This study aimed to investigate the impact of urban stormwater on saltmarsh and mangrove species composition and distribution. To test the effect of stormwater run-off in urbanised catchments on saltmarsh communities, we analysed the soil for pollutant elements, salinity and nutrient concentration and recorded vegetation composition at eight sites in the Sydney region, Australia. We found that elevated total nitrogen (>0.4 wt%) and reduced salinity of the soil downslope of stormwater outlets facilitates establishment of exotic plants and might promote migration of mangroves into saltmarshes, resulting in a squeezing effect on the distribution of saltmarsh vegetation. Saltmarsh cover was significantly lower below stormwater outlets and exotic plant cover increased significantly with sediment calcium concentrations above 8840 mg/kg, which are associated with stormwater run-off. However, this effect was found to be strongest in highly industrialised areas compared to residential areas. Understanding the impact of pollutants on coastal wetlands will improve management strategies for the conservation of this important endangered ecological community. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[Influence of green roof application on water quantity and quality in urban region].

PubMed

Wang, Shu-Min; Li, Xing-Yang; Zhang, Jun-Hua; Yu, Hui; Hao, You-Zhi; Yang, Wan-Yi

2014-07-01

Green roof is widely used in advanced stormwater management as a major measure now. Taking Huxi catchment in Chongqing University as the study area, the relationships between green roof installation with runoff volume and water quality in urban region were investigated. The results showed that roof greening in the urban region contributed to reducing the runoff volume and pollution load. In addition, the spatial distribution and area of green roof also had effects on the runoff water quality. With the conditions that the roof area was 25% of the total watershed area, rainfall duration was 15 min and rainfall intensity was 14.8 mm x h(-1), the peak runoff and total runoff volume were reduced by 5.3% and 31%, the pollution loads of total suspended solid (TSS), total phosphorus (TP) and total nitrogen (TN) decreased by 40.0%, 31.6% and 29.8%, their peak concentrations decreased by 21.0%, 16.0% and -12.2%, and the EMCs (event mean concentrations) were cut down by 13.1%, 0.9% and -1.7%, respectively, when all impervious roofs were greened in the research area. With the increase of roof greening rate, the reduction rates of TSS and TP concentrations increased, while the reduction rate of TN concentration decreased on the whole. Much more improvement could be obtained with the use of green roofs near the outlet of the watershed.

BMP MODELING CONCEPTS AND SIMULATION

EPA Science Inventory

In order to minimize impacts of urban nonpoint source pollution and associated costs of control (storage and treatment) associated with wet-weather flows (WWFs), stormwater runoff volumes and pollutant loads must be reduced. A number of control strategies and so-called “best man...

USING TRADABLE CREDITS TO MANAGE STORMWATER

EPA Science Inventory

Excess stormwater runoff causes degradation of urban stream habitat through conveyance of pollutants and disruption of normal stream flow regimes. Following on acceptance of tradable permits as a mechanism for reducing certain air pollutants, we propose the use of a system of tra...

Treatability Aspects of Urban Stormwater Stressors - journal

EPA Science Inventory

Eleven years into the 21st century, pollution from diffuse sources (pollution from contaminants picked up and carried into surface waters by stormwater runoff) remains the nation's largest source of water quality problems. Scientists and engineers still seek solutions that will a...

WET-WEATHER POLLUTION PREVENTION BY PRODUCT SUBSTITUTION

EPA Science Inventory

A literature review of building/construction materials has shown that many of these materials such as galvanized metal, concrete, asphalt, and wood products have the potential to release pollutants into urban stormwater runoff and snowmelt. However, much of this previous research...

Treatability Aspects of Urban Stormwater Stressors - paper

EPA Science Inventory

Eleven years into the 21st century, pollution from diffuse sources (pollution from contaminants picked up and carried into surface waters by stormwater runoff) remains the nation's largest source of water quality problems. Scientists and engineers still seek solutions that will a...

Basin delineation and identification of nitrogen sources in an urban watershed

EPA Science Inventory

Nutrient pollution in stormwater runoff from urbanized areas contributes to water quality degradation in streams and receiving waterbodies. Increased nitrogen loading from human activities stimulates eutrophication through algal blooms, which leads to an overall decrease in drink...

Pollutant concentrations and pollution loads in stormwater runoff from different land uses in Chongqing.

PubMed

Wang, Shumin; He, Qiang; Ai, Hainan; Wang, Zhentao; Zhang, Qianqian

2013-03-01

To investigate the distribution of pollutant concentrations and pollution loads in stormwater runoff in Chongqing, six typical land use types were selected and studied from August 2009 to September 2011. Statistical analysis on the distribution of pollutant concentrations in all water samples shows that pollutant concentrations fluctuate greatly in rainfall-runoff, and the concentrations of the same pollutant also vary greatly in different rainfall events. In addition, it indicates that the event mean concentrations (EMCs) of total suspended solids (TSS) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) from urban traffic roads (UTR) are significantly higher than those from residential roads (RR), commercial areas (CA), concrete roofs (CR), tile roofs (TRoof), and campus catchment areas (CCA); and the EMCs of total phosphorus (TP) and NH3-N from UTR and CA are 2.35-5 and 3 times of the class-II standard values specified in the Environmental Quality Standards for Surface Water (GB 3838-2002). The EMCs of Fe, Pb and Cd are also much higher than the class-III standard values. The analysis of pollution load producing coefficients (PLPC) reveals that the main pollution source of TSS, COD and TP is UTR. The analysis of correlations between rainfall factors and EMCs/PLPC indicates that rainfall duration is correlated with EMCs/PLPC of TSS for TRoof and TP for UTR, while rainfall intensity is correlated with EMCs/PLPC of TP for both CR and CCA. The results of this study provide a reference for better management of non-point source pollution in urban regions.

Pre- and post-fire pollutant loads in an urban fringe watershed in Southern California.

PubMed

Burke, M P; Hogue, T S; Kinoshita, A M; Barco, J; Wessel, C; Stein, E D

2013-12-01

Post-fire runoff has the potential to be a large source of contaminants to downstream areas. However, the magnitude of this effect in urban fringe watersheds adjacent to large sources of airborne contaminants is not well documented. The current study investigates the impacts of wildfire on stormwater contaminant loading from the upper Arroyo Seco watershed, burned in 2009. This watershed is adjacent to the Greater Los Angeles, CA, USA area and has not burned in over 60 years. Consequently, it acts as a sink for regional urban pollutants and presents an opportunity to study the impacts of wildfire. Pre- and post-fire storm samples were collected and analyzed for basic cations, trace metals, and total suspended solids. The loss of vegetation and changes in soil properties from the fire greatly increased the magnitude of storm runoff, resulting in sediment-laden floods carrying high concentrations of particulate-bound constituents. Post-fire concentrations and loads were up to three orders of magnitude greater than pre-fire values for many trace metals, including lead and cadmium. A shift was also observed in the timing of chemical delivery, where maximum suspended sediment, trace metal, and cation concentrations coincided with, rather than preceded, peak discharge in the post-fire runoff, amplifying the fire's impacts on mass loading. The results emphasize the importance of sediment delivery as a primary mechanism for post-fire contaminant transport and suggest that traditional management practices that focus on treating only the early portion of storm runoff may be less effective following wildfire. We also advocate that watersheds impacted by regional urban pollutants have the potential to pose significant risk for downstream communities and ecosystems after fire.

[Hydrology and water quality of rainfall-runoff in combined sewerage system along Suzhou Creek in central Shanghai].

PubMed

Cheng, Jiang; Yang, Kai; Huang, Xiao-Fang; Lü, Yong-Peng

2009-07-15

In order to obtain the processes of hydrology and water quality of urban combined sewerage system (CSS) in highly urbanized region, the precipitation, discharge and pollutant concentration of four different intensity rainfall (light rain, moderate rain, heavy rain and storm) were measured from Jul. to Sep. 2007 in the Chendulu CSS along Suzhou Creek in Shanghai. The results show that the shapes of runoff graph are similar to rainfall graph, with a weaker fluctuation range and a 15-25 min delay between rainfall and runoff graph. Runoff coefficients of the four different rainfall are 0.33, 0.62, 0.67 and 0.73, respectively. The 30/30 first flush phenomenon is found in Chendulu CSS. The peak of pollutant concentration graph lags rainfall peak about 30-40 min. The pH and event mean concentration (EMC) of Cu, Zn, Cr, Cd, Pb and Ni totally measure up to environmental quality standards V for surface water of China besides COD, BOD5, NH4(+) -N and TP, and the EMC of COD, BOD5, NH4(+) -N and TP are 225.0-544.1, 31.5-98.9, 8.9-44.2 and 1.98-3.52 mg x L(-1), respectively. The rainfall-runoff pollutant concentration in Chendulu CSS is close to those of other foreign cites. At the confidence level of p < 0.01, good relationships exist between SS and COD, BOD5, NH4(+) -N and TP, respectively, and the average proportion of particulate organic pollutant and nutrient is 70.21%.

Retrospective Review of Watershed Characteristics and a Framework for Future Research in the Sarasota Bay Watershed, Florida

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kish, George R.; Harrison, Arnell S.; Alderson, Mark

2008-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program conducted a retrospective review of characteristics of the Sarasota Bay watershed in west-central Florida. This report describes watershed characteristics, surface- and ground-water processes, and the environmental setting of the Sarasota Bay watershed. Population growth during the last 50 years is transforming the Sarasota Bay watershed from rural and agriculture to urban and suburban. The transition has resulted in land-use changes that influence surface- and ground-water processes in the watershed. Increased impervious cover decreases recharge to ground water and increases overland runoff and the pollutants carried in the runoff. Soil compaction resulting from agriculture, construction, and recreation activities also decreases recharge to ground water. Conventional approaches to stormwater runoff have involved conveyances and large storage areas. Low-impact development approaches, designed to provide recharge near the precipitation point-of-contact, are being used increasingly in the watershed. Simple pollutant loading models applied to the Sarasota Bay watershed have focused on large-scale processes and pollutant loads determined from empirical values and mean event concentrations. Complex watershed models and more intensive data-collection programs can provide the level of information needed to quantify (1) the effects of lot-scale land practices on runoff, storage, and ground-water recharge, (2) dry and wet season flux of nutrients through atmospheric deposition, (3) changes in partitioning of water and contaminants as urbanization alters predevelopment rainfall-runoff relations, and (4) linkages between watershed models and lot-scale models to evaluate the effect of small-scale changes over the entire Sarasota Bay watershed. As urbanization in the Sarasota Bay watershed continues, focused research on water-resources issues can provide information needed by water-resources managers to ensure the future health of the watershed.

[Treatment of Urban Runoff Pollutants by a Multilayer Biofiltration System].

PubMed

Wang, Xiao-lu; Zuo, Jian-e; Gan, Li-li; Xing, Wei; Miao, Heng-feng; Ruan, Wen-quan

2015-07-01

In order to control the non-point source pollution from road runoff in Wuxi City effectively, a multilayer biofiltration system was designed to remove a variety of pollutants according to the characteristics of road runoff in Wuxi, and the experimental research was carried out to study the effect on rainwater pollution purification. The results show that the system has a good performance on removing suspended solids (SS), organic pollutant (COD), nitrogen and phosphorus: all types of multilayer biofiltration systems have a high removal rate for SS, which can reach 90%. The system with activated carbon (GAC) has higher removal rates for COD and phosphorus. The system with zeolite (ZFM) has a relatively better removal efficiency for nitrogen. The addition of wood chips in the system can significantly improve the system efficiency for nitrogen removal. Between the two configurations of layered and distributed wood chips, configurations of distributed wood chips reach higher COD, phosphorus and nitrogen pollutants removal efficiencies since they can reduce the release of wood chips dissolution.

Potential contributions of mature prairie and turfgrass to phosphorus in urban runoff.

PubMed

Steinke, K; Kussow, W R; Stier, J C

2013-07-01

Urban vegetative plantings are considered desirable to mitigate and filter stormwater runoff and nonpoint-source pollution. Phosphorus fertilization of turfgrass may enhance P in urban runoff; however, the amount of P from nonfertilized, native vegetation that could potentially replace some turf is not known. This study was conducted to measure the relative contributions of nonfertilized, native prairie vegetation and fertilized turfgrass to runoff water and P loads. Six replicates of side-by-side mature urban prairie and turfgrass were monitored for mean annual runoff volumes and P loads, biomass production, vegetative nutrient composition, and changes in soil moisture. Vegetation type did not significantly affect seasonal or annual runoff volumes or P loads. The mean annual total P loads of 0.46 kg ha for prairie and 0.28 kg ha for turfgrass were significant and comparable to those reported by other researchers when studied separately. Total P concentrations in runoff water from prairie and turf vegetation were above USEPA limits, averaging 1.86 and 1.63 mg L, respectively, over 2 yr. Averaged across 2 yr, 78% of runoff P was collected when the soil was frozen. Biomass P reductions over the period of November to April were strongly related to quantities of runoff total P from frozen soil ( = 0.874). Phosphorus losses from urban areas appeared to be primarily correlated with runoff depth, not vegetation type, because correlation coefficients revealed 86 and 45% of the Year 1 and Year 2 total P loads were directly accounted for by runoff volumes. Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.

Watershed delineation and nitrogen source analysis for Bayou Chico, an urban watershed in northwest Florida

EPA Science Inventory

Nutrient pollution in stormwater runoff from urbanized areas contributes to water quality degradation in streams and receiving waterbodies. Agriculture, population growth, and industrial activities are significant sources of nitrogen inputs for surface waters. Increased nitrogen ...

Environmental Effects of Pervious Pavement as a Low Impact Development Installation in Urban Regions - Chapter 13

EPA Science Inventory

Pervious pavement systems can be used to reduce stormwater runoff volume and are efficient at removing solids from runoff; however, the pollutant removal efficiency for nutrients, metals, and organic contaminants is yet to be determined due to either a lack of data or inconsisten...

Analysis and predictive models of stormwater runoff volumes, loads, and pollutant concentrations from watersheds in the Twin Cities metropolitan area, Minnesota, USA.

PubMed

Brezonik, Patrick L; Stadelmann, Teresa H

2002-04-01

Urban nonpoint source pollution is a significant contributor to water quality degradation. Watershed planners need to be able to estimate nonpoint source loads to lakes and streams if they are to plan effective management strategies. To meet this need for the twin cities metropolitan area, a large database of urban and suburban runoff data was compiled. Stormwater runoff loads and concentrations of 10 common constituents (six N and P forms, TSS, VSS, COD, Pb) were characterized, and effects of season and land use were analyzed. Relationships between runoff variables and storm and watershed characteristics were examined. The best regression equation to predict runoff volume for rain events was based on rainfall amount, drainage area, and percent impervious area (R2 = 0.78). Median event-mean concentrations (EMCs) tended to be higher in snowmelt runoff than in rainfall runoff, and significant seasonal differences were found in yields (kg/ha) and EMCs for most constituents. Simple correlations between explanatory variables and stormwater loads and EMCs were weak. Rainfall amount and intensity and drainage area were the most important variables in multiple linear regression models to predict event loads, but uncertainty was high in models developed with the pooled data set. The most accurate models for EMCs generally were found when sites were grouped according to common land use and size.

Sensitivity to experimental data of pollutant site mean concentration in stormwater runoff.

PubMed

Mourad, M; Bertrand-Krajewski, J L; Chebbo, G

2005-01-01

Urban wet weather discharges are known to be a great source of pollutants for receiving waters, which protection requires the estimation of long-term discharged pollutant loads. Pollutant loads can be estimated by multiplying a site mean concentration (SMC) by the total runoff volume during a given period of time. The estimation of the SMC value as a weighted mean value with event runoff volumes as weights is affected by uncertainties due to the variability of event mean concentrations and to the number of events used. This study carried out on 13 catchments gives orders of magnitude of these uncertainties and shows the limitations of usual practices using few measured events. The results obtained show that it is not possible to propose a standard minimal number of events to be measured on any catchment in order to evaluate the SMC value with a given uncertainty.

THE REPORTED EFFECTIVENESS OF COMMONLY USED BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES FOR THE CONTROL OF NUTRIENTS IN URBAN STORMWATER

EPA Science Inventory

Many structural BMPs, when appropriately designed and constructed, capture and treat urban runoff to remove particulate-associated pollutants. However, field monitoring programs show these same structures provide relatively little reduction in the loadings of dissolved constitue...

An evaluation of the urban stormwater pollutant removal efficiency of catch basin inserts.

PubMed

Morgan, Robert A; Edwards, Findlay G; Brye, Kristofor R; Burian, Stephen J

2005-01-01

In a storm sewer system, the catch basin is the interface between surface runoff and the sewer. Responding to the need to improve the quality of stormwater from urban areas and transportation facilities, and spurred by Phase I and II Stormwater Rules from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, several companies market catch basin inserts as best management practices for urban water quality management. However, little data have been collected under controlled tests that indicate the pollutant removal efficiency of these inserts when the inflow is near what can be expected to occur in the field. A stormwater simulator was constructed to test inserts under controlled and replicable conditions. The inserts were tested for removal efficiency of total suspended solids (TSS) and total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) at an inflow rate of 757 to 814 L/min, with influent pollutant concentrations of 225 mg/L TSS and 30 mg/L TPH. These conditions are similar to stormwater runoff from small commercial sites in the southeastern United States. Results from the tests indicate that at the test flowrate and pollutant concentration, average TSS removal efficiencies ranged from 11 to 42% and, for TPH, the removal efficiency ranged from 10 to 19%.

Optimal implementation of green infrastructure practices to minimize influences of land use change and climate change on hydrology and water quality: Case study in Spy Run Creek watershed, Indiana.

PubMed

Liu, Yaoze; Engel, Bernard A; Collingsworth, Paris D; Pijanowski, Bryan C

2017-12-01

Nutrient loading from the Maumee River watershed is a significant reason for the harmful algal blooms (HABs) problem in Lake Erie. The nutrient loading from urban areas needs to be reduced with the installation of green infrastructure (GI) practices. The Long-Term Hydrologic Impact Assessment-Low Impact Development 2.1 (L-THIA-LID 2.1) model was used to explore the influences of land use (LU) and climate change on water quantity and quality in Spy Run Creek watershed (SRCW) (part of Maumee River watershed), decide whether and where excess phosphorus loading existed, identify critical areas to understand where the greatest amount of runoff/pollutants originated, and optimally implement GI practices to obtain maximum environmental benefits with the lowest costs. Both LU/climate changes increased runoff/pollutants generated from the watershed. Areas with the highest runoff/pollutant amount per area, or critical areas, differed for various environmental concerns, land uses (LUs), and climates. Compared to optimization considering all areas, optimization conducted only in critical areas can provide similar cost-effective results with decreased computational time for low levels of runoff/pollutant reductions, but critical area optimization results were not as cost-effective for higher levels of runoff/pollutant reductions. Runoff/pollutants for 2011/2050 LUs/climates could be reduced to amounts of 2001 LU/climate by installation of GI practices with annual expenditures of $0.34 to $2.05 million. The optimization scenarios that were able to obtain the 2001 runoff level in 2011/2050, can also reduce all pollutants to 2001 levels in this watershed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Intra-event variability of Escherichia coli and total suspended solids in urban stormwater runoff.

PubMed

McCarthy, D T; Hathaway, J M; Hunt, W F; Deletic, A

2012-12-15

Sediment levels are important for environmental health risk assessments of surface water bodies, while faecal pollution can introduce significant public health risks for users of these systems. Urban stormwater is one of the largest sources of contaminants to surface waters, yet the fate and transport of these contaminants (especially those microbiological) have received little attention in the literature. Stormwater runoff from five urbanized catchments were monitored for pathogen indicator bacteria and total suspended solids in two developed countries. Multiple discrete samples were collected during each storm event, allowing an analysis of intra-event characteristics such as initial concentration, peak concentration, maximum rate of change, and relative confidence interval. The data suggest that a catchment's area influences pollutant characteristics, as larger catchments have more complex stormwater infrastructure and more variable pollutant sources. The variability of total suspended solids for many characteristics was similar to Escherichia coli, indicating that the variability of E. coli may not be substantially higher than that of other pollutants as initially speculated. Further, variations in E. coli appeared to be more commonly correlated to antecedent climate, while total suspended solids were more highly correlated to rainfall/runoff characteristics. This emphasizes the importance of climate on microbial persistence and die off in urban systems. Discrete intra-event concentrations of total suspended solids and, to a lesser extent E. coli, were correlated to flow, velocity, and rainfall intensity (adjusted by time of concentrations). Concentration changes were found to be best described by adjusted rainfall intensity, as shown by other researchers. This study has resulted in an increased understanding of the magnitude of intra-event variations of total suspended solids and E. coli and what physical and climatic parameters influence these variations. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The sources, impact and management of car park runoff pollution: a review.

PubMed

Revitt, D Michael; Lundy, Lian; Coulon, Frédéric; Fairley, Martin

2014-12-15

Traffic emissions contribute significantly to the build-up of diffuse pollution loads on urban surfaces with their subsequent mobilisation and direct discharge posing problems for receiving water quality. This review focuses on the impact and mitigation of solids, metals, nutrients and organic pollutants in the runoff deriving from car parks. Variabilities in the discharged pollutant levels and in the potentials for pollutant mitigation complicate an impact assessment of car park runoff. The different available stormwater best management practices and proprietary devices are reported to be capable of reductions of between 20% and almost 100% for both suspended solids and a range of metals. This review contributes to prioritising the treatment options which can achieve the appropriate pollutant reductions whilst conforming to the site requirements of a typical car park. By applying different treatment scenarios to the runoff from a hypothetical car park, it is shown that optimal performance, in terms of ecological benefits for the receiving water, can be achieved using a treatment train incorporating permeable paving and bioretention systems. The review identifies existing research gaps and emphasises the pertinent management practices as well as design issues which are relevant to the mitigation of car park pollution. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparative analysis of water quality and toxicity assessment methods for urban highway runoff.

PubMed

Chen, Rui-Hong; Li, Fei-Peng; Zhang, Hai-Ping; Jiang, Yue; Mao, Ling-Chen; Wu, Ling-Ling; Chen, Ling

2016-05-15

In this study, comparative analyses of highway runoff samples obtained from seventeen storm events have been conducted between the traditional water quality assessment method and biotoxicity tests, using zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos and luminous bacteria (Vibrio qinghaiensis. Q67) to provide useful information for ecotoxicity assessment of urban highway runoff. The study results showed that the Nemerow pollution index based on US EPA recommended Criteria Maximum Concentrations (CMC) (as traditional water quality assessment method) had no significant correlation with luminous bacteria acute toxicity test results, while significant correlation has been observed with two indicators of 72 hpf (hours post fertilization) hour hatching rate and 96 hpf abnormality rate from the toxicity test with zebrafish embryos. It is therefore concluded that the level of mixture toxicity of highway runoff could not be adequately measured by the Nemerow assessment method. Moreover, the key pollutants identified from the water quality assessment and from the biotoxicity evaluation were not consistent. For biotoxic effect evaluation of highway runoff, three indexes were found to be sensitive, i.e. 24 hpf lethality and 96 hpf abnormality of zebrafish embryos, as well as the inhibition rate for luminous bacteria Q67. It is therefore recommended that these indexes could be incorporated into the traditional Nemerow method to provide a more reasonable evaluation of the highway runoff quality and ecotoxicity. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

EVALUATING THE ACCOTINK CREEK URBAN STREAM RESTORATION PROJECT FOR IMPROVING WATER QUALITY, IN-STREAM HABITAT, AND BANK STABILITY

EPA Science Inventory

Increased urbanization results in a larger percentage of connected impervious areas and can contribute large quantities of stormwater runoff and significant quantities of debris and pollutants (e.g., litter, oils, microorganisms, sediments, nutrients, organic matter, and heavy me...

City of Minneapolis, Minnesota Municipal Tree Resource Analysis

Treesearch

E.G. McPherson; J.R. Simpson; P.J. Peper; S.E. Maco; S.L. Gardner; K.E. Vargas; S. Cozad; Q. Xiao

2005-01-01

Minneapolis, a vibrant city, renowned for its lakes, its livability, and its cultural wealth, maintains trees as an integral component of the urban infrastructure. Research indicates that healthy trees can mitigate impacts associated with the built environment by reducing stormwater runoff, energy consumption, and air pollutants. Trees improve urban life, making...

Factors affecting the presence of human-associated and fecal indicator real-time quantitative PCR genetic markers in urban-impacted recreational beaches

EPA Science Inventory

Urban runoff can carry a variety of pollutants into recreational beaches, often including bacterial pathogens and indicators of fecal contamination. To develop complete recreational criteria and risk assessments, it is necessary to understand conditions under which human contamin...

Stormwater runoff plumes in the Southern California Bight: A comparison study with SAR and MODIS imagery.

PubMed

Holt, Benjamin; Trinh, Rebecca; Gierach, Michelle M

2017-05-15

Stormwater runoff is the largest source of pollution in the Southern California Bight (SCB), resulting from untreated runoff and pollutants from urban watersheds entering the coastal waters after rainstorms. We make use of both satellite SAR and MODIS-Aqua ocean color imagery to examine two different components of runoff plumes, the surface slick and the sediment discharge. We expand on earlier satellite SAR studies by examining an extensive collection of multi-platform SAR imagery, spanning from 1992 to 2014, that provides a more comprehensive view of the plume surface slick characteristics, illustrated with distribution maps of the extent and flow direction of the plumes. The SAR-detected surface plumes are compared with coincident rain and runoff measurements, and with available measured shoreline fecal bacteria loads. We illustrate differences in the detection of SAR surface plumes with the sediment-related discharge plumes derived from MODIS imagery. A conceptual satellite stormwater runoff monitoring approach is presented. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Diffuse emission and control of copper in urban surface runoff.

PubMed

Boller, M A; Steiner, M

2002-01-01

Copper washed off from roofs and roads is considered to be a major contribution to diffuse copper pollution of urban environments. In order to guarantee sustainable protection of soils and water, the long-term strategy is to avoid or replace copper containing materials on roofs and fagades. Until achievement of this goal, a special adsorber system is suggested to control the diffuse copper fluxes by retention of copper by a mixture of granulated iron-hydroxide (GEH) and calcium carbonate. Since future stormwater runoff concepts are based on decentralised runoff infiltration into the underground, solutions are proposed which provide for copper retention in infiltration sites using GEH adsorption layers. The example of a large copper façade of which the runoff is treated in an adsorption trench reveals the first full-scale data on façade runoff and adsorber performance. During the first year of investigation average façade runoff concentrations in the range of 1-10 mg Cu/l are reduced by 96-99% in the adsorption ditch.

High-resolution surface connectivity measurements and runoff dynamics in five urban watersheds in Knoxville, TN

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Epps, T.

2015-12-01

Impervious surfaces and stormwater drainage networks transmit rainfall quickly to urban stream systems with greater frequency, volume, energy, and pollutant loadings than in predevelopment conditions. This has a well-established negative impact on stream ecology, channel morphology, and water quality. Green infrastructure retrofits for urban drainage systems promote more natural hydrologic pathways by disconnecting concentrated flows. However, they are expensive due to high land costs and physical constraints. If a systematic strategy for siting green infrastructure is sought to restore natural flows throughout an urban catchment, greater knowledge of the drainage patterns and areas contributing frequent surface runoff is necessary. Five diverse urban watersheds in Knoxville, TN, were assessed using high-resolution topography, land cover, and artificial drainage network data to identify how surface connectivity differs among watersheds and contributes to altered flow regimes. Rainfall-runoff patterns were determined from continuous rainfall and streamflow monitoring over the previous ten years. Fine-scale flowpath connectivity of impervious surfaces was measured by both a binary approach and by a method incorporating runoff potential by saturation excess. The effect of the spatial distribution of connected surfaces was investigated by incorporating several distance-weighting schema along established urban drainage flowpaths. Statistical relationships between runoff generation and connectivity were measured to determine the ability of these different measures of connectivity to predict runoff thresholds, frequency, volumes, and peak flows. Initial results suggest that rapid assessment of connected surficial flowpaths can be used to identify known green infrastructure assets and highly connected impervious areas and that the differences in connectivity measured between watersheds reflects differing runoff patterns observed in monitored data.

Build-up and wash-off dynamics of atmospherically derived Cu, Pb, Zn and TSS in stormwater runoff as a function of meteorological characteristics.

PubMed

Murphy, Louise U; Cochrane, Thomas A; O'Sullivan, Aisling

2015-03-01

Atmospheric pollutants deposited on impermeable surfaces can be an important source of pollutants to stormwater runoff; however, modelling atmospheric pollutant loads in runoff has rarely been done, because of the challenges and uncertainties in monitoring their contribution. To overcome this, impermeable concrete boards (≈ 1m(2)) were deployed for 11 months in different locations within an urban area (industrial, residential and airside) throughout Christchurch, New Zealand, to capture spatially distributed atmospheric deposition loads in runoff over varying meteorological conditions. Runoff was analysed for total and dissolved Cu, Zn, Pb, and total suspended solids (TSS). Mixed-effect regression models were developed to simulate atmospheric pollutant loads in stormwater runoff. In addition, the models were used to explain the influence of different meteorological characteristics (e.g. antecedent dry days and rain depth) on pollutant build-up and wash-off dynamics. The models predicted approximately 53% to 69% of the variation in pollutant loads and were successful in predicting pollutant-load trends over time which can be useful for general stormwater planning processes. Results from the models illustrated the importance of antecedent dry days on pollutant build-up. Furthermore, results indicated that peak rainfall intensity and rain duration had a significant relationship with TSS and total Pb, whereas, rain depth had a significant relationship with total Cu and total Zn. This suggested that the pollutant speciation phase plays an important role in surface wash-off. Rain intensity and duration had a greater influence when the pollutants were predominantly in their particulate phase. Conversely, rain depth exerted a greater influence when a high fraction of the pollutants were predominantly in their dissolved phase. For all pollutants, the models were represented by a log-arctan relationship for pollutant build-up and a log-log relationship for pollutant wash-off. The modelling approach enables the site-specific relationships between individual pollutants and rainfall characteristics to be investigated. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Multiple evaluations of the removal of pollutants in road runoff by soil infiltration.

PubMed

Murakami, Michio; Sato, Nobuyuki; Anegawa, Aya; Nakada, Norihide; Harada, Arata; Komatsu, Toshiya; Takada, Hideshige; Tanaka, Hiroaki; Ono, Yoshiro; Furumai, Hiroaki

2008-05-01

Groundwater replenishment by infiltration of road runoff is expected to be a promising option for ensuring a sustainable urban water cycle. In this study, we performed a soil infiltration column test using artificial road runoff equivalent to approximately 11-12 years of rainfall to evaluate the removal of pollutants by using various chemical analyses and bioassay tests. These results indicated that soil infiltration treatment works effectively to remove most of the pollutants such as organic matter (chemical oxygen demand (CODMn) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC)), P species, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), numerous heavy metals and oestrogenic activities. Bioassay tests, including algal growth inhibition test, Microtox and mutagen formation potential (MFP) test, also revealed effective removal of toxicities by the soils. However, limited amounts of NO3, Mn, Ni, alkaline earth metals, perfluorooctane sulphonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctane sulphonamide (FOSA) were removed by the soils and they possibly reach the groundwater and cause contamination.

City of Charleston, South Carolina Municipal Forest Resource Analysis

Treesearch

E.G. McPherson; J.R. Simpson; P.J. Peper; S.L. Gardner; K.E. Vargas; S.E. Maco; Q. Xiao

2006-01-01

Charleston, a charming Southern city appreciated for its rich history and culture, maintains trees as an integral component of the urban infrastructure (Figure 1). Research indicates that healthy trees can lessen impacts associated with the built environment by reducing stormwater runoff, energy consumption, and air pollutants. Trees improve urban life, making...

City of Charlotte, North Carolina Municipal Forest Resource Analysis

Treesearch

E.G. McPherson; J.R. Simpson; P.J. Peper; S.L. Gardner; K.E. Vargas; S.E. Maco; Q. Xiao

2005-01-01

Charlotte, a vibrant Southern city appreciated for its rich history and cultural wealth, maintains trees as an integral component of the urban infrastructure (Figure 1). Research indicates that healthy trees can lessen impacts associated with the built environment by reducing stormwater runoff, energy consumption, and air pollutants. Trees improve urban life, making...

City of Berkeley, California Municipal Tree Resource Analysis

Treesearch

S.E. Maco; E.G. McPherson; J.R. Simpson; P.J. Peper; Q. Xiao

2005-01-01

Vibrant, renowned for its livability and cultural wealth, the city of Berkeley maintains trees as an integral component of the urban infrastructure. Research indicates that healthy trees can mitigate impacts associated with the built environment by reducing stormwater runoff, energy consumption, and air pollutants. Put simply, trees improve urban life, making Berkeley...

Temperature dynamics of stormwater runoff in Australia and the USA.

PubMed

Hathaway, J M; Winston, R J; Brown, R A; Hunt, W F; McCarthy, D T

2016-07-15

Thermal pollution of surface waters by urban stormwater runoff is an often overlooked by-product of urbanization. Elevated stream temperatures due to an influx of stormwater runoff can be detrimental to stream biota, in particular for cold water systems. However, few studies have examined temperature trends throughout storm events to determine how these thermal inputs are temporally distributed. In this study, six diverse catchments in two continents are evaluated for thermal dynamics. Summary statistics from the data showed larger catchments have lower maximum runoff temperatures, minimum runoff temperatures, and temperature variability. This reinforces the understanding that subsurface drainage infrastructure in urban catchments acts to moderate runoff temperatures. The catchments were also evaluated for the presence of a thermal first flush using two methodologies. Results showed the lack of a first flush under traditional assessment methodologies across all six catchments, supporting the results from a limited number of studies in literature. However, the time to peak temperature was not always coincident with the time to peak flow, highlighting the variability of thermal load over time. When a new first flush methodology was applied, significant differences in temperature were noted with increasing runoff depth for five of the six sites. This study is the first to identify a runoff temperature first flush, and highlights the need to carefully consider the appropriate methodology for such analyses. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Pollutant impacts to Cape Hatteras National Seashore from urban runoff and septic leachate.

PubMed

Mallin, Michael A; McIver, Matthew R

2012-07-01

The sandy barrier islands of Cape Hatteras National Seashore, USA, attract large seasonal influxes of tourists, and are host to numerous motels, rentals and second homes. To investigate the impacts of nearby urbanization on public trust waters, sampling was conducted in nine brackish water bodies within this coastal national park. A large tidal urban ditch delivered runoff-driven fecal-contaminated water directly into public beach waters. At all sites except the control, ammonium, phosphorus and fecal bacteria concentrations were high, strongly seasonal and significantly correlated with community water usage, indicating that increased septic tank usage led to increased pollutant concentrations in area waterways. Nutrients from septic systems caused ecosystem-level problems from algal blooms, BOD, and hypoxia while fecal microbes created potential human health problems. Septic system usage is widespread in sensitive coastal areas with high water tables and sandy soils and alternatives to standard septic systems must be required to protect human health and the environment. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessment of the environmental significance of nutrients and heavy metal pollution in the river network of Serbia.

PubMed

Dević, Gordana; Sakan, Sanja; Đorđević, Dragana

2016-01-01

In this paper, the data for ten water quality variables collected during 2009 at 75 monitoring sites along the river network of Serbia are considered. The results are alarming because 48% of the studied sites were contaminated by Ni, Mn, Pb, As, and nutrients, which are key factors impairing the water quality of the rivers in Serbia. Special attention should be paid to Zn and Cu, listed in the priority toxic pollutants of US EPA for aquatic life protection. The employed Q-model cluster analysis grouped the data into three major pollution zones (low, moderate, and high). Most sites classified as "low pollution zones" (LP) were in the main rivers, whereas those classified as "moderate and high pollution zones" (MP and HP, respectively) were in the large and small tributaries/hydro-system. Principal component analysis/factor analysis (PCA/FA) showed that the dissolved metals and nutrients in the Serbian rivers varied depending on the river, the heterogeneity of the anthropogenic activities in the basins (influenced primarily by industrial wastewater, agricultural activities, and urban runoff pollution), and natural environmental variability, such as geological characteristics. In LP dominated non-point source pollution, such as agricultural and urban runoff, whereas mixed source pollution dominated in the MP and HP zones. These results provide information to be used for developing better pollution control strategies for the river network of Serbia.

Optimal selection and placement of green infrastructure to reduce impacts of land use change and climate change on hydrology and water quality: An application to the Trail Creek Watershed, Indiana.

PubMed

Liu, Yaoze; Theller, Lawrence O; Pijanowski, Bryan C; Engel, Bernard A

2016-05-15

The adverse impacts of urbanization and climate change on hydrology and water quality can be mitigated by applying green infrastructure practices. In this study, the impacts of land use change and climate change on hydrology and water quality in the 153.2 km(2) Trail Creek watershed located in northwest Indiana were estimated using the Long-Term Hydrologic Impact Assessment-Low Impact Development 2.1 (L-THIA-LID 2.1) model for the following environmental concerns: runoff volume, Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Total Phosphorous (TP), Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN), and Nitrate+Nitrite (NOx). Using a recent 2001 land use map and 2050 land use forecasts, we found that land use change resulted in increased runoff volume and pollutant loads (8.0% to 17.9% increase). Climate change reduced runoff and nonpoint source pollutant loads (5.6% to 10.2% reduction). The 2050 forecasted land use with current rainfall resulted in the largest runoff volume and pollutant loads. The optimal selection and placement of green infrastructure practices using L-THIA-LID 2.1 model were conducted. Costs of applying green infrastructure were estimated using the L-THIA-LID 2.1 model considering construction, maintenance, and opportunity costs. To attain the same runoff volume and pollutant loads as in 2001 land uses for 2050 land uses, the runoff volume, TSS, TP, TKN, and NOx for 2050 needed to be reduced by 10.8%, 14.4%, 13.1%, 15.2%, and 9.0%, respectively. The corresponding annual costs of implementing green infrastructure to achieve the goals were $2.1, $0.8, $1.6, $1.9, and $0.8 million, respectively. Annual costs of reducing 2050 runoff volume/pollutant loads were estimated, and results show green infrastructure annual cost greatly increased for larger reductions in runoff volume and pollutant loads. During optimization, the most cost-efficient green infrastructure practices were selected and implementation levels increased for greater reductions of runoff and nonpoint source pollutants. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Leaching of additives from construction materials to urban storm water runoff.

PubMed

Burkhardt, M; Zuleeg, S; Vonbank, R; Schmid, P; Hean, S; Lamani, X; Bester, K; Boller, M

2011-01-01

Urban water management requires further clarification about pollutants in storm water. Little is known about the release of organic additives used in construction materials and the impact of these compounds to storm water runoff. We investigated sources and pathways of additives used in construction materials, i.e., biocides in facades' render as well as root protection products in bitumen membranes for rooftops. Under wet-weather conditions, the concentrations of diuron, terbutryn, carbendazim, irgarol 1051 (all from facades) and mecoprop in storm water and receiving water exceeded the predicted no-effect concentrations values and the Swiss water quality standard of 0.1 microg/L. Under laboratory conditions maximum concentrations of additives were in the range of a few milligrams and a few hundred micrograms per litre in runoff of facades and bitumen membranes. Runoff from aged materials shows approximately one to two orders of magnitude lower concentrations. Concentrations decreased also during individual runoff events. In storm water and receiving water the occurrence of additives did not follow the typical first flush model. This can be explained by the release lasting over the time of rainfall and the complexity of the drainage network. Beside the amounts used, the impact of construction materials containing hazardous additives on water quality is related clearly to the age of the buildings and the separated sewer network. The development of improved products regarding release of hazardous additives is the most efficient way of reducing the pollutant load from construction materials in storm water runoff.

Quality of stormwater runoff from paved surfaces of two production sites.

PubMed

Gnecco, I; Berretta, C; Lanza, L G; La Barbera, P

2006-01-01

In order to investigate stormwater pollutant loads associated with different anthropic activities and the related pollutant build-up and wash-off processes, two pilot sites have been equipped in the Liguria Region (Italy) for monitoring first flush water quality in a gas station and an auto dismantler facility. TSS, COD, HCtot and heavy metals in dissolved form (Zn, Pb, Cu, Ni, Cd, Cr) have been analyzed during the monitoring campaign (started in February 2004). Stormwater flow and quality data collected in both production sites confirm that EMC values are significantly higher than those observed in an urban site. In the auto dismantler site, the EMC values for TSS, COD and HC largely exceed the standard values (EC 91/271). Contrary to urban surface runoff, scarce correlation between TSS and COD concentrations is observed in runoff from both production sites. The occurrence and nature of the pollutant load connected to first flush flows is discussed by inspection of the M(V)-curves that are provided for all monitored water quality parameters. Significant first flush phenomenon is evidenced for TSS and HC, while such clear behavior doesn't emerge for heavy metals. Hydrologic and climatic characteristics (ADWP, rainfall intensity/depth) appear to scarcely affect the build-up and wash-off processes.

Spatial variability of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon load of urban wet weather pollution in combined sewers.

PubMed

Gasperi, J; Moilleron, R; Chebbo, G

2006-01-01

In Paris, the OPUR research programme created an experimental on-site observatory of urban pollutant loads in combined sewer systems in order to characterise the dry and wet weather flows at different spatial scales. This article presents the first results on the spatial variability of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) load during wet weather flow (WWF). At the scale of a rain event, investigations revealed that (i) PAH concentrations were relatively homogenous whatever the spatial scale and were greater than those of the dry weather flow (DWF), (ii) PAH distributions between dissolved and particulate phases were constant, and (iii) PAH fingerprints exhibited a similar pattern for all catchments. Moreover, an evaluation of the contribution of DWF, runoff and erosion of sewer deposits to WWF load was established. According to the hypothesis on the runoff concentration, the contributions were evaluated at 14, 8 and 78%, respectively, at the scale of the Marais catchment. For all the catchments, the runoff contribution was found quite constant and evaluated at approximately 10%. The DWF contribution seems to increase with the catchment area, contrary to the sewer erosion contribution, which seems to decrease. However, this latter still remains an important source of pollution. These first trends should be confirmed and completed by more investigations of rain events.

Waters Without Borders: Scarcity and the Future of State Interactions over Shared Water Resources

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-04-01

urbanization, increasing per capita consumption (associated with globalization and economic development), pollution , and climate change will exacerbate...Standards of Living, and Pollution : Water is fundamental to ensuring an adequate food supply. Agricultural irrigation accounts for 70% of fresh water...Agricultural run-off is also a major source of pollution reducing the quality and availability of drinking water. Energy: Water is also needed for the

The Onset of a Novel Environmental Offset: A case study for diverse pollutant scheme in Australia.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sengupta, A.; Arora, M.; Delbridge, N.; Pettigrove, V.; Feldman, D.

2014-12-01

Environmental offset schemes employ a crediting system to mitigate the impacts of pollutants. In this talk, we present a novel trade-off concept comparing diverse groups of pollutants: environmental flows, micropollutants (heavy metals, pesticides, estrogen compounds) and nutrients in a test watershed (Jacksons Creek), in the vicinity of Melbourne. A reservoir in the upper watershed, and a wastewater treatment plant (WTP) are the main sources of flow into Jacksons Creek. The current land use is a mix of agriculture, and rural, though rapid urbanization is anticipated with a 40% increase in the population by 2040. The creek is impacted by: 1) low flow, especially during dry periods (contribution from the reservoir drops dramatically), 2) nutrient enrichment (WTP and agricultural runoff), and 3) micropollutants-heavy metals (urban runoff), estrogenic compounds (WTP), and pesticides (agricultural runoff). In this offset framework, we evaluated current and future scenarios to identify the main stressor in Jacksons Creek. We collected monitoring data at 15 sites for separate 3 events. Then we developed a watershed model to assess sources of pollutant loads to the creek, using two different tools, Model for Urban Stormwater Improvement Conceptualisation (MUSIC) for the preliminary flow and water quality modeling, and eWater Source for integrated water resource management (IWRM), and a decision support system for stakeholders. Scenario analysis includes urbanization and population growth, and anticipated discharges from WTP and the reservoir. Measured nutrient concentrations were high for all sampling events. Micropollutants were detected at a concentration higher than the trigger value at several locations. Preliminary analysis shows that low flow is one of the major stressors in the creek causing elevated micropollutant and nutrient concentrations (non-point), and that discharge from the WTP is essential to maintain the minimum environmental flows, though nutrient enrichment downstream could occur. This study demonstrates an innovative case for evaluating net environmental benefits, and might hold important lessons for the design of offset schemes in comparable environments elsewhere.

[Characteristics of rainfall and runoff in urban drainage based on the SWMM model.

PubMed

Xiong, Li Jun; Huang, Fei; Xu, Zu Xin; Li, Huai Zheng; Gong, Ling Ling; Dong, Meng Ke

2016-11-18

The characteristics of 235 rainfall and surface runoff events, from 2009 to 2011 in a typical urban drainage area in Shanghai were analyzed by using SWMM model. The results showed that the rainfall events in the region with high occurrence frequency were characterized by small rainfall amount and low intensity. The most probably occurred rainfall had total amount less than 10 mm, or mean intensity less than 5 mm·h -1 ,or peak intensity less than 10 mm·h -1 , accounting for 66.4%, 88.8% and 79.6% of the total rainfall events, respectively. The study was of great significance to apply low-impact development to reduce runoff and non-point source pollution under condition of less rainfall amount or low mean rainfall intensity in the area. The runoff generally increased with the increase of rainfall. The threshold of regional occurring runoff was controlled by not only rainfall amount, but also mean rainfall intensity and rainfall duration. In general, there was no surface runoff when the rainfall amount was less than 2 mm. When the rainfall amount was between 2 to 4 mm and the mean rainfall intensity was below 1.6 mm·h -1 , the runoff was less than 1 mm. When the rainfall exceeded 4 mm and the mean rainfall intensity was larger than 1.6 mm·h -1 , the runoff would occur generally. Based on the results of the SWMM simulation, three regression equations that were applicable to regional runoff amount and rainfall factors were established. The adjustment R 2 of the three equations were greater than 0.97. This indicated that the equations could reflect well the relationship between runoff and rainfall variables. The results provided the basis of calculations to plan low impact development and better reduce overflow pollution in local drainage area. It also could serve as a useful reference for runoff study in similar drainage areas.

Loading estimates of lead, copper, cadmium, and zinc in urban runoff from specific sources.

PubMed

Davis, A P; Shokouhian, M; Ni, S

2001-08-01

Urban stormwater runoff is being recognized as a substantial source of pollutants to receiving waters. A number of investigators have found significant levels of metals in runoff from urban areas, especially in highway runoff. As an initiatory study, this work estimates lead, copper, cadmium, and zinc loadings from various sources in a developed area utilizing information available in the literature, in conjunction with controlled experimental and sampling investigations. Specific sources examined include building siding and roofs; automobile brakes, tires, and oil leakage; and wet and dry atmospheric deposition. Important sources identified are building siding for all four metals, vehicle brake emissions for copper and tire wear for zinc. Atmospheric deposition is an important source for cadmium, copper, and lead. Loadings and source distributions depend on building and automobile density assumptions and the type of materials present in the area examined. Identified important sources are targeted for future comprehensive mechanistic studies. Improved information on the metal release and distributions from the specific sources, along with detailed characterization of watershed areas will allow refinements in the predictions.

[Monitoring and analysis on evolution process of rainfall runoff water quality in urban area].

PubMed

Dong, Wen; Li, Huai-En; Li, Jia-Ke

2013-02-01

In order to find the water quality evolution law and pollution characteristics of the rainfall runoff from undisturbed to the neighborhood exit, 6 times evolution process of rainfall runoff water quality were monitored and analyzed from July to October in 2011, and contrasted the clarification efficiency of the grassland to the roof runoff rudimentarily at the same time. The research showed: 1. the results of the comparison from "undisturbed, rainfall-roof, rainfall runoff-road, rainfall-runoff the neighborhood exit runoff " showed that the water quality of the undisturbed rain was better than that from the roof and the neighborhood exist, but the road rainfall runoff water quality was the worst; 2. the average concentrations of the parameters such as COD, ammonia nitrogen and total nitrogen all exceeded the Fifth Class of the Surface Water Quality Standard except for the soluble total phosphorus from undisturbed rainfall to the neighborhood exit; 3. the runoff water quality of the short early fine days was better than that of long early fine days, and the last runoff water quality was better than that of the initial runoff in the same rainfall process; 4. the concentration reduction of the grassland was notable, and the reduction rate of the grassland which is 1.0 meter wide of the roof runoff pollutants such as COD and nitrogen reached 30%.

Effectiveness of low impact development practices in two urbanized watersheds: retrofitting with rain barrel/cistern and porous pavement.

PubMed

Ahiablame, Laurent M; Engel, Bernard A; Chaubey, Indrajeet

2013-04-15

The impacts of urbanization on hydrology and water quality can be minimized with the use of low impact development (LID) practices in urban areas. This study assessed the performance of rain barrel/cistern and porous pavement as retrofitting technologies in two urbanized watersheds of 70 and 40 km(2) near Indianapolis, Indiana. Six scenarios consisting of the watershed existing condition, 25% and 50% implementation of rain barrel/cistern and porous pavement, and 25% rain barrel/cistern combined with 25% porous pavement were evaluated using a proposed LID modeling framework and the Long-Term Hydrologic Impact Assessment (L-THIA)-LID model. The model was calibrated for annual runoff from 1991 to 2000, and validated from 2001 to 2010 for the two watersheds. For the calibration period, R(2) and NSE values were greater than 0.60 and 0.50 for annual runoff and streamflow. Baseflow was not calibrated in this study. During the validation period, R(2) and NSE values were greater than 0.50 for runoff and streamflow, and 0.30 for baseflow in the two watersheds. The various application levels of barrel/cistern and porous pavement resulted in 2-12% reduction in runoff and pollutant loads for the two watersheds. Baseflow loads slightly increased with increase in baseflow by more than 1%. However, reduction in runoff led to reduction in total streamflow and associated pollutant loads by 1-9% in the watersheds. The results also indicate that the application of 50% rain barrel/cistern, 50% porous pavement and 25% rain barrel/cistern combined with 25% porous pavement are good retrofitting options in these watersheds. The L-THIA-LID model can be used to inform management and decision-making for implementation of LID practices at the watershed scale. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

The effect of different surface materials on runoff quality in permeable pavement systems.

PubMed

Li, Haiyan; Li, Zhifei; Zhang, Xiaoran; Li, Zhuorong; Liu, Dongqing; Li, Tanghu; Zhang, Ziyang

2017-09-01

To investigate the effect of different permeable pavement surface materials on the removal of pollutants from urban storm-runoff, six commonly surface materials (porous asphalt, porous concrete, cement brick, ceramic brick, sand base brick, and shale brick) were selected in this study and the research was carried out by column experiments. Except the concentrations of total suspended solids (TSS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonia nitrogen (NH 4 -N), nitrate nitrogen (NO 3 -N), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) in the influent and effluent that were measured, the removal mechanism of pollutants was discussed further. The results indicate that the surface materials influence the removal efficiency of pollutants greatly and have different effects on certain pollutant. Furthermore, the physical interception and adsorption would be the main mechanism for the removal of pollutants from runoff. For example, for all surface materials, the average removal efficiency of TSS is nearly about 90.0% because of physical interception. Due to the amount of iron oxide, the removal efficiency of COD, NO 3 -N, and TN of shale brick was 88.2, 35.1, and 17.5%, respectively. NH 4 -N and TN can be easily removed by porous asphalt due to the high content of organic matter. By lacking of useful adsorption sites, all the surface materials had little effect on the removal of TP from runoff. This research could offer useful guidelines for the better design of permeable pavement system and promote the insight into the removal mechanism of pollutants in permeable pavement system. Graphical abstract Different types of materials for the different types of pollutants in the runoff purification capacity were significantly different, overall, shale brick and porous asphalt Shale bricks and porous asphalt have a better purification effect according to the six kinds of materials.

The influence of extensive vegetated roofs on runoff water quality.

PubMed

Berndtsson, Justyna Czemiel; Emilsson, Tobias; Bengtsson, Lars

2006-02-15

The influence of extensive sedum-moss vegetated roofs on runoff water quality was studied for four full scale installations located in southern Sweden. The aim of the study was to ascertain whether the vegetated roof behaves as a sink or a source of pollutants and whether the age of a vegetated roof influences runoff quality. The runoff quality from vegetated roofs was also compared with the runoff quality from non-vegetated roofs located in study areas. The following metals and nutrients were investigated: Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mn, Pb, Zn, NO3-N, NH4-N, Tot-N, PO4-P, and Tot-P. The results show that, with the exception of nitrogen, vegetated roofs behave as source of contaminants. While in lower concentrations than normally found in urban runoff, some metals appear in concentrations that would correspond to moderately polluted natural water. Nitrate nitrogen is retained by the vegetation or soil or both. Apart from the oldest, the studied vegetated roofs contribute phosphate phosphorus to the runoff. The maintenance of the vegetation systems on the roofs has to be carefully designed in order to avoid storm-water contamination; for instance, the use of easily dissolvable fertilizers should be avoided.

Modelling Urban diffuse pollution in groundwater

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jato, Musa; Smith, Martin; Cundy, Andrew

2017-04-01

Diffuse urban pollution of surface and ground waters is a growing concern in many cities and towns. Traffic-derived pollutants such as salts, heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) may wash off road surfaces in soluble or particulate forms which later drain through soils and drainage systems into surface waters and groundwater. In Brighton, about 90% of drinking water supply comes from groundwater (derived from the Brighton Chalk block). In common with many groundwater sources the Chalk aquifer has been relatively extensively monitored and assessed for diffuse rural contaminants such as nitrate, but knowledge on the extent of contamination from road run-off is currently lacking. This project examines the transfer of traffic-derived contaminants from the road surface to the Chalk aquifer, via urban drainage systems. A transect of five boreholes have been sampled on a monthly basis and groundwater samples analysed to examine the concentrations of key, mainly road run-off derived, hydrocarbon and heavy metal contaminants in groundwater across the Brighton area. Trace concentrations of heavy metals and phenols have been observed in groundwater. Electrical conductivity changes in groundwater have also been used to assess local changes in ionic strength which may be associated with road-derived contaminants. This has been supplemented by systematic water and sediment sampling from urban gully pots, with further sampling planned from drainage and settlement ponds adjacent to major roads, to examine initial road to drainage system transport of major contaminants.

Water Quality Assessment of River Soan (Pakistan) and Source Apportionment of Pollution Sources Through Receptor Modeling.

PubMed

Nazeer, Summya; Ali, Zeshan; Malik, Riffat Naseem

2016-07-01

The present study was designed to determine the spatiotemporal patterns in water quality of River Soan using multivariate statistics. A total of 26 sites were surveyed along River Soan and its associated tributaries during pre- and post-monsoon seasons in 2008. Hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis (HACA) classified sampling sites into three groups according to their degree of pollution, which ranged from least to high degradation of water quality. Discriminant function analysis (DFA) revealed that alkalinity, orthophosphates, nitrates, ammonia, salinity, and Cd were variables that significantly discriminate among three groups identified by HACA. Temporal trends as identified through DFA revealed that COD, DO, pH, Cu, Cd, and Cr could be attributed for major seasonal variations in water quality. PCA/FA identified six factors as potential sources of pollution of River Soan. Absolute principal component scores using multiple regression method (APCS-MLR) further explained the percent contribution from each source. Heavy metals were largely added through industrial activities (28 %) and sewage waste (28 %), nutrients through agriculture runoff (35 %) and sewage waste (28 %), organic pollution through sewage waste (27 %) and urban runoff (17 %) and macroelements through urban runoff (39 %), and mineralization and sewage waste (30 %). The present study showed that anthropogenic activities are the major source of variations in River Soan. In order to address the water quality issues, implementation of effective waste management measures are needed.

[Pollution Characteristics of Surface Runoff of Typical Town in Chongqing City].

PubMed

Wang, Long-tao; Duan, Bing-zheng; Zhao, Jian-wei; Hua, Yu-mei; Zhu, Duan-wei

2015-08-01

Six kinds of impermeable underlying surface, cement tile roof, asbestos roof, cement flat roof, residential concrete pavement, asphalt pavement of restaurants, asphalt pavement of oil depot, and a combined sewer overflow canal in the Jiansheng town of Dadukou district in Chongqing city were chosen as sample plots to study the characteristics of nutritional pollutants and heavy metals in town runoff. The research showed that the average mass concentrations of TSS, COD, TN, TP in road runoff were (1681.2 +/- 677.2), (1154.7 +/- 415.5), (12.07 +/- 2.72), (3.32 +/- 1.15) mgL(-1), respectively. These pollutants were higher than those in roof runoff which were (13.3 +/- 6.5), (100.4 +/- 24.8), (3.58 +/- 0.70), (0.10 +/- 0.02) mg x L(-1), respectively. TDN accounted for 62.60% +/- 34.38% of TN, and TDP accounted for 42.22% +/- 33.94% of TP in the runoff of impermeable underlying surface. Compared with the central urban runoff, town runoff in our study had higher mass concentrations of these pollutants. The mass concentrations of TSS, COD, TDN, TN, TDP and TP in the combined sewer overflow were (281.57 +/- 308.38), (231.21 +/- 42.95), (8.16 +/- 2.78), (10.60 +/- 3.94), (0.38 +/- 0.23) and (1.51 +/- 0.75) mg x L(-1), respectively. The average levels of heavy metals in this kind of runoff did not exceed the class VI level of the surface water environmental quality standard. Most pollutants in the combined sewer overflow had first flush. However, this phenomenon was very rare for TSS. There was a significant positive correlation between TSS and COD, TP in the combined sewer overflow. And this correlation was significant between NH4+ -N and TP, TDP, TN, TDP. However, a negative correlation existed between NO3- -N and all other indicators.

Application of a New Integrated Decision Support Tool (i-DST) for Urban Water Infrastructure: Analyzing Water Quality Compliance Pathways for Three Los Angeles Watersheds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gallo, E. M.; Hogue, T. S.; Bell, C. D.; Spahr, K.; McCray, J. E.

2017-12-01

The water quality of receiving streams and waterbodies in urban watersheds are increasingly polluted from stormwater runoff. The implementation of Green Infrastructure (GI), which includes Low Impact Developments (LIDs) and Best Management Practices (BMPs), within a watershed aim to mitigate the effects of urbanization by reducing pollutant loads, runoff volume, and storm peak flow. Stormwater modeling is generally used to assess the impact of GIs implemented within a watershed. These modeling tools are useful for determining the optimal suite of GIs to maximize pollutant load reduction and minimize cost. However, stormwater management for most resource managers and communities also includes the implementation of grey and hybrid stormwater infrastructure. An integrated decision support tool, called i-DST, that allows for the optimization and comprehensive life-cycle cost assessment of grey, green, and hybrid stormwater infrastructure, is currently being developed. The i-DST tool will evaluate optimal stormwater runoff management by taking into account the diverse economic, environmental, and societal needs associated with watersheds across the United States. Three watersheds from southern California will act as a test site and assist in the development and initial application of the i-DST tool. The Ballona Creek, Dominguez Channel, and Los Angeles River Watersheds are located in highly urbanized Los Angeles County. The water quality of the river channels flowing through each are impaired by heavy metals, including copper, lead, and zinc. However, despite being adjacent to one another within the same county, modeling results, using EPA System for Urban Stormwater Treatment and Analysis INtegration (SUSTAIN), found that the optimal path to compliance in each watershed differs significantly. The differences include varied costs, suites of BMPs, and ancillary benefits. This research analyzes how the economic, physical, and hydrological differences between the three watersheds shape the optimal plan for stormwater management.

Improved Gradation for Rain Garden of Low Impact Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Sandra; Chang, Fu-Ming

2016-04-01

With rapid urban and economic development, living standard improves in urban areas but urban ecological environments deteriorate rapidly. Urban waterlogging and flooding have become a serious problem for urban water security. As urbanization continues, sustainability is the key to balance between urban development and healthy environment. Rain garden is recommended to be one of the best ways to reduce urban pollutants. It not only diminishes runoff flooding but also purify water in the urban area. The studies on rain gardens are mainly about how to incorporate rain garden to purify water quality, but lack of researches on runoff control. This project focuses on rain garden under Low Impact Development using indoor laboratory to test and quantify the water holding capacities of two different Taiwan indigenous rain garden plants, Taiwan Cyclosorus and Sour Grass. The results show that the water holding capacity of Sour Grass (10%-37%) is better than that of Taiwan Cyclosorus (6.8%-17.3%). The results could be a helpful reference for Low Impact Development in urban flood prevention and urban planning. Keywords: Low Impact Development; rain garden; indoor laboratory experiments; water holding capacity; porosity

MICROORGANISMS DIE-OFF RATES IN URBAN STORMWATER RUNOFF 2007

EPA Science Inventory

Stormwater best management practices (BMPs) are often considered effective tools to mitigate the effects of stormwater pollutants before they are discharged to receiving waters. However, BMP performance for microorganisms removal is not well documented. Microorganisms die-off in ...

Assessing BMP Performance Using Microtox Toxicity Analysis

EPA Science Inventory

Best Management Practices (BMPs) have been shown to be effective in reducing runoff and pollutants from urban areas and thus provide a mechanism to improve downstream water quality. Currently, BMP performance regarding water quality improvement is assessed through measuring each...

STORMWATER FILTRATION USING MULCH AND JUTE

EPA Science Inventory

This study evaluated the feasibility of using readily available, low-cost natural filter naterials for stormwater (SW) treatment. Generic (hardwood) mulch and processed jute fiber were evaluated for the removal of metallic and organic pollutants from urban SW runoff samples colle...

Modeling a Hydrologically Optimal Green Roof Media Mixture

EPA Science Inventory

Background/Questions/MethodsA key environmental concern in managing urban ecosystems is controlling stormwater runoff to ameliorate pollution problems and sewage overflows. Vegetated green roofs have become an important green infrastructure tool to collect, store, and gradually r...

FRAMEWORK DESIGN FOR BMP PLACEMENT IN URBAN WATERSHEDS

EPA Science Inventory

A number of stormwater control strategies, commonly known as best management practices (BMPs), are used to mitigate runoff volumes and associated nonpoint source pollution due to wet-weather flows (WWFs). BMP types include ponds, bioretention facilities, infiltration trenches, g...

FRAMEWORK FOR PLACEMENT OF BMPS IN URBAN WATERSHEDS

EPA Science Inventory

A number of stormwater control strategies, commonly known as best management practices (BMPs), are used to mitigate runoff volumes and associated nonpoint source pollution due to wet-weather flows (WWFs). BMP types include ponds, bioretention facilities, infiltration trenches, g...

MICROORGANISMS DIE-OFF RATES IN URBAN STORMWATER RUNOFF 2007

EPA Science Inventory

Stormwater best management practices (BMPs) are often considered effective tools to mitigate the effects of stormwater pollutants before they are discharged to receiving waters. However, BMP performance for microorganisms removal is not well documented. Microorganisms die-off in...

[Variation Characteristics and Sources of Heavy Metals in an Urban Karst Groundwater System during Rainfall Event].

PubMed

Ren, Kun; Yang, Ping-heng; Jiang, Ze-li; Wang, Zun-bo; Shi, Yang; Wang, Feng-kang; Li, Xiao-chun

2015-04-01

The groundwater discharge and heavy metal concentrations (Mn, Pb, Cu and As) at the outlet of Nanshan Laolongdong karst subterranean river, located at the urban region in Chongqing, were observed during the rainfall events. Analysis of flow and concentrations curves was employed to study their responses to the rainfall events and explore the internal structure of karst hydrological system. Principal component analysis (PCA) and measurements were used to identify the sources of heavy metals during rainfall. The result showed that the discharge and concentrations of the heavy metals responded promptly to the rainfall event. The variation characteristics of flow indicated that Laolongdong subterranean river system belonged to a karst hydrological system including fractures together with conduits. Urban surface runoff containing large amounts of Mn, Pb and Cu went directly to subterranean river via sinkholes, shafts and karst windows. As a result, the peak concentrations of contaminants (Mn, Pb and Cu) flowed faster than those of discharge. The major sources of water pollution were derived from urban surface runoff, soil and water loss. Cave dripwater and rainwater could also bring a certain amount of Mn, Pb and As into the subterranean river. Urban construction in karst areas needs scientific and rational design, perfect facilities and well-educated population to prevent groundwater pollution from the source.

Data and methods of a 1999-2000 street sweeping study on an urban freeway in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Waschbusch, Robert J.

2003-01-01

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation is required to control the quality of runoff from roadways under their control as part of the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System. One way to control roadway runoff is to use street sweeping to remove pollutants before they are entrained in runoff. This may be a good option because land is often unavailable or prohibitively expensive and structural best-management practices can also be expensive. This study collected stormwater runoff samples and dirt samples from the roadway surface from a section of Interstate Highway 894 near Milwaukee, Wisconsin during periods when a street sweeping program was and was not in effect. These data may be useful in evaluating street sweeping as a stormwater best management practice but this study did not perform this evaluation. Data collection methods, concentrations of sediment and other constituents in storm- water runoff, and street dirt masses are presented in this report. Replicate and comparison sample results indicate that when evaluating the effectiveness of best-management practices on highway runoff, suspended sediment results should be used rather than suspended solids, presumably because the particle sizes in highway runoff is large compared to those found in other types of stormwater runoff.

Pollutant loading from low-density residential neighborhoods in California.

PubMed

Bale, Andrew E; Greco, Steven E; Pitton, Bruno J L; Haver, Darren L; Oki, Lorence R

2017-08-01

This paper presents a comparison of pollutant load estimations for runoff from two geographically distinct residential suburban neighborhoods in northern and southern California. The two neighborhoods represent a single urban land use type: low-density residential in small catchments (<0.3 km 2 ) under differing regional climates and irrigation practices. Pollutant loads of pesticides, nutrients, and drinking water constituents of concern are estimated for both storm and non-storm runoff. From continuous flow monitoring, it was found that a daily cycle of persistent runoff that peaks mid-morning occurs at both sites. These load estimations indicate that many residential neighborhoods in California produce significant non-storm pollutant loads year-round. Results suggest that non-storm flow accounted for 47-69% of total annual runoff and significantly contributed to annual loading rates of most nutrients and pesticides at both sites. At the Southern California site, annual non-storm loads are 1.2-10 times higher than storm loads of all conventional constituents and nutrients with one exception (total suspended solids). At the Northern California site, annual storm loads range from 51 to 76% of total loads for all conventional constituents and nutrients with one exception (total dissolved solids). Non-storm yields of pesticides at the Southern California site range from 1.3-65 times higher than those at the Northern California site. The disparity in estimated pollutant loads between the two sites indicates large potential variation from site-to-site within the state and suggests neighborhoods in drier and milder climates may produce significantly larger non-storm loads due to persistent dry season runoff and year-round pest control.

SWALE RESEARCH AT NRMRL’S URBAN WATERSHED RESEARCH FACILITY

EPA Science Inventory

Swales are “engineered ditches” that provide stable routing for stormwater runoff. Swales are green infrastructure, a low-cost drainage option for highways, farms, industrial, and commercial areas. Beyond enhancing local aesthetics, swales mitigate the pollutants carried by the...

Assessing BMP Performance Using Microtox Toxicity Analysis - Rhode Island

EPA Science Inventory

Best Management Practices (BMPs) have been shown to be effective in reducing runoff and pollutants from urban areas and thus provide a mechanism to improve downstream water quality. Currently, BMP performance regarding water quality improvement is assessed through measuring each...

Assessing BMP Performance Using Microtox® Toxicity Analysis

EPA Science Inventory

Best Management Practices (BMPs) have been shown to be effective in reducing runoff and pollutants from urban areas and thus provide a mechanism to improve downstream water quality. Currently, BMP performance regarding water quality improvement is assessed through measuring each...

Effects of landscape-based green infrastructure on stormwater runoff in suburban developments

EPA Science Inventory

The development of impervious surfaces in urban and suburban catchments affects their hydrological behavior by decreasing infiltration, increasing peak hydrograph response following rainfall events, and ultimately increasing the total volume of water and mass of pollutants reachi...

FRAMEWORK FOR PLACEMENT OF BMP/LID IN URBAN WATERSHEDS

EPA Science Inventory

A number of stormwater control strategies, commonly known as best management practices (BMPs), are used to mitigate runoff volumes and associated nonpoint source pollution due to wet-weather flows (WWFs). BMP types include ponds, bioretention facilities, infiltration trenches, gr...

Assessing Landscapes to Support Watershed Management

EPA Science Inventory

As we change the face of the landscape in the United States with urban development and agriculture practices, the alterations can cause stormwater runoff, soil erosion and water pollution. Therefore, evaluating or assessing natural landscapes and providing the tools to do the...

FRAMEWORK FOR PLACEMENT OF BMP/LID IN URBAN WATERSHED

EPA Science Inventory

A number of stormwater control strategies, commonly known as best management practices (BMPs), are used to mitigate runoff volumes and associated nonpoint source pollution due to wet-weather flows (WWFs). BMP types include ponds, bioretention facilities, infiltration trenches, g...

Inter-event variability in urban stormwater runoff response associated with hydrologic connectivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hondula, K. L.

2015-12-01

Urbanization alters the magnitude and composition of hydrologic and biogeochemical fluxes from watersheds, with subsequent deleterious consequences for receiving waters. Projected changes in storm characteristics such as rainfall intensity and event size are predicted to amplify these impacts and render current regulations inadequate for protecting surface water quality. As stormwater management practices (BMPs) are increasingly being relied upon to reduce excess nutrient pollution in runoff from residential development, empirical investigation of their performance across a range of conditions is warranted. Despite substantial investment in urban and suburban BMPs, significant knowledge gaps exist in understanding how landscape structure and precipitation event characteristics influence the amount of stormwater runoff and associated nutrient loads from these complex catchments. Increasing infiltration of stormwater before it enters the sewer network (source control) is hypothesized to better mimic natural hydrologic and biogeochemical fluxes compared to more centralized BMPs at sewer outlets such as wet and dry ponds. Rainfall and runoff quality and quantity were monitored in four small (1-5 ha) residential catchments in Maryland to test the efficacy of infiltration-based stormwater management practices in comparison to end-of-pipe BMPs. Results indicated that reduced hydrologic connectivity associated with infiltration-based practices affected the relationship between the magnitude of rainfall events and water yield , but only for small precipitation events: compared to end-of-pipe BMPs, source control was associated with both lower runoff ratios and lower nutrient export per area for a given rainfall event size. We found variability in stormwater runoff responses (water yield, quality, and nutrient loads) was associated with precipitation event size, antecedent rainfall, and hydrologic connectivity as quantified by a modified directional connectivity index. Accounting for the interactive effects of landscape structure and precipitation event characteristics can reduce the uncertainty surrounding stormwater runoff responses in complex urban watersheds.

Metal and nutrient dynamics on an aged intensive green roof.

PubMed

Speak, A F; Rothwell, J J; Lindley, S J; Smith, C L

2014-01-01

Runoff and rainfall quality was compared between an aged intensive green roof and an adjacent conventional roof surface. Nutrient concentrations in the runoff were generally below Environmental Quality Standard (EQS) values and the green roof exhibited NO3(-) retention. Cu, Pb and Zn concentrations were in excess of EQS values for the protection of surface water. Green roof runoff was also significantly higher in Fe and Pb than on the bare roof and in rainfall. Input-output fluxes revealed the green roof to be a potential source of Pb. High concentrations of Pb within the green roof soil and bare roof dusts provide a potential source of Pb in runoff. The origin of the Pb is likely from historic urban atmospheric deposition. Aged green roofs may therefore act as a source of legacy metal pollution. This needs to be considered when constructing green roofs with the aim of improving pollution remediation. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessment of suspended solids concentration in highway runoff and its treatment implication.

PubMed

Hallberg, M; Renman, G

2006-09-01

It is understood that the major pollution from storm water is related to the content of particulate matter. One treatment practice is based on the first flush, i.e. detention of the initial part of the runoff that is considered to contain the highest concentrations of pollutants. This study has evaluated the concentration of total suspended solids in 30 consecutive runoff events during the winter season for an area of 6.7 hectares. A six-lane highway (E4) that has an annual average daily traffic load of 120,000 dominates the area and road de-icing salt (NaCl) and studded tires were in regular use during the studied period. The effluent standard for wastewater of 60 mg TSS per litre applied in EU was used to assess the treatment requirement of storm water. In only two of the events the event mean concentration was below 60 mg 1(-1). In four runoff events a partial event mean concentration below 60 mg 1(-1) was found, in 26 %, 12 %, 11 %, and 2 % respectively of the runoff volume. This would suggest that a capture of the initial part of the runoff for subsequent treatment is less applicable in this type of urban watershed.

Assessment of Pollutant Removal Efficiency and Drainage Capacity in Stormwater Biofilters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carroll, S. J.; Mills, H.; Reagan, A.; Triassi, M.; Bauer, S.; Matiasek, S. J.; Libby, R.; Meddings, C.

2016-12-01

Urban stormwater runoff contributes to flooding and impacts water quality with increased sediment and pollutant loads. Biofilters are vegetated filtration systems designed to mitigate stormwater by enhancing infiltration, sedimentation, contaminant sorption and uptake. Despite the rapid implementation of biofilters as stormwater management solutions, their performance is mainly evaluated in terms of flood reduction while their pollutant removal efficiency is rarely assessed. We investigated the effect of biofilter composition on drainage capacity and individual pollutant removal in test columns. Triplicate columns consisted of layers of pebbles, fine sand, filtration mix (test variable), mulch, lava rock and Santa Barbara sedges. The filtration mix was one of five combinations of coarse sand and local loam soil ranging from 100% sand to 100% soil. Consistent with differences in pore size distribution, hydraulic conductivity values were lowest in 100% soil biofilters (3.0 ± 0.6 mm/h) and highest in the 100% sand biofilters (22.7 ± 4.2 mm/h). A synthetic mixture of nutrients, metals, and salts in proportions representative of stormwater composition was applied to the test columns. Biofilters removed over 98% of dissolved copper, nickel, and zinc, and at least 67% of dissolved lead, even when applying synthetic runoff with metal concentrations three orders of magnitude larger than in actual stormwater. In addition, biofilters oxygenated, neutralized, and decreased the turbidity of stormwater. Ammonium was quantitatively removed from synthetic runoff (97-100%), while nitrate and phosphate were poorly retained (48-64%) or even leached from sand biofilters. This study demonstrated that, while decreasing drainage capacity, adding even a small proportion of native soil to the filtration media significantly increases pollutant removal of biofilters. With proper consideration of the filtration mixture, biofiltration systems can effectively remediate urban stormwater.

Satellite Remote Sensing Detection of Coastal Pollution in Southern California: Stormwater Runoff and Wastewater Plumes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trinh, R. C.; Holt, B.; Gierach, M.

2016-02-01

Coastal pollution poses a major health and environmental hazard, not only for beach goers and coastal communities but for marine organisms as well. Stormwater runoff is the largest source of environmental pollution in coastal waters of the Southern California Bight (SCB) and is of great concern in increasingly urbanized areas. Buoyant wastewater plumes also pose a marine environmental risk. In this study we provide a comprehensive overview of satellite remote sensing capabilities in detecting buoyant coastal pollutants in the form of stormwater runoff and wastewater effluent. The SCB is the final destination of four major urban rivers that act as channels for runoff and pollution during and after rainstorms. We analyzed and compared sea surface roughness data from various Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) instruments to ocean color data from the Moderate Imaging System (MODIS) sensor on board the Aqua satellite and correlated the results with existing environmental data in order to create a climatology of naturally occurring stormwater plumes in coastal waters after rain events, from 1992 to 2014 from four major rivers in the area. Heat maps of the primary extent of stormwater plumes were constructed to specify areas that may be subject to the greatest risk of coastal contamination. In conjunction with our efforts to monitor coastal pollution and validate the abilities of satellite remote sensing, a recent Fall 2015 wastewater diversion from the City of Los Angeles Hyperion Treatment Plant (HTP) provided the opportunity to apply these remote sensing methodologies of plume detection to wastewater. During maintenance of their 5-mile long outfall pipe, wastewater is diverted to a shorter outfall pipe that terminates 1-mile offshore and in shallower waters. Sea surface temperature (SST), chlorophyll-a (chl-a) fluorescence, remote sensing reflectance and particulate backscatter signatures were analyzed from MODIS. Terra-ASTER and Landsat-8 thermal infrared data were also obtained to determine SST anomalies associated with surfaced wastewater at a higher resolution than MODIS. SAR data from ALOS-2, and Sentinel-1 were used to identify surfaced wastewater plumes. In situ drifter, chl-a, SST, and hyperspectral water quality measurements from the diversion were also compared with those obtained by satellite sensors.

SEWER SEDIMENT AND CONTROL: A MANAGEMENT PRACTICES REFERENCES GUIDE

EPA Science Inventory

Sewer-solids sediment is one of major sources of pollutants in urban wet-weather flow (WWF) discharges that include combined-sewer overflow (CSO), separate sanitary-sewer overflow (SSO), and stormwater runoff. During low-flow, dry-weather periods, sanitary wastewater solids depo...

A Novel Physical Technique for E. Coli Removal from Stormwater

EPA Science Inventory

In addition to heavy metals and polymeric aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs), pathogens such as E.Coli contribute to the overall pollutant load in urban stormwater runoff. A number of constructed landscape features, collectively known as structural best management practices (BMPs) are e...

Will urban expansion lead to an increase in future water pollution loads?--a preliminary investigation of the Haihe River Basin in northeastern China.

PubMed

Dong, Yang; Liu, Yi; Chen, Jining

2014-01-01

Urban expansion is a major driving force changing regional hydrology and nonpoint source pollution. The Haihe River Basin, the political, economic, and cultural center of northeastern China, has undergone rapid urbanization in recent decades. To investigate the consequences of future urban sprawl on nonpoint source water pollutant emissions in the river basin, the urban sprawl in 2030 was estimated, and the annual runoff and nonpoint source pollution in the Haihe River basin were simulated. The Integrated Model of Non-Point Sources Pollution Processes (IMPULSE) was used to simulate the effects of urban sprawl on nonpoint source pollution emissions. The outcomes indicated that the urban expansion through 2030 increased the nonpoint source total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorous (TP), and chemical oxygen demand (COD) emissions by 8.08, 0.14, and 149.57 kg/km(2), respectively. Compared to 2008, the total nonpoint emissions rose by 15.33, 0.57, and 12.39 %, respectively. Twelve percent of the 25 cities in the basin would increase by more than 50 % in nonpoint source TN and COD emissions in 2030. In particular, the nonpoint source TN emissions in Xinxiang, Jiaozuo, and Puyang would rise by 73.31, 67.25, and 58.61 %, and the nonpoint source COD emissions in these cities would rise by 74.02, 51.99, and 53.27 %, respectively. The point source pollution emissions in 2008 and 2030 were also estimated to explore the effects of urban sprawl on total water pollution loads. Urban sprawl through 2030 would bring significant structural changes of total TN, TP, and COD emissions for each city in the area. The results of this study could provide insights into the effects of urbanization in the study area and the methods could help to recognize the role that future urban sprawl plays in the total water pollution loads in the water quality management process.

Integrated solutions for urban runoff pollution control in Brazilian metropolitan regions.

PubMed

Morihama, A C D; Amaro, C; Tominaga, E N S; Yazaki, L F O L; Pereira, M C S; Porto, M F A; Mukai, P; Lucci, R M

2012-01-01

One of the most important causes for poor water quality in urban rivers in Brazil is the low collection efficiency of the sewer system due to unforeseen interconnections with the stormwater drainage system. Since the beginning of the 20th century, Brazilian cities have adopted separate systems for sanitary sewers and stormwater runoff. Gradually these two systems became interconnected. A major challenge faced today by water managers in Brazil is to find efficient and low cost solutions to deal with this mixed system. The current situation poses an important threat to the improvement of the water quality in urban rivers and lakes. This article presents an evaluation of the water quality parameters and the diffuse pollution loads during rain events in the Pinheiros River, a tributary of the Tietê River in São Paulo. It also presents different types of integrated solutions for reducing the pollution impact of combined systems, based on the European experience in urban water management. An evaluation of their performance and a comparison with the separate system used in most Brazilian cities is also presented. The study is based on an extensive water quality monitoring program that was developed for a special investigation in the Pinheiros River and lasted 2.5 years. Samples were collected on a daily basis and water quality variables were analyzed on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Two hundred water quality variables were monitored at 53 sampling points. During rain events, additional monitoring was carried out using an automated sampler. Pinheiros River is one of the most important rivers in the São Paulo Metropolitan Region and it is also a heavily polluted one.

Further insight into the mechanism of heavy metals partitioning in stormwater runoff.

PubMed

Djukić, Aleksandar; Lekić, Branislava; Rajaković-Ognjanović, Vladana; Veljović, Djordje; Vulić, Tatjana; Djolić, Maja; Naunovic, Zorana; Despotović, Jovan; Prodanović, Dušan

2016-03-01

Various particles and materials, including pollutants, deposited on urban surfaces are washed off by stormwater runoff during rain events. The interactions between the solid and dissolved compounds in stormwater runoff are phenomena of importance for the selection and improvement of optimal stormwater management practices aimed at minimizing pollutant input to receiving waters. The objective of this research was to further investigate the mechanisms responsible for the partitioning of heavy metals (HM) between the solid and liquid phases in urban stormwater runoff. The research involved the collection of samples from urban asphalt surfaces, chemical characterization of the bulk liquid samples, solids separation, particle size distribution fractionation and chemical and physico-chemical characterization of the solid phase particles. The results revealed that a negligible fraction of HM was present in the liquid phase (less than 3% by weight), while there was a strong correlation between the total content of heavy metals and total suspended solids. Examinations of surface morphology and mineralogy revealed that the solid phase particles consist predominantly of natural macroporous materials: alpha quartz (80%), magnetite (11.4%) and silicon diphosphate (8.9%). These materials have a low surface area and do not have significant adsorptive capacity. These materials have a low surface area and do not have significant adsorptive capacity. The presence of HM on the surface of solid particles was not confirmed by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray microanalyses. These findings, along with the results of the liquid phase sample characterization, indicate that the partitioning of HM between the liquid and solid phases in the analyzed samples may be attributed to precipitation processes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Characterization of stormwater runoff from the Naval Air Station and Naval Wepons Industrial Reserve Plant, Dallas, Texas, 1994-96

USGS Publications Warehouse

Raines, T.H.; Baldys, Stanley; Lizarraga, J.S.

1997-01-01

Median event-mean concentrations computed for 12 selected constituents in samples from NAS and NWIRP fixed sites were compared to median event-mean concentrations for residential, commercial, industrial, and highway land uses within the Dallas-Fort Worth area computed from data collected for the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System program. NAS and NWIRP median event-mean concentrations also were compared to those for residential and commercial land uses from the Nationwide Urban Runoff Program.

Nutrient pollution of coastal rivers, bays, and seas

USGS Publications Warehouse

Howarth, Robert; Anderson, Donald; Cloern, James; Elfring, Chris; Hopkinson, Charles; Lapointe, Brian; Malone, Tom; Marcus, Nancy; McGlathery, Karen; Sharpley , Andrew; Walker, Dan

2000-01-01

Over the past 40 years, antipollution laws have greatly reduced discharges of toxic substances into our coastal waters. This effort, however, has focused largely on point-source pollution of industrial and municipal effluent. No comparable effort has been made to restrict the input of nitrogen (N) from municipal effluent, nor to control the flows of N and phosphorus (P) that enter waterways from dispersed or nonpoint sources such as agricultural and urban runoff or as airborne pollutants. As a result, inputs of nonpoint pollutants, particularly N, have increased dramatically. Nonpoint pollution from N and P now represents the largest pollution problem facing the vital coastal waters of the United States.

Determination of hydrocarbons transported by urban runoff in sediments of São Gonçalo Channel (Pelotas - RS, Brazil).

PubMed

Sanches Filho, Pedro J; Böhm, Emerson M; Böhm, Giani M B; Montenegro, Gissele O; Silveira, Lucas A; Betemps, Glauco R

2017-01-30

A high concentration of hydrocarbons in the environment is indicative of pollution. To evaluate the effect of hydrocarbons transported by urban runoff, the present study analyzed total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs), aliphatic hydrocarbons (AHs), unresolved complex mixture (UCM), and n-alkanes of the sediments of the canal that cross the urban area of Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The carbon preference index (CPI), terrigenous/aquatic ratio (TAR), and pristane/phytane ratio were determined. The TPH content ranged from 177,043.7μg·kg -1 ±13.4% to 5,892,667.0μg·kg -1 ±5.9%. The total aliphatic content ranged from 116,268.8μg·kg -1 ±11.1% to 2,393,592.6μg·kg -1 ±7.7%, indicating chronic contamination of n-alkanes petrogenic and biogenic sources. The levels of hydrocarbons (TPH, AHs, and n-alkanes) were considered relatively high, confirming the effect of urban runoff on the drainage system of cities and their consequent effect on the estuarine region of Patos Lagoon and other water resources. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Stormwater Runoff and Water Quality Modeling in Urban Maryland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, J.; Forman, B. A.; Natarajan, P.; Davis, A.

2015-12-01

Urbanization significantly affects storm water runoff through the creation of new impervious surfaces such as highways, parking lots, and rooftops. Such changes can adversely impact the downstream receiving water bodies in terms of physical, chemical, and biological conditions. In order to mitigate the effects of urbanization on downstream water bodies, stormwater control measures (SCMs) have been widely used (e.g., infiltration basins, bioswales). A suite of observations from an infiltration basin installed adjacent to a highway in urban Maryland was used to evaluate stormwater runoff attenuation and pollutant removal rates at the well-instrumented SCM study site. In this study, the Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) was used to simulate the performance of the SCM. An automatic, split-sample calibration framework was developed to improve SWMM performance efficiency. The results indicate SWMM can accurately reproduce the hydraulic response of the SCM (in terms of reproducing measured inflow and outflow) during synoptic scale storm events lasting more than one day, but is less accurate during storm events lasting only a few hours. Similar results were found for a suite of modeled (and observed) water quality constituents, including suspended sediment, metals, N, P, and chloride.

Impact of green roofs on stormwater quality in a South Australian urban environment.

PubMed

Razzaghmanesh, M; Beecham, S; Kazemi, F

2014-02-01

Green roofs are an increasingly important component of water sensitive urban design systems and can potentially improve the quality of urban runoff. However, there is evidence that they can occasionally act as a source rather than a sink for pollutants. In this study, the water quality of the outflow from both intensive and extensive green roof systems were studied in the city of Adelaide, South Australia over a period of nine months. The aim was to examine the effects of different green roof configurations on stormwater quality and to compare this with runoff from aluminium and asphalt roofs as control surfaces. The contaminant concentrations in runoff from both intensive and extensive green roofs generally decreased during the study period. A comparison between the two types of green roof showed that except for some events for EC, TDS and chloride, the values of the parameters such as pH, turbidity, nitrate, phosphate and potassium in intensive green roof outflows were higher than in the outflows from the extensive green roofs. These concentrations were compared to local, state, national and international water quality guidelines in order to investigate the potential for outflow runoff from green roofs to be reused for potable and non-potable purposes. The study found that green roof outflow can provide an alternative water source for non-potable purposes such as urban landscape irrigation and toilet flushing. © 2013.

Seeking urbanization security and sustainability: Multi-objective optimization of rainwater harvesting systems in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yi; Ye, Quanliang; Liu, An; Meng, Fangang; Zhang, Wenlong; Xiong, Wei; Wang, Peifang; Wang, Chao

2017-07-01

Urban rainwater management need to achieve an optimal compromise among water resource augmentation, water loggings alleviation, economic investment and pollutants reduction. Rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems, such as green rooftops, porous pavements, and green lands, have been successfully implemented as viable approaches to alleviate water-logging disasters and water scarcity problems caused by rapid urbanization. However, there is limited guidance to determine the construction areas of RWH systems, especially for stormwater runoff control due to increasing extreme precipitation. This study firstly developed a multi-objective model to optimize the construction areas of green rooftops, porous pavements and green lands, considering the trade-offs among 24 h-interval RWH volume, stormwater runoff volume control ratio (R), economic cost, and rainfall runoff pollutant reduction. Pareto fronts of RWH system areas for 31 provinces of China were obtained through nondominated sorting genetic algorithm. On the national level, the control strategies for the construction rate (the ratio between the area of single RWH system and the total areas of RWH systems) of green rooftops (ηGR), porous pavements (ηPP) and green lands (ηGL) were 12%, 26% and 62%, and the corresponding RWH volume and total suspended solids reduction was 14.84 billion m3 and 228.19 kilotons, respectively. Optimal ηGR , ηPP and ηGL in different regions varied from 1 to 33%, 6 to 54%, and 30 to 89%, respectively. Particularly, green lands were the most important RWH system in 25 provinces with ηGL more than 50%, ηGR mainly less than 15%, and ηPP mainly between 10 and 30%. Results also indicated whether considering the objective MaxR made a non-significant difference for RWH system areas whereas exerted a great influence on the result of stormwater runoff control. Maximum daily rainfall under control increased, exceeding 200% after the construction of the optimal RWH system compared with that before construction. Optimal RWH system areas presented a general picture for urban development policy makers in China.

Prioritizing subwatersheds for stormwater pollution to Wachusett Reservoir.

PubMed

Cho, Kyung Hwa; Park, Mi-Hyun

2013-02-01

The Wachusett Reservoir is a primary drinking water resource for the greater Boston, Massachusetts, area. With a drainage area of 280 km2, the watershed has been gradually urbanized with increased residential, commercial, industrial, and transportation land uses. Increased impervious surface area as a result of urbanization results in increased runoff volume and pollutant loads to the reservoir. This study estimated annual stormwater pollutant mass loads in the watershed to prioritize sub-basins and to identify areas susceptible to stormwater pollution. Catchment Prioritization Index (CPI) was calculated using annual stormwater pollutant mass loads, which were further used to identify clustered hotspots through application of the Getis-Ord Gi* statistic. Validation with observed data showed higher levels of fecal coliform bacteria loading from identified hotspots. This approach will be useful to prioritize sub-basins for future (1) development of stormwater monitoring strategies and (2) best management practices (BMPs) in the watershed.

Impact of zinc roofing on urban runoff pollutant loads: the case of Paris.

PubMed

Gromaire, M C; Chebbo, G; Constant, A

2002-01-01

Previous research on the Marais catchment in Paris demonstrated the very high zinc and cadmium contamination of runoff from zinc roofing. Thus further investigations were aimed at evaluating the relative importance of this type of roofing in Paris and its potential contribution to zinc and cadmium loads in wet weather flows. According to these results, about 40% of the surface of roofs in Paris is covered with rolled zinc (1016 ha), and this proportion is not likely to vary significantly in the next years, due to architectural rules. The Zn and Cd concentrations measured in runoff from these roofs are in accordance with literature

Storm Water Management Model Reference Manual Volume II ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

SWMM is a dynamic rainfall-runoff simulation model used for single event or long-term (continuous) simulation of runoff quantity and quality from primarily urban areas. The runoff component of SWMM operates on a collection of subcatchment areas that receive precipitation and generate runoff and pollutant loads. The routing portion of SWMM transports this runoff through a system of pipes, channels, storage/treatment devices, pumps, and regulators. SWMM tracks the quantity and quality of runoff generated within each subcatchment, and the flow rate, flow depth, and quality of water in each pipe and channel during a simulation period comprised of multiple time steps. The reference manual for this edition of SWMM is comprised of three volumes. Volume I describes SWMM’s hydrologic models, Volume II its hydraulic models, and Volume III its water quality and low impact development models. This document provides the underlying mathematics for the hydraulic calculations of the Storm Water Management Model (SWMM)

EVALUATING THE ACCOTINK CREEK RESTORATION PROJECT FOR IMPROVING WATER QUALITY, IN-STREAM HABITAT, AND BANK STABILITY

EPA Science Inventory

Increased urbanization results in a larger percentage of connected impervious areas and can contribute large quantities of stormwater runoff and significant quantities of debris and pollutants (e.g., litter, oils, microorganisms, sediments, nutrients, organic matter, and heavy me...

A Suite of GIS-Based Tools for Siting Low Impact Development in an Urban Watershed

EPA Science Inventory

Low impact development (LID) -- a comprehensive land use planning and design approach with the goal of mitigating development impacts on hydrologic/nutrient cycles and ecosystems -- is increasingly being touted as an effective approach to lessen overland runoff and pollutant load...

Distributions of typical contaminant species in urban short-term storm runoff and their fates during rain events: a case of Xiamen City.

PubMed

Wei, Qunshan; Zhu, Gefu; Wu, Peng; Cui, Li; Zhang, Kaisong; Zhou, Jingjing; Zhang, Wenru

2010-01-01

The pollutants in urban storm runoff, which lead to an non-point source contamination of water environment around cities, are of great concerns. The distributions of typical contaminants and the variations of their species in short term storm runoff from different land surfaces in Xiamen City were investigated. The concentrations of various contaminants, including organic matter, nutrients (i.e., N and P) and heavy metals, were significantly higher in parking lot and road runoff than those in roof and lawn runoff. The early runoff samples from traffic road and parking lot contained much high total nitrogen (TN 6-19 mg/L) and total phosphorus (TP 1-3 mg/L). A large proportion (around 60%) of TN existed as total dissolved nitrogen (TDN) species in most runoff. The percentage of TDN and the percentage of total dissolved phosphorus remained relatively stable during the rain events and did not decrease as dramatically as TN and TP. In addition, only parking lot and road runoff were contaminated by heavy metals, and both Pb (25-120 microg/L) and Zn (0.1-1.2 mg/L) were major heavy metals contaminating both runoff. Soluble Pb and Zn were predominantly existed as labile complex species (50%-99%), which may be adsorbed onto the surfaces of suspended particles and could be easily released out when pH decreased. This would have the great impact to the environment.

Long-term stormwater quantity and quality analysis using continuous measurements in a French urban catchment.

PubMed

Sun, Siao; Barraud, Sylvie; Castebrunet, Hélène; Aubin, Jean-Baptiste; Marmonier, Pierre

2015-11-15

The assessment of urban stormwater quantity and quality is important for evaluating and controlling the impact of the stormwater to natural water and environment. This study mainly addresses long-term evolution of stormwater quantity and quality in a French urban catchment using continuous measured data from 2004 to 2011. Storm event-based data series are obtained (716 rainfall events and 521 runoff events are available) from measured continuous time series. The Mann-Kendall test is applied to these event-based data series for trend detection. A lack of trend is found in rainfall and an increasing trend in runoff is detected. As a result, an increasing trend is present in the runoff coefficient, likely due to growing imperviousness of the catchment caused by urbanization. The event mean concentration of the total suspended solid (TSS) in stormwater does not present a trend, whereas the event load of TSS has an increasing tendency, which is attributed to the increasing event runoff volume. Uncertainty analysis suggests that the major uncertainty in trend detection results lies in uncertainty due to available data. A lack of events due to missing data leads to dramatically increased uncertainty in trend detection results. In contrast, measurement uncertainty in time series data plays a trivial role. The intra-event distribution of TSS is studied based on both M(V) curves and pollutant concentrations of absolute runoff volumes. The trend detection test reveals no significant change in intra-event distributions of TSS in the studied catchment. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Controlling Nonpoint Pollution in Virginia’s Urbanizing Areas: An Institutional Perspective.

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-01-20

programs. As John Naisbitt has stated in his book, Megatrends , "The most reliable way to anticipate the future is by understanding the present.’" Therefore...Virginia’s cit- izenry must be considered. Naisbitt, John, Megatrends , Warner Books, New York, N.Y., 1984, p. xxiii. INTRODUCTION 3...available for the above biological and chemical processes to take place. Findings of the NURP (Nationwide Urban Runoff Program) studies show that

Characterization of wash-off from urban impervious surfaces and SuDS design criteria for source control under semi-arid conditions.

PubMed

Andrés-Doménech, Ignacio; Hernández-Crespo, Carmen; Martín, Miguel; Andrés-Valeri, Valerio C

2018-01-15

Knowledge about pollutant wash-off from urban impervious surfaces is a key feature for developing effective management strategies. Accordingly, further information is required about urban areas under semi-arid climate conditions at the sub-catchment scale. This is important for designing source control systems for pollution. In this study, a characterization of pollutant wash-off has been performed over sixteen months, at the sub-catchment scale for urban roads as impervious surfaces. The study was conducted in Valencia, Spain, a city with a Mediterranean climate. The results show high event mean concentrations for suspended solids (98mg/l), organic matter (142mgCOD/l, 25mgBOD 5 /l), nutrients (3.7mgTN/l, 0.4mgTP/l), and metals (0.23, 0.32, 0.62 and 0.17mg/l for Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn, respectively). The results of the runoff characterization highlight the need to control this pollution at its source, separately from wastewater because of their different characteristics. The wash-off, defined in terms of mobilized mass (g/m 2 ) fits well with both process-based and statistical models, with the runoff volume and rainfall depth being the main explanatory variables. Based on these results and using information collected from hydrographs and pollutographs, an approach for sizing sustainable urban drainage systems (SuDS), focusing on water quality and quantity variables, has been proposed. By setting a concentration-based target (TSS discharged to receiving waters <35mg/l), the results indicate that for a SuDS type detention basin (DB), an off-line configuration performs better than an on-line configuration. The resulting design criterion, expressed as SuDS volume per unit catchment area, assuming a DB type SuDS, varies between 7 and 10l/m 2 . Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Nutrient leaching when compost is part of plant growth media

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Bioretention cells collect urban runoff and are used to slow storm water surge, reduce or remove nutrients or other pollutants, and provide aesthetics to the landscape. A cell is filled with soil mixed with sand, compost, and other materials, and underlain by an aggregate layer and drainage pipe. Th...

A Meta-Analysis of Hedonic Studies to Assess the Property Value Effects of Low Impact Development

EPA Science Inventory

Stormwater runoff from urban areas is a significant source of water pollution in the United States. Many states are promoting low impact development (LID) practices, which provide a variety of direct and ancillary ecosystem services. We describe a meta-analysis designed to evalua...

Tools for valuing tree and park services

Treesearch

E.G. McPherson

2010-01-01

Arborists and urban foresters plan, design, construct, and manage trees and parks in cities throughout the world. These civic improvements create walkable, cool environments, save energy, reduce stormwater runoff, sequester carbon dioxide, and absorb air pollutants. The presence of trees and green spaces in cities is associated with increases in property values,...

MOVING TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE CAMPUS: DESIGN OF A GREEN ROOF MONITORING EXPERIMENT

EPA Science Inventory

Virginia Wesleyan College is currently in the design phase for construction of a LEED®-certified science building to be built in 2009. We aim to reduce our impact on stormwater runoff, water pollution, energy use, global climate change, and urban heat island effects. Th...

Comparison of enterococci and cow-specific qPAR markers in streams impacted by farms under different management practices

EPA Science Inventory

Nonpoint Sources (NPS) of pollution (e.g., agriculture, wildlife, urban runoff) are major contributors of microbial contaminants to surface waters. However, little is known about the behavior and the effect of environmental determinants on molecular markers of fecal contamination...

Organic pollution of rivers: Combined threats of urbanization, livestock farming and global climate change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wen, Yingrong; Schoups, Gerrit; van de Giesen, Nick

2017-02-01

Organic pollution of rivers by wastewater discharge from human activities negatively impacts people and ecosystems. Without treatment, pollution control relies on a combination of natural degradation and dilution by natural runoff to reduce downstream effects. We quantify here for the first time the global sanitation crisis through its impact on organic river pollution from the threats of (1) increasing wastewater discharge due to urbanization and intensification of livestock farming, and (2) reductions in river dilution capacity due to climate change and water extractions. Using in-stream Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) as an overall indicator of organic river pollution, we calculate historical (2000) and future (2050) BOD concentrations in global river networks. Despite significant self-cleaning capacities of rivers, the number of people affected by organic pollution (BOD >5 mg/l) is projected to increase from 1.1 billion in 2000 to 2.5 billion in 2050. With developing countries disproportionately affected, our results point to a growing need for affordable wastewater solutions.

Organic pollution of rivers: Combined threats of urbanization, livestock farming and global climate change.

PubMed

Wen, Yingrong; Schoups, Gerrit; van de Giesen, Nick

2017-02-23

Organic pollution of rivers by wastewater discharge from human activities negatively impacts people and ecosystems. Without treatment, pollution control relies on a combination of natural degradation and dilution by natural runoff to reduce downstream effects. We quantify here for the first time the global sanitation crisis through its impact on organic river pollution from the threats of (1) increasing wastewater discharge due to urbanization and intensification of livestock farming, and (2) reductions in river dilution capacity due to climate change and water extractions. Using in-stream Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) as an overall indicator of organic river pollution, we calculate historical (2000) and future (2050) BOD concentrations in global river networks. Despite significant self-cleaning capacities of rivers, the number of people affected by organic pollution (BOD >5 mg/l) is projected to increase from 1.1 billion in 2000 to 2.5 billion in 2050. With developing countries disproportionately affected, our results point to a growing need for affordable wastewater solutions.

Organic pollution of rivers: Combined threats of urbanization, livestock farming and global climate change

PubMed Central

Wen, Yingrong; Schoups, Gerrit; van de Giesen, Nick

2017-01-01

Organic pollution of rivers by wastewater discharge from human activities negatively impacts people and ecosystems. Without treatment, pollution control relies on a combination of natural degradation and dilution by natural runoff to reduce downstream effects. We quantify here for the first time the global sanitation crisis through its impact on organic river pollution from the threats of (1) increasing wastewater discharge due to urbanization and intensification of livestock farming, and (2) reductions in river dilution capacity due to climate change and water extractions. Using in-stream Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) as an overall indicator of organic river pollution, we calculate historical (2000) and future (2050) BOD concentrations in global river networks. Despite significant self-cleaning capacities of rivers, the number of people affected by organic pollution (BOD >5 mg/l) is projected to increase from 1.1 billion in 2000 to 2.5 billion in 2050. With developing countries disproportionately affected, our results point to a growing need for affordable wastewater solutions. PMID:28230079

A Synopsis of Technical Issues for Monitoring Sediment in Highway and Urban Runoff

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bent, Gardner C.; Gray, John R.; Smith, Kirk P.; Glysson, G. Douglas

2000-01-01

Accurate and representative sediment data are critical for assessing the potential effects of highway and urban runoff on receiving waters. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency identified sediment as the most widespread pollutant in the Nation's rivers and streams, affecting aquatic habitat, drinking water treatment processes, and recreational uses of rivers, lakes, and estuaries. Representative sediment data are also necessary for quantifying and interpreting concentrations, loads, and effects of trace elements and organic constituents associated with highway and urban runoff. Many technical issues associated with the collecting, processing, and analyzing of samples must be addressed to produce valid (useful for intended purposes), current, complete, and technically defensible data for local, regional, and national information needs. All aspects of sediment data-collection programs need to be evaluated, and adequate quality-control data must be collected and documented so that the comparability and representativeness of data obtained for highway- and urban-runoff studies may be assessed. Collection of representative samples for the measurement of sediment in highway and urban runoff involves a number of interrelated issues. Temporal and spatial variability in runoff result from a combination of factors, including volume and intensity of precipitation, rate of snowmelt, and features of the drainage basin such as area, slope, infiltration capacity, channel roughness, and storage characteristics. In small drainage basins such as those found in many highway and urban settings, automatic samplers are often the most suitable method for collecting samples of runoff for a variety of reasons. Indirect sediment-measurement methods are also useful as supplementary and(or) surrogate means for monitoring sediment in runoff. All of these methods have limitations in addition to benefits, which must be identified and quantified to produce representative data. Methods for processing raw sediment samples (including homogenization and subsampling) for subsequent analysis for total suspended solids or suspended-sediment concentration often increase variance and may introduce bias. Processing artifacts can be substantial if the methods used are not appropriate for the concentrations and particle-size distributions present in the samples collected. Analytical methods for determining sediment concentrations include the suspended-sediment concentration and the total suspended solids methods. Although the terms suspended-sediment concentration and total suspended solids are often used interchangeably to describe the total concentration of suspended solid-phase material, the analytical methods differ and can produce substantially different results. The total suspended solids method, which commonly is used to produce highway- and urban-runoff sediment data, may not be valid for studies of runoff water quality. Studies of fluvial and highway-runoff sediment data indicate that analyses of samples by the total suspended solids method tends to under represent the true sediment concentration, and that relations between total suspended solids and suspended-sediment concentration are not transferable from site to site even when grain-size distribution information is available. Total suspended solids data used to calculate suspended-sediment loads in highways and urban runoff may be fundamentally unreliable. Consequently, use of total suspended solids data may have adverse consequences for the assessment, design, and maintenance of sediment-removal best management practices. Therefore, it may be necessary to analyze water samples using the suspended-sediment concentration method. Data quality, comparability, and utility are important considerations in collection, processing, and analysis of sediment samples and interpretation of sediment data for highway- and urban-runoff studies. Results from sediment studies must be comparable and readily transf

[L-THIA-based management design for controlling urban non-point source pollution].

PubMed

Guo, Qing-Hai; Yang, Liu; Ke-Ming, Ma

2007-11-01

L-THIA Model was used to simulate the amounts of NPS pollutants in 2 catchments of Sanjiao watershed (Sj1, Sj2) in Hanyang district, and the total simulated amount of NPS loads in Sj1 and Sj2 were 1.82 x 10(4) kg, 1.38 x 10(5) kg, respectively. Based on the theory of resource-sink" and interaction of pattern with process, a series of BMPs, including green roof, grassland, porous pavement, infiltration trench, vegetative filter strip and wet pond, were optimized, and effects of BMPs were simulated along the surface runoff pathway. The results show that total pollutants outputs entering Sj1 and Sj2 account for 14.65% and 6.57%, respectively. Combining L-THIA model and BMPs in series is a proper measure for non-point source pollution control and urban development planning at watershed or region scale.

Public health effects of inadequately managed stormwater runoff.

PubMed

Gaffield, Stephen J; Goo, Robert L; Richards, Lynn A; Jackson, Richard J

2003-09-01

This study investigated the scale of the public health risk from stormwater runoff caused by urbanization. We compiled turbidity data for municipal treated drinking water as an indication of potential risk in selected US cities and compared estimated costs of waterborne disease and preventive measures. Turbidity levels in other US cities were similar to those linked to illnesses in Milwaukee, Wis, and Philadelphia, Pa. The estimated annual cost of waterborne illness is comparable to the long-term capital investment needed for improved drinking water treatment and stormwater management. Although additional data on cost and effectiveness are needed, stormwater management to minimize runoff and associated pollution appears to make sense for protecting public health at the least cost.

A multi-stakeholder framework for urban runoff quality management: Application of social choice and bargaining techniques.

PubMed

Ghodsi, Seyed Hamed; Kerachian, Reza; Zahmatkesh, Zahra

2016-04-15

In this paper, an integrated framework is proposed for urban runoff management. To control and improve runoff quality and quantity, Low Impact Development (LID) practices are utilized. In order to determine the LIDs' areas and locations, the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II (NSGA-II), which considers three objective functions of minimizing runoff volume, runoff pollution and implementation cost of LIDs, is utilized. In this framework, the Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) is used for stream flow simulation. The non-dominated solutions provided by the NSGA-II are considered as management scenarios. To select the most preferred scenario, interactions among the main stakeholders in the study area with conflicting utilities are incorporated by utilizing bargaining models including a non-cooperative game, Nash model and social choice procedures of Borda count and approval voting. Moreover, a new social choice procedure, named pairwise voting method, is proposed and applied. Based on each conflict resolution approach, a scenario is identified as the ideal solution providing the LIDs' areas, locations and implementation cost. The proposed framework is applied for urban water quality and quantity management in the northern part of Tehran metropolitan city, Iran. Results show that the proposed pairwise voting method tends to select a scenario with a higher percentage of reduction in TSS (Total Suspended Solid) load and runoff volume, in comparison with the Borda count and approval voting methods. Besides, the Nash method presents a management scenario with the highest cost for LIDs' implementation and the maximum values for percentage of runoff volume reduction and TSS removal. The results also signify that selection of an appropriate management scenario by stakeholders in the study area depends on the available financial resources and the relative importance of runoff quality improvement in comparison with reducing the runoff volume. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Regression Techniques for Determining the Effective Impervious Area in Southern California Watersheds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sultana, R.; Mroczek, M.; Dallman, S.; Sengupta, A.; Stein, E. D.

2016-12-01

The portion of the Total Impervious Area (TIA) that is hydraulically connected to the storm drainage network is called the Effective Impervious Area (EIA). The remaining fraction of impervious area, called the non-effective impervious area, drains onto pervious surfaces which do not contribute to runoff for smaller events. Using the TIA instead of EIA in models and calculations can lead to overestimates of runoff volumes peak discharges and oversizing of drainage system since it is assumed all impervious areas produce urban runoff that is directly connected to storm drains. This makes EIA a better predictor of actual runoff from urban catchments for hydraulic design of storm drain systems and modeling non-point source pollution. Compared to TIA, determining the EIA is considerably more difficult to calculate since it cannot be found by using remote sensing techniques, readily available EIA datasets, or aerial imagery interpretation alone. For this study, EIA percentages were calculated by two successive regression methods for five watersheds (with areas of 8.38 - 158mi2) located in Southern California using rainfall-runoff event data for the years 2004 - 2007. Runoff generated from the smaller storm events are considered to be emanating only from the effective impervious areas. Therefore, larger events that were considered to have runoff from both impervious and pervious surfaces were successively removed in the regression methods using a criterion of (1) 1mm and (2) a max (2 , 1mm) above the regression line. MSE is calculated from actual runoff and runoff predicted by the regression. Analysis of standard deviations showed that criterion of max (2 , 1mm) better fit the regression line and is the preferred method in predicting the EIA percentage. The estimated EIAs have shown to be approximately 78% to 43% of the TIA which shows use of EIA instead of TIA can have significant impact on the cost building urban hydraulic systems and stormwater capture devices.

Linking source characterisation and human health risk assessment of metals to rainfall characteristics.

PubMed

Liu, An; Mummullage, Sandya; Ma, Yukun; Egodawatta, Prasanna; Ayoko, Godwin A; Goonetilleke, Ashantha

2018-07-01

Metals deposited on urban road surfaces and incorporated in stormwater runoff are discharged into receiving waters, influencing their quality and can pose human health risks. Effective design of stormwater treatment measures is closely dependent on the in-depth understanding of stormwater pollutant sources and the associated health risks. The study discussed in this paper has linked the sources of metals in stormwater runoff and the accompanying human health risk to rainfall characteristics. The study outcomes confirmed that the metal contributions to stormwater runoff from the primary sources were in the order of sea salt > soil > traffic. Although traffic contributes a relatively lower percentage to wash-off, the human health risks posed by traffic sourced metals were relatively much higher. This implies that traffic sources should receive particular attention in treating stormwater. These outcomes have the potential to contribute to enhancing effective source control measures in order to safeguard natural waterways from polluted road wash-off. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of permeable pavement responses to urban surface runoff.

PubMed

Kamali, Meysam; Delkash, Madjid; Tajrishy, Massoud

2017-02-01

The construction of permeable pavement (PP) in sidewalks of urban areas is an alternative low impact development (LID) to control stormwater runoff volume and consequently decrease the discharge of pollutants in receiving water bodies. In this paper, some laboratory experiments were performed to evaluate the efficiency of a PP subjected to sediment loadings during its life span. Simple infiltration models were validated by the laboratory experiments to evaluate the trend and extend of PP infiltration capacity throughout the life of the pavement operation. In addition, performances of the PP in removing total suspended solids (TSS) and selective nutrient pollutants such as NO 3 - ,NH 4 + and PO 4 -3 from the surface runoff have been investigated. Experimental data showed that the PP was completely clogged after seven hydrological years. The model revealed that the ratio of horizontal to vertical hydraulic conductivity is 3.5 for this PP. Moreover, it was found that 20% reduction in hydraulic conductivity occurred after three hydrological years. The PP showed 100%, 23% and 59% efficiencies in sediment retention (TSS removal), (PO 4 -3 ), and N-NH 4 + removal during the entire study, respectively. However, the removal efficiency of (N-NO 3 - ) was -12% and we suspect the increase in effluent (N-NO 3 - ) is due to the nitrification process in subsurface layers. This study demonstrated that when PPs are annually cleaned, it is expected that PPs can function hydraulically and be able to remove particulate pollutants during their life span by a proper maintenance. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluating the accotink creek restoration project for improving water quality, in-stream habitat, and bank stability

USGS Publications Warehouse

Struck, S.D.; Selvakumar, A.; Hyer, K.; O'Connor, T.

2007-01-01

Increased urbanization results in a larger percentage of connected impervious areas and can contribute large quantities of stormwater runoff and significant quantities of debris and pollutants (e.g., litter, oils, microorganisms, sediments, nutrients, organic matter, and heavy metals) to receiving waters. To improve water quality in urban and suburban areas, watershed managers often incorporate best management practices (BMPs) to reduce the quantity of runoff as well as to minimize pollutants and other stressors contained in stormwater runoff. It is well known that land-use practices directly impact urban streams. Stream flows in urbanized watersheds increase in magnitude as a function of impervious area and can result in degradation of the natural stream channel morphology affecting the physical, chemical, and biological integrity of the stream. Stream bank erosion, which also increases with increased stream flows, can lead to bank instability, property loss, infrastructure damage, and increased sediment loading to the stream. Increased sediment loads may lead to water quality degradation downstream and have negative impacts on fish, benthic invertebrates, and other aquatic life. Accotink Creek is in the greater Chesapeake Bay and Potomac watersheds, which have strict sediment criteria. The USEPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) and USGS (United States Geological Survey) are investigating the effectiveness of stream restoration techniques as a BMP to decrease sediment load and improve bank stability, biological integrity, and in-stream water quality in an impaired urban watershed in Fairfax, Virginia. This multi-year project continuously monitors turbidity, specific conductance, pH, and water temperature, as well as biological and chemical water quality parameters. In addition, physical parameters (e.g., pebble counts, longitudinal and cross sectional stream surveys) were measured to assess geomorphic changes associated with the restoration. Data from the pre-construction and initial post-construction phases are presented in this report. ?? 2007 ASCE.

AT THE INTERSECTION OF HYDROLOGY, ECONOMICS, AND LAW: APPLICATION OF MARKET MECHANISMS AND INCENTIVES TO REDUCE STORMWATER RUNOFF

EPA Science Inventory

Increased stormwater flows are a direct result of urbanization and the consequent increase in the proportion of land area under impervious surface. Due to its contribution to abnormally high stream flows and its role as a carrier of pollutants that degrade water quality, exc...

Urban stormwater quality, event-mean concentrations, and estimates of stormwater pollutant loads, Dallas-Fort Worth area, Texas, 1992-93

USGS Publications Warehouse

Baldys, Stanley; Raines, T.H.; Mansfield, B.L.; Sandlin, J.T.

1998-01-01

Local regression equations were developed to estimate loads produced by individual storms. Mean annual loads were estimated by applying the storm-load equations for all runoff-producing storms in an average climatic year and summing individual storm loads to determine the annual load.

Surface water storage capacity of twenty tree species in Davis, California

Treesearch

Qingfu Xiao; E. Gregory McPherson

2016-01-01

Urban forestry is an important green infrastructure strategy because healthy trees can intercept rainfall, reducing stormwater runoff and pollutant loading. Surface saturation storage capacity, defined as the thin film of water that must wet tree surfaces before flow begins, is the most important variable influencing rainfall interception processes. Surface storage...

APPLICATION OF MARKET MECHANISMS AND INCENTIVES TO REDUCE STORMWATER RUNOFF. AN INTEGRATED HYDROLOGIC, ECONOMIC AND LEGAL APPROACH.

EPA Science Inventory

Increased stormwater flows are a direct result of urbanization and the consequent increase in the proportion of land area under impervious surface. Due to its contribution to abnormally high stream flows and its role as a carrier of pollutants that degrade water quality, excess s...

Stormwater runoff quality in correlation to land use and land cover development in Yongin, South Korea.

PubMed

Paule, M A; Memon, S A; Lee, B-Y; Umer, S R; Lee, C-H

2014-01-01

Stormwater runoff quality is sensitive to land use and land cover (LULC) change. It is difficult to understand their relationship in predicting the pollution potential and developing watershed management practices to eliminate or reduce the pollution risk. In this study, the relationship between LULC change and stormwater runoff quality in two separate monitoring sites comprising a construction area (Site 1) and mixed land use (Site 2) was analyzed using geographic information system (GIS), event mean concentration (EMC), and correlation analysis. It was detected that bare land area increased, while other land use areas such as agriculture, commercial, forest, grassland, parking lot, residential, and road reduced. Based on the analyses performed, high maximum range and average EMCs were found in Site 2 for most of the water pollutants. Also, urban areas and increased conversion of LULC into bare land corresponded to degradation of stormwater quality. Correlation analysis between LULC and stormwater quality showed the influence of different factors such as farming practices, geographical location, and amount of precipitation, vegetation loss, and anthropogenic activities in monitoring sites. This research found that GIS application was an efficient tool for monthly monitoring, validation and statistical analysis of LULC change in the study area.

Green roof impact on the hydrological cycle components

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lamera, Carlotta; Rulli, Maria Cristina; Becciu, Gianfranco; Rosso, Renzo

2013-04-01

In the last decades the importance of storm water management in urban areas has increased considerably, due to both urbanization extension and to a greater concern for environment pollution. Traditional storm water control practices, based on the "all to the sewer" attitude, rely on conveyance to route storm water runoff from urban impervious surfaces towards the nearby natural water bodies. In recent years, infiltration facilities are receiving an increasing attention, due to their particular efficiency in restoring a balance in hydrological cycle quite equal to quite pre-urbanization condition. In particular, such techniques are designed to capture, temporarily retain and infiltrate storm water, promote evapotranspiration and harvest water at the source, encouraging in general evaporation, evapotranspiration, groundwater recharge and the re-use of storm water. Green roofs are emerging as an increasingly popular Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) technique for urban storm water management. Indeed, they are able to operate hydrologic control over storm water runoff: they allow a significant reduction of peak flows and runoff volumes collected by drainage system, with a consequent reduction of flooding events and pollution masses discharges by CSO. Furthermore green roofs have a positive influence on the microclimate in urban areas by helping in lower urban air temperatures and mitigate the heat island effect. Last but not least, they have the advantage of improving the thermal insulation of buildings, with significant energy savings. A detailed analysis of the hydrological dynamics, connected both with the characteristics of the climatic context and with the green roof technical design, is essential in order to obtain a full characterization of the hydrologic behavior of a green roof system and its effects on the urban water cycle components. The purpose of this paper is to analysis the hydrological effects and urban benefits of the vegetation cover of a building by installing green roofs and, thus, providing a conversion of rooftops in pervious areas; the objective is modeling hydrological fluxes (interception, evapotranspiration, soil water fluxes in the surface and hypodermic components) in relation to climate forcing, basic technology components and geometric characteristics of green roof systems (thickness of the stratigraphy, soil layers and materials, vegetation typology and density). The sensitivity analysis of hydrological processes at different hydrological, climatic and geometric parameters has allowed to draw some general guidelines useful in the design and construction of this type of drainage systems.

Probability mass first flush evaluation for combined sewer discharges.

PubMed

Park, Inhyeok; Kim, Hongmyeong; Chae, Soo-Kwon; Ha, Sungryong

2010-01-01

The Korea government has put in a lot of effort to construct sanitation facilities for controlling non-point source pollution. The first flush phenomenon is a prime example of such pollution. However, to date, several serious problems have arisen in the operation and treatment effectiveness of these facilities due to unsuitable design flow volumes and pollution loads. It is difficult to assess the optimal flow volume and pollution mass when considering both monetary and temporal limitations. The objective of this article was to characterize the discharge of storm runoff pollution from urban catchments in Korea and to estimate the probability of mass first flush (MFFn) using the storm water management model and probability density functions. As a result of the review of gauged storms for the representative using probability density function with rainfall volumes during the last two years, all the gauged storms were found to be valid representative precipitation. Both the observed MFFn and probability MFFn in BE-1 denoted similarly large magnitudes of first flush with roughly 40% of the total pollution mass contained in the first 20% of the runoff. In the case of BE-2, however, there were significant difference between the observed MFFn and probability MFFn.

Sediment bacterial indicators in an urban shellfishing subestuary of the lower Chesapeake Bay.

PubMed Central

Erkenbrecher, C W

1981-01-01

The objectives of this study were to document the spatial and temporal distributions and compositions of bacteria in the sediments and overlying waters of an important urban shellfishing area in the lower Chesapeake Bay region, the Lynnhaven Estuary. Marked fluctuations were observed in the date of many of the physicochemical parameters and the indicator bacteria. The higher-salinity water and coarser sediment of the inlet site showed lower overall bacterial densities than did the headwater sites, where freshwater runoff and decreased tidal action were characteristic. Densities of benthic indicator bacteria, when expressed on a volumetric basis, were significantly greater than counts in the overlying waters. These counts were indicative of a fecally polluted system and were well above the safe maximum limits for shellfish-growing waters. Significantly fewer total and fecal bacteria were observed in both the water and the sediment during the warm months of May, July, and August. The primary sources of the Lynnhaven's bacterial pollution appeared to be typical of urban and agricultural runoff, although failure of septic tank systems was suspected as a problem in the Lynnhaven's western branch. These results illustrated that sediments in shellfishing areas could serve as a reservoir for high densities of indicator bacteria and that, potentially, pathogens could pose a health hazard. PMID:7294785

Priority organic pollutants in the urban water cycle (Toulouse, France).

PubMed

Sablayrolles, C; Breton, A; Vialle, C; Vignoles, C; Montréjaud-Vignoles, M

2011-01-01

Application of the European Water Framework Directive requires Member States to have better understanding of the quality of surface waters in order to improve knowledge of priority pollutants. Xenobiotics in urban receiving waters are an emerging concern. This study proposes a screening campaign of nine molecular species of xenobiotics in a separated sewer system. Five sites were investigated over one year in Toulouse (France) using quantitative monitoring. For each sample, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, nonylphenols, diethelhexylphthalate, linear alkylbenzene sulphonates, methyl tert-butylether, total hydrocarbons, estradiol and ethinylestradiol were analysed. Ground, rain and roof collected water concentrations are similar to treated wastewater levels. Run-off water was the most polluted of the five types investigated, discharged into the aquatic environment. The wastewater treatment plant reduced xenobiotic concentrations by 66% before discharge into the environment. Regarding environmental quality standards, observed concentrations in waters were in compliance with standards. The results show that xenobiotic concentrations are variable over time and space in all urban water compartments.

Analysis of long-term trends (1950–2009) in precipitation, runoff and runoff coefficient in major urban watersheds in the United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Velpuri, N.M.; Senay, G.B.

2013-01-01

This study investigates the long-term trends in precipitation, runoff and runoff coefficient in major urban watersheds in the United States. The seasonal Mann–Kendall trend test was performed on monthly precipitation, runoff and runoff coefficient data from 1950 to 2009 obtained from 62 urban watersheds covering 21 major urban centers in the United States. The results indicate that only five out of 21 urban centers in the United States showed an uptrend in precipitation. Twelve urban centers showed an uptrend in runoff coefficient. However, six urban centers did not show any trend in runoff coefficient, and three urban centers showed a significant downtrend. The highest rate of change in precipitation, runoff and runoff coefficient was observed in the Houston urban watershed. Based on the results obtained, we also attributed plausible causes for the trends. Our analysis indicated that while a human only influence is observed in most of the urban watersheds, a combined climate and human influence is observed in the central United States.

Modelling transport of storm-water pollutants using the distributed Multi-Hydro platform on an urban catchment near Paris

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hong, Yi; Bonhomme, Celine; Giangola-Murzyn, Agathe; Schertzer, Daniel; Chebbo, Ghassan

2015-04-01

Nowadays, the increasingly use of vehicles causes expanding contaminated storm-water runoff from roads and the associated quarters. Besides, the current utilization of city's separated sewer systems underlines the needs for evaluating precisely the growing impact of these polluted effluents on receiving water bodies. Nevertheless, traditional means of water quality modelling had shown its limits (Kanso, 2004), more accurate modelling schemes are hence required. In this paper, we found that the application of physically based and fully distributed model coupled with detailed high-resolution data is a promising approach to reproduce the various dynamics and interactions of water quantity/quality processes in urban or peri-urban environment. Over recent years, the physically based and spatially distributed numerical platform Multi-Hydro (MH) has been developed at Ecole des Ponts ParisTech (El-Tabach et al. , 2009 ; Gires et al., 2013 ; Giangola-Murzyn et al., 2014). This platform is particularly adapted for representing the hydrological processes for medium size watersheds, including the surface runoff, drainage water routing and the infiltrations on permeable zones. It is formed by the interactive coupling of several independent modules, which depend on generally used open-access models. In the framework of the ANR (French National Agency for Research) Trafipollu project, a new extension of MH, MH-quality, was set up for the water-quality modelling. MH-quality was used for the simulation of pollutant transport on a peri-urban and highly trafficked catchment located near Paris (Le Perreux-sur-Marne, 0.2 km2). The set-up of this model is based on the detailed description of urban land use features. For this purpose, 15 classes of urban land uses relevant to water quality modelling were defined in collaboration with the National Institute of Geography of France (IGN) using Digital Orthophoto Quadrangles (5cm). The delimitation of the urban catchment was then performed by operating a Digital Terrain Model which was generated by applying Lidar data (20cm), and by using GIS information of the drainage system. In addition to land use information, the implementation of different human activities allows a better evaluation of contamination. Experimental data such as rainfall intensities, particle size distribution and dry weather depositions are also used, in order to feed the model with realistic input data and parameters. The runoff and water quality are then simulated for a few rainfall events. Taking advantage of the available data of the continuous observations of precipitation, water discharges and turbidity at the outlet of the drainage systems, the sensitivity analysis is carried out in order to evaluate the performance of MH-quality and the most sensitive parameters. Using appropriate parameters, we are now able to follow the pollutant transport on our experimental urban catchment. The limitations and the perspectives of MH-quality are discussed as well.

Efficiency of source control systems for reducing runoff pollutant loads: feedback on experimental catchments within Paris conurbation.

PubMed

Bressy, Adèle; Gromaire, Marie-Christine; Lorgeoux, Catherine; Saad, Mohamed; Leroy, Florent; Chebbo, Ghassan

2014-06-15

Three catchments, equipped with sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS: vegetated roof, underground pipeline or tank, swale, grassed detention pond) for peak flow mitigation, have been compared to a reference catchment drained by a conventional separate sewer system in terms of hydraulic behaviour and discharged contaminant fluxes (organic matter, organic micropollutants, metals). A runoff and contaminant emission model has been developed in order to overcome land use differences. It has been demonstrated that the presence of peak flow control systems induces flow attenuation even for frequent rain events and reduces water discharges at a rate of about 50% depending on the site characteristics. This research has also demonstrated that this type of SUDS contributes to a significant reduction of runoff pollutant discharges, by 20%-80%. This level of reduction varies depending on the considered contaminant and on the design of the drainage system but is mostly correlated with the decrease in runoff volume. It could be improved if the design of these SUDS focused not only on the control of exceptional events but also targeted more explicitly the interception of frequent rain events. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A watershed scale assessment of the impacts of suburban turf management on runoff water quality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bachman, M.; Inamdar, S. P.; Barton, S.; Duke, J.; Tallamy, D.; Bruck, J.

2014-12-01

Steadily increasing rates of urbanization have raised concerns about the negative impacts of urban runoff on receiving surface water quality. These concerns have been further amplified by landscaping paradigms that encourage high-input, intensively-managed and mono-culture turf and lawn landscapes. We conducted a watershed-scale assessment of turf management practices on water quality vis-à-vis less-intensive management practices that preserve and enhance more diverse and native vegetation. The study treatments with existing/established vegetation and landscaping practices included turf, urban, forest, meadow, and a mixed site with a professional golf course. Stream water sampling was performed during baseflow and storm events. Highest nutrient (nitrate and total nitrogen) concentrations in runoff were observed for the mixed watershed draining the golf course. In contrast, nutrient concentrations in baseflow from the turf watershed were lower than expected and were comparable to those measured in the surrounding meadow and forest sites. Runoff losses from the turf site may have been minimal due to the optimal quality of management implemented. Total nitrogen concentrations from the turf site increased sharply during the first storms following fertilization, suggesting that despite optimal management there exists a risk for nutrient runoff following fertilization. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations from the turf site were elevated and aromatic in content while the mixed watershed site yielded more labile DOM. Overall, this study suggests that turf lawns, when managed properly, pose minimal environmental risk to surrounding surface waters. Based on the results of this study, providing homeowners with increased information regarding best management practices for lawn maintenance may serve as a cost-efficient method for reducing suburban runoff pollution.

Potential urban runoff impacts and contaminant distributions in shoreline and reservoir environments of Lake Havasu, southwestern United States.

PubMed

Wilson, Doyle C

2018-04-15

Heavy metal, nutrient, and hydrocarbon levels in and adjacent to Lake Havasu, a regionally significant water supply reservoir with a highly controlled, dynamic flow regime, are assessed in relation to possible stormwater runoff impacts from an arid urban center. Shallow groundwater and sediment analyses from ephemeral drainage (wash) mouths that convey stormwater runoff from Lake Havasu City, Arizona to the reservoir, provided contaminant control points and correlation ties with the reservoir environment. Fine-grain sediments tend to contain higher heavy metal concentrations whereas nutrients are more evenly distributed, except low total organic carbon levels from young wash mouth surfaces devoid of vegetation. Heavy metal and total phosphate sediment concentrations in transects from wash mouths into the reservoir have mixed and decreasing trends, respectively. Both series may indicate chemical depositional influences from urban runoff, yet no statistically significant concentration differences occur between specific wash mouths and corresponding offshore transects. Heavy metal pollution indices of all sediments indicate no discernible to minor contamination, indicating that runoff impacts are minimal. Nevertheless, several heavy metal concentrations from mid-reservoir sediment sites increase southward through the length of the reservoir. Continual significant water flow through the reservoir may help to disperse locally derived runoff particulates, which could mix and settle down gradient with chemical loads from upriver sources and local atmospheric deposition. Incorporating the shoreline environment with the reservoir investigation provides spatial continuity in assessing contaminant sources and distribution patterns. This is particularly acute in the investigation of energetic, flow-through reservoirs in which sources may be overlooked if solely analyzing the reservoir environment. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of landscape-based green infrastructure on stormwater ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The development of impervious surfaces in urban and suburban catchments affects their hydrological behavior by decreasing infiltration, increasing peak hydrograph response following rainfall events, and ultimately increasing the total volume of water and mass of pollutants reaching streams. These changes have deleterious effects on downstream surface waters. Consequently, strategies to mitigate these impacts are now components of contemporary urban development and stormwater management. This study evaluates the effectiveness of landscape green infrastructure (GI) in reducing stormwater runoff volumes and controlling peak flows in four subdivision-scale suburban catchments (1.88 – 12.97 acres) in Montgomery County, MD, USA. Stormwater flow rates during runoff events were measured in five minute intervals at each catchment outlet. One catchment was built with GI vegetated swales on all parcels with the goal of intercepting, conveying, and infiltrating stormwater before it enters the sewer network. The remaining catchments were constructed with traditional gray infrastructure and “end-of-pipe” best management practices (BMPs) that treat stormwater before entering streams. This study compared characteristics of rainfall-runoff events at the green and gray infrastructure sites to understand their effects on suburban hydrology. The landscape GI strategy generally reduced rainfall-runoff ratios compared to gray infrastructure because of increased infiltration, ul

Public Health Effects of Inadequately Managed Stormwater Runoff

PubMed Central

Gaffield, Stephen J.; Goo, Robert L.; Richards, Lynn A.; Jackson, Richard J.

2003-01-01

Objectives. This study investigated the scale of the public health risk from stormwater runoff caused by urbanization. Methods. We compiled turbidity data for municipal treated drinking water as an indication of potential risk in selected US cities and compared estimated costs of waterborne disease and preventive measures. Results. Turbidity levels in other US cities were similar to those linked to illnesses in Milwaukee, Wis, and Philadelphia, Pa. The estimated annual cost of waterborne illness is comparable to the long-term capital investment needed for improved drinking water treatment and stormwater management. Conclusions. Although additional data on cost and effectiveness are needed, stormwater management to minimize runoff and associated pollution appears to make sense for protecting public health at the least cost. PMID:12948975

The development of a novel approach for assessment of the first flush in urban stormwater discharges.

PubMed

Bach, P M; McCarthy, D T; Deletic, A

2010-01-01

The management of stormwater pollution has placed particular emphasis on the first flush phenomenon. However, definition and current methods of analyses of the phenomena contain serious limitations, the most important being their inability to capture a possible impact of the event size (total event volume) on the first flush. This paper presents the development of a novel approach in defining and assessing the first flush that should overcome these problems. The phenomenon is present in a catchment if the decrease in pollution concentration with the absolute cumulative volume of runoff from the catchment is statistically significant. Using data from seven diverse catchments around Melbourne, Australia, changes in pollutant concentrations for Total Suspended Solids (TSS) and Total Nitrogen (TN) were calculated over the absolute cumulative runoff and aggregated from a collection of different storm events. Due to the discrete nature of the water quality data, each concentration was calculated as a flow-weighted average at 2 mm runoff volume increments. The aggregated concentrations recorded in each increment (termed as a 'slice' of runoff) were statistically compared to each other across the absolute cumulative runoff volume. A first flush is then defined as the volume at which concentrations reach the 'background concentration' (i.e. the statistically significant minimum). Initial results clearly highlight first flush and background concentrations in all but one catchment supporting the validity of this new approach. Future work will need to address factors, which will help assess the first flush's magnitude and volume. Sensitivity testing and correlation with catchment characteristics should also be undertaken.

[Heavy metals pollution and analysis of seasonal variation runoff in Xi'an].

PubMed

Yuan, Hong-Lin; Li, Xing-Yu; Wang, Xiao-Chang

2014-11-01

In order to explore heavy metals pollution situation,changes in characteristics, the correlation between each heavy mental and pollution source analysis of Xi'an various regions in different season in one year. This study collected several samples of Xi'an rainfall typical urban trunk roads throughout the year in 2013 and used inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) to determine the level of Fe, Mn, Pb, Zn, Al, Cd of the samples, then, analyzed the seasonal change of heavy mental. Studies have shown that: the heavy metal of Xi'an road runoff pollutes seriously, the concentration of Fe over three times of the national standard and maintain the higher levels throughout the year, meanwhile the concentration with the intensity of human activities increases. The concentration of Mn and Zn in one year show a trends: winter > autumn > summer> spring. Pb concentration increases with the increase in traffic volume, while showing: winter > spring > summer > autumn. Factor analysis shows: Fe and Al was affected by the same sources-natural sources; Zn, Cd affected by anthropogenic sources of large; Mn, Pb affected by the larger traffic sources.

A pollutant removal prediction tool for stormwater derived diffuse pollution.

PubMed

Revitt, D Michael; Scholes, Lian; Ellis, J Bryan

2008-01-01

This report describes the development of a methodology to theoretically assess the effectiveness of structural BMPs with regard to their treatment of selected stormwater pollutants (metals, polyaromatic hydrocarbons and herbicides). The result is a prioritisation, in terms of pollutant removal efficiency, of 15 different BMPs which can inform stormwater managers and other stakeholders of the best available options for the treatment of urban runoff pollutants of particular environmental concern. Regardless of the selected pollutant, infiltration basins and sub-surface flow constructed wetlands are predicted to perform most efficiently with lagoons, porous asphalt and sedimentation tanks being the least effective systems for the removal of pollutants. The limitations of the approach in terms of the variabilities in BMP designs and applications are considered. (c) IWA Publishing 2008.

SORPTION OF CU AND ZN TO KAOLINITE AND IRON OXIDE: EFFECTS OF HUMIC ACID AND IONIC STRENGTH AND IMPLICATIONS FOR STORMWATER RUNOFF

EPA Science Inventory

Heavy metals are common pollutants in wet weather flows and urban waterways. Changes in ionic strength, whether from mixing with saline waters, road salt, or from the large osmotic adjustment needed for the Microtox toxicity assay, affect the aqueous chemistry of stormwater runof...

Effect of urban stormwater runoff on ground water beneath recharge basins on Long Island, New York

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ku, H.F.; Simmons, D.L.

1986-01-01

Urban stormwater runoff was monitored during 1980-82 to investigate the source, type, quantity, and fate of contaminants routed to the more than 3,000 recharge basins on Long Island and to determine whether this runoff might be a significant source of contamination to the groundwater reservoir. Forty-six storms were monitored at five recharge basins in representative land use areas (strip commercial, shopping-mall parking lot, major highway, low-density residential, and medium-density residential). Runoff:precipitation ratios indicate that all storm runoff is derived from precipitation on impervious surfaces in the drainage area, except during storms of high intensity or long duration, when additional runoff can be derived from precipitation on permeable surfaces. Lead was present in highway runoff in concentrations up to 3300 micrograms/L, and chloride was found in parking lot runoff concentrations up to 1,100 mg/L during winter, when salt is used for deicing. In the five composite stormwater samples and nine groundwater grab samples that were analyzed for 113 EPA-designated ' priority pollutants, ' four constituents were detected in concentrations exceeding New York State guidelines of 50 micrograms/L for an individual organic compound in drinking water: p-chloro-m-cresol (79 micrograms/L); 2 ,4-dimethylphenol (96 micrograms/L); 4-nitrophenol (58 micrograms/L); and methylene chloride (230 micrograms/L in either groundwater or stormwater at the highway basin). One stormwater sample and two groundwater samples exceeded New York State guidelines for total organic compounds in drinking water (100 micrograms/L). The presence of these constituents is attributed to contamination from point sources rather than to the quality of runoff from urban areas. The median number of indicator bacteria in stormwater ranged from 0.1 to 10 billion MPN/100 ml. Fecal coliforms and fecal streptococci increased by 1 to 2 orders of magnitude during the warm season. The use of recharge basins to dispose of storm runoff does not appear to have significant adverse effects on groundwater quality in terms of the chemical and microbiological stormwater constituents studied. (Author 's abstract)

Pollutant load removal efficiency of pervious pavements: is clogging an issue?

PubMed

Kadurupokune, N; Jayasuriya, N

2009-01-01

Pervious pavements in car parks and driveways reduce the peak runoff rate and the quantity of runoff discharged into urban drains as well as improve the stormwater quality by trapping the sediments in the infiltrated water. The paper focuses on presenting results from the laboratory tests carried out to evaluate water quality improvements and effects of long-term decrease in infiltration rates with time due to sediments trapping (clogging) within the pavement pores. Clogging was not found to be a major factor affecting pervious pavement performance after simulating 17 years of stormwater quality samples.

Catchment management and the Great Barrier Reef.

PubMed

Brodie, J; Christie, C; Devlin, M; Haynes, D; Morris, S; Ramsay, M; Waterhouse, J; Yorkston, H

2001-01-01

Pollution of coastal regions of the Great Barrier Reef is dominated by runoff from the adjacent catchment. Catchment land-use is dominated by beef grazing and cropping, largely sugarcane cultivation, with relatively minor urban development. Runoff of sediment, nutrients and pesticides is increasing and for nitrogen is now four times the natural amount discharged 150 years ago. Significant effects and potential threats are now evident on inshore reefs, seagrasses and marine animals. There is no effective legislation or processes in place to manage agricultural pollution. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act does not provide effective jurisdiction on the catchment. Queensland legislation relies on voluntary codes and there is no assessment of the effectiveness of the codes. Integrated catchment management strategies, also voluntary, provide some positive outcomes but are of limited success. Pollutant loads are predicted to continue to increase and it is unlikely that current management regimes will prevent this. New mechanisms to prevent continued degradation of inshore ecosystems of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area are urgently needed.

Distribution and Fate of Black Carbon Nanoparticles from Regional Urban Pollution and Wildfire at a Large Subalpine Lake in the Western United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bisiaux, M. M.; Heyvaert, A. C.; Edwards, R.

2012-04-01

Emitted to the atmosphere through fire and fossil fuel combustion, refractory black carbon nanoparticles (rBC) impact human health, climate, atmospheric chemistry, and the carbon cycle. Eventually these particles enter aquatic environments, where their distribution, fate and association with other pollutants are still poorly characterized. This study presents results from an evaluation of rBC in the waters of oligotrophic Lake Tahoe and its watershed in the western United States. The study period included a large wildfire within the Tahoe basin, seasonal snowmelt, and a number of storm events that resulted in pulsed urban runoff into the lake with rBC concentrations up to four orders of magnitude higher than mid-lake concentrations. The results show that elevated rBC concentrations from wildfire and urban runoff were rapidly attenuated in the lake, suggesting unexpected aggregation or degradation of the particles that prevent rBC concentrations from building up in the water of this lake, renowned for its clarity. The rBC concentrations were also measured in sediment cores from Lake Tahoe to evaluate the sediment archive as a potential combustion record. The evidence suggests that rBC is efficiently transferred to these sediments, which preserve a local-to-regional scale history of rBC emissions, as revealed by comparison with other pollutant records in the sediment. Rapid removal of rBC soon after entry into the lake has implications for transport of rBC in the global aquatic environment and flux of rBC from continents to the global ocean.

Assessing the Impact of Urbanization on Direct Runoff Using Improved Composite CN Method in a Large Urban Area.

PubMed

Li, Chunlin; Liu, Miao; Hu, Yuanman; Shi, Tuo; Zong, Min; Walter, M Todd

2018-04-17

Urbanization is one of the most widespread anthropogenic activities, which brings a range of physical and biochemical changes to hydrological system and processes. Increasing direct runoff caused by land use change has become a major challenge for urban ecological security. Reliable prediction of the quantity and rate of surface runoff is an inherently difficult and time-consuming task for large ungauged urban areas. In this study, we combined Geographic Information System and remote sensing technology with an improved Soil Conservation Service curve number model to evaluate the effects of land use change on direct runoff volume of the four-ring area in Shenyang, China, and analyzed trends of direct runoff at different scales. Through analyzing trends of direct runoff from 1984 to 2015 at different scales, we explored how urbanization and other potential factors affect direct runoff changes. Total direct runoff volume increased over time, and trends varied from the inner urban area to suburban area. Zones 1 and 2 had a tendency toward decreasing direct runoff volume and risks, while Zones 3 and 4 showed gradual increases at both regional and pixel scales. The most important influence on direct runoff change was urban surface change caused by urbanization. This study presents a framework for identifying hotspots of runoff increase, which can provide important guidance to urban managers in future green infrastructure planning, in the hopes of improving the security of urban water ecological patterns.

Assessing the Impact of Urbanization on Direct Runoff Using Improved Composite CN Method in a Large Urban Area

PubMed Central

Li, Chunlin; Liu, Miao; Hu, Yuanman; Shi, Tuo; Zong, Min; Walter, M. Todd

2018-01-01

Urbanization is one of the most widespread anthropogenic activities, which brings a range of physical and biochemical changes to hydrological system and processes. Increasing direct runoff caused by land use change has become a major challenge for urban ecological security. Reliable prediction of the quantity and rate of surface runoff is an inherently difficult and time-consuming task for large ungauged urban areas. In this study, we combined Geographic Information System and remote sensing technology with an improved Soil Conservation Service curve number model to evaluate the effects of land use change on direct runoff volume of the four-ring area in Shenyang, China, and analyzed trends of direct runoff at different scales. Through analyzing trends of direct runoff from 1984 to 2015 at different scales, we explored how urbanization and other potential factors affect direct runoff changes. Total direct runoff volume increased over time, and trends varied from the inner urban area to suburban area. Zones 1 and 2 had a tendency toward decreasing direct runoff volume and risks, while Zones 3 and 4 showed gradual increases at both regional and pixel scales. The most important influence on direct runoff change was urban surface change caused by urbanization. This study presents a framework for identifying hotspots of runoff increase, which can provide important guidance to urban managers in future green infrastructure planning, in the hopes of improving the security of urban water ecological patterns. PMID:29673182

Comparative evaluation of urban storm water quality models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vaze, J.; Chiew, Francis H. S.

2003-10-01

The estimation of urban storm water pollutant loads is required for the development of mitigation and management strategies to minimize impacts to receiving environments. Event pollutant loads are typically estimated using either regression equations or "process-based" water quality models. The relative merit of using regression models compared to process-based models is not clear. A modeling study is carried out here to evaluate the comparative ability of the regression equations and process-based water quality models to estimate event diffuse pollutant loads from impervious surfaces. The results indicate that, once calibrated, both the regression equations and the process-based model can estimate event pollutant loads satisfactorily. In fact, the loads estimated using the regression equation as a function of rainfall intensity and runoff rate are better than the loads estimated using the process-based model. Therefore, if only estimates of event loads are required, regression models should be used because they are simpler and require less data compared to process-based models.

The use of kelp sieve tube sap metal composition to characterize urban runoff in southern California coastal waters.

PubMed

Fink, Laurel A; Manley, Steven L

2011-12-01

This study introduces an innovative method for biomonitoring using giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) sieve tube sap (STS) metal concentrations as an indication of pollution influence. STS was sampled from fronds collected from 10 southern California locations, including two reference sites on Santa Catalina Island. Using ICP-MS methodology, STS concentrations of 17 different metals were measured (n=495). Several metals associated with pollution showed the highest STS concentrations and most seasonal variation from populations inside the Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach. Lowest concentrations were measured at less-urbanized areas: Santa Catalina Island and Malibu. Some metals showed a spatial gradient in STS metal concentration with increasing distance from point sources (i.e. Los Angeles River). Cluster analyses indicate that polluted seawater may affect kelp uptake of metals essential for cellular function. Results show that this method can be useful in describing bioavailable metal pollution with implications for accumulation within an important ecosystem. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) contamination of fish in urban lakes: a prioritization methodology for lake management.

PubMed

Xiao, Feng; Gulliver, John S; Simcik, Matt F

2013-12-15

The contamination of urban lakes by anthropogenic pollutants such as perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) is a worldwide environmental problem. Large-scale, long-term monitoring of urban lakes requires careful prioritization of available resources, focusing efforts on potentially impaired lakes. Herein, a database of PFOS concentrations in 304 fish caught from 28 urban lakes was used for development of an urban-lake prioritization framework by means of exploratory data analysis (EDA) with the aid of a geographical information system. The prioritization scheme consists of three main tiers: preliminary classification, carried out by hierarchical cluster analysis; predictor screening, fulfilled by a regression tree method; and model development by means of a neural network. The predictive performance of the newly developed model was assessed using a training/validation splitting method and determined by an external validation set. The application of the model in the U.S. state of Minnesota identified 40 urban lakes that may contain elevated levels of PFOS; these lakes were not previously considered in PFOS monitoring programs. The model results also highlight ongoing industrial/commercial activities as a principal determinant of PFOS pollution in urban lakes, and suggest vehicular traffic as an important source and surface runoff as a primary pollution carrier. In addition, the EDA approach was further compared to a spatial interpolation method (kriging), and their advantages and disadvantages were discussed. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Modeling watershed-scale impacts of stormwater management with traditional versus low impact development design

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sparkman, Stephanie A.; Hogan, Dianna; Hopkins, Kristina G.; Loperfido, J. V.

2017-01-01

Stormwater runoff and associated pollutants from urban areas in the greater Chesapeake Bay Watershed (CBW) impair local streams and downstream ecosystems, despite urbanized land comprising only 7% of the CBW area. More recently, stormwater best management practices (BMPs) have been implemented in a low impact development (LID) manner to treat stormwater runoff closer to its source. This approach included the development of a novel BMP model to compare traditional and LID design, pioneering the use of comprehensively digitized storm sewer infrastructure and BMP design connectivity with spatial patterns in a geographic information system at the watershed scale. The goal was to compare total watershed pollutant removal efficiency in two study watersheds with differing spatial patterns of BMP design (traditional and LID), by quantifying the improved water quality benefit of LID BMP design. An estimate of uncertainty was included in the modeling framework by using ranges for BMP pollutant removal efficiencies that were based on the literature. Our model, using Monte Carlo analysis, predicted that the LID watershed removed approximately 78 kg more nitrogen, 3 kg more phosphorus, and 1,592 kg more sediment per square kilometer as compared with the traditional watershed on an annual basis. Our research provides planners a valuable model to prioritize watersheds for BMP design based on model results or in optimizing BMP selection.

Retrofitting impervious urban infrastructure with green technology for rainfall-runoff restoration, indirect reuse and pollution load reduction.

PubMed

Sansalone, John; Raje, Saurabh; Kertesz, Ruben; Maccarone, Kerrilynn; Seltzer, Karl; Siminari, Michele; Simms, Peter; Wood, Brandon

2013-12-01

The built environs alter hydrology and water resource chemistry. Florida is subject to nutrient criteria and is promulgating "no-net-load-increase" criteria for runoff and constituents (nutrients and particulate matter, PM). With such criteria, green infrastructure, hydrologic restoration, indirect reuse and source control are potential design solutions. The study simulates runoff and constituent load control through urban source area re-design to provide long-term "no-net-load-increases". A long-term continuous simulation of pre- and post-development response for an existing surface parking facility is quantified. Retrofits include a biofiltration area reactor (BAR) for hydrologic and denitrification control. A linear infiltration reactor (LIR) of cementitious permeable pavement (CPP) provides infiltration, adsorption and filtration. Pavement cleaning provided source control. Simulation of climate and source area data indicates re-design achieves "no-net-load-increases" at lower costs compared to standard construction. The retrofit system yields lower cost per nutrient load treated compared to Best Management Practices (BMPs). Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Laboratory study of biological retention for urban stormwater management.

PubMed

Davis, A P; Shokouhian, M; Sharma, H; Minami, C

2001-01-01

Urban stormwater runoff contains a broad range of pollutants that are transported to natural water systems. A practice known as biological retention (bioretention) has been suggested to manage stormwater runoff from small, developed areas. Bioretention facilities consist of porous soil, a topping layer of hardwood mulch, and a variety of different plant species. A detailed study of the characteristics and performance of bioretention systems for the removal of several heavy metals (copper, lead, and zinc) and nutrients (phosphorus, total Kjeldahl nitrogen [TKN], ammonium, and nitrate) from a synthetic urban stormwater runoff was completed using batch and column adsorption studies along with pilot-scale laboratory systems. The roles of the soil, mulch, and plants in the removal of heavy metals and nutrients were evaluated to estimate the treatment capacity of laboratory bioretention systems. Reductions in concentrations of all metals were excellent (> 90%) with specific metal removals of 15 to 145 mg/m2 per event. Moderate reductions of TKN, ammonium, and phosphorus levels were found (60 to 80%). Little nitrate was removed, and nitrate production was noted in several cases. The importance of the mulch layer in metal removal was identified. Overall results support the use of bioretention as a stormwater best management practice and indicate the need for further research and development.

Water-quality data for canals in eastern Broward County, Florida, 1975-78

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sonntag, W.H.

1980-01-01

Increased urbanization in Broward County has contributed to canals being used as receptacles for urban wastes, sewage effluent, and stormwater runoff. The introduction of contaminants into the canals may affect the water quality. In 1969 the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Broward County Pollution Control Board and the South Florida Water Management District, began to monitor the water-quality in canals of eastern Broward County. This report presents selected water-quality data collected from the canals, October 1974 through September 1978, in eastern Broward County. (Kosco-USGS)

Contributions of wastewater, runoff and sewer deposit erosion to wet weather pollutant loads in combined sewer systems.

PubMed

Gasperi, J; Gromaire, M C; Kafi, M; Moilleron, R; Chebbo, G

2010-12-01

An observatory of urban pollutants was created in Paris for the purpose of assessing the dynamics of wastewater and wet weather flow (WW and WWF) pollutant loads within combined sewers. This observatory is composed of six urban catchments, covering land areas ranging in size from 42 ha to 2581 ha. For a wide array of parameters including total suspended solids (TSS), chemical and biochemical oxygen demand (COD and BOD(5)), total organic carbon (TOC), total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), heavy metals (Cu and Zn) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), this article is intended to evaluate the contributions of wastewater, runoff and in-sewer processes to WWF pollutant loads through the use of an entry-exit mass balance approach. To achieve this objective, a total of 16 rain events were sampled on these sites between May 2003 and February 2006. This study has confirmed that at the considered catchment scale (i.e. from 42 ha to 2581 ha) the production and transfer processes associated with WWF pollutant loads do not vary with basin scale. Entry-exit chemical mass balances over all catchments and for a large number of rain events indicate that wastewater constitutes the main source of organic and nitrogenous pollution, while runoff is the predominant source of Zn. For Cu, PAHs and TSS, the calculation underscores the major role played by in-sewer processes, specifically by sediment erosion, as a source of WWF pollution. A significant loss of dissolved metals was also observed during their transfer within the sewer network, likely as a consequence of the adsorption of dissolved metals on TSS and/or on sewer deposits. Moreover, the nature of eroded particles was examined and compared to the various sewer deposits. This comparison has highlighted that such particles exhibit similar organic and PAH contents to those measured in the organic layer, thus suggesting that the deposit eroded during a wet weather period is organic and of a nature comparable to the organic layer. Despite the extent of initial field investigations, no organic deposit was observed to be present on sewer lines within the catchments, which implies that this organic deposit is probably present in another form or to be found elsewhere in the main trunks. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

First flush characteristics of rainfall runoff from a paddy field in the Taihu Lake watershed, China.

PubMed

Li, Songmin; Wang, Xiaoling; Qiao, Bin; Li, Jiansheng; Tu, Jiamin

2017-03-01

Nonpoint storm runoff remains a major threat to surface water quality in China. As a paddy matures, numerous fertilizers are needed, especially in the rainy seasons; the concentration of nitrogen and phosphorus in rainfall runoff from farmland is much higher than at other times, and this poses a great threat to water bodies and is the main reason for water eutrophication, especially in high concentration drainages. To date, most studies regarding the characteristics of pollutants in rainfall runoff have mainly been concentrated on urban runoff and watershed runoff; therefore, it is particularly important to investigate the characteristics of nitrogen and phosphorus loss in rainfall runoff from paddy fields. To study the characteristics of nitrogen and phosphorus loss and whether the first flush effect exists, continuous monitoring of the rainfall runoff process of six rainfall events was conducted in 2013, of which four rainfall events during storm, high, middle, and low intensity rainfalls were analyzed, and runoff and quality parameters, such as suspended solids (SS), total nitrogen (TN), ammonium nitrogen (NH 4 + -N), nitrate nitrogen (NO 3 - -N), total phosphorus (TP), and phosphate (PO 4 3- -P), were analyzed to determine the relationship between runoff and water quality. The paddy field is located north of Wuxi Lake Basin along the Hejia River upstream in Zhoutie town, Yixing city. An analysis of the load distribution during rainfall runoff was conducted. Event mean concentration (EMC) was used to evaluate the pollution situation of the paddy field's rainfall runoff. A curve of the dimensionless normalized cumulative load (L) vs. normalized cumulative flow (F) (L-F curve), the probability of the mass first flush (MFFn), and the pollutants carried by the initial 25% of runoff (FF 25 ) were used to analyze the first flush effect of the paddy field runoff, and different contaminants show different results: the concentration of nitrogen and phosphorus fluctuate and follow a similar trend as runoff changes, NO 3 - -N concentration is lower in the early part of runoff and higher in the later, and TP mainly occurs in the particle state in storm runoff and mainly in the dissolved state when the rainfall intensity is smaller. Nitrogen and phosphorus losses from paddy fields are closely related to the average rainfall intensity and the max rainfall intensity, and the runoff loss of nitrogen and phosphorus is more severe when the rainfall intensity is large. Based on an analysis of multiple methodologies, TN and NH 4 + -N show a certain degree of a first flush effect, whereas the first flush effect of TP is not obvious. The first flush effect of SS is obvious in larger intensity rainfall and shows a slight secondary flush effect in smaller rainfall events.

Land cover controls on summer discharge and runoff solution chemistry of semi-arid urban catchments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gallo, Erika L.; Brooks, Paul D.; Lohse, Kathleen A.; McLain, Jean E. T.

2013-04-01

SummaryRecharge of urban runoff to groundwater as a stormwater management practice has gained importance in semi-arid regions where water resources are scarce and urban centers are growing. Despite this trend, the importance of land cover in controlling semi-arid catchment runoff quantity and quality remains unclear. Here we address the question: How do land cover characteristics control the amount and quality of storm runoff in semi-arid urban catchments? We monitored summertime runoff quantity and quality from five catchments dominated by distinct urban land uses: low, medium, and high density residential, mixed use, and commercial. Increasing urban land cover increased runoff duration and the likelihood that a rainfall event would result in runoff, but did not increase the time to peak discharge of episodic runoff. The effect of urban land cover on hydrologic responses was tightly coupled to the magnitude of rainfall. At distinct rainfall thresholds, roads, percent impervious cover and the stormwater drainage network controlled runoff frequency, runoff depth and runoff ratios. Contrary to initial expectations, runoff quality did not vary in repose to impervious cover or land use. We identified four major mechanisms controlling runoff quality: (1) variable solute sourcing due to land use heterogeneity and above ground catchment connectivity; (2) the spatial extent of pervious and biogeochemically active areas; (3) the efficiency of overland flow and runoff mobilization; and (4) solute flushing and dilution. Our study highlights the importance of the stormwater drainage systems characteristics in controlling urban runoff quantity and quality; and suggests that enhanced wetting and in-stream processes may control solute sourcing and retention. Finally, we suggest that the characteristics of the stormwater drainage system should be integrated into stormwater management approaches.

[Advances in low impact development technology for urban stormwater management].

PubMed

Liu, Wen; Chen, Wei-ping; Peng, Chi

2015-06-01

Low impact development ( LID), as an innovative technology for stormwater management, is effective to mitigate urban flooding and to detain pollutants. This paper systemically introduced the LID technology system, and summarized the reduction effects of three typical LID facilities (i.e. , bio-retention, green roof and permeable pavement) on stormwater runoff and main pollutants in recent literature, as well as research outcomes and experiences of LID technology on model simulation, cost-benefit analysis and management system. On this basis, we analyzed the problems and limitations of current LID technology studies. Finally, some suggestions about future research directions, appropriate design and scientific management were put forth. This work intended to provide scientific basis and suggestions for widespread use and standard setting of LID technology in China by referencing overseas studies.

Use of the AGNPS model to assess impacts of development and best management practices in an urban watershed

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cross, J. A.

2006-12-01

A Geographical Information System (GIS) is an invaluable tool in the estimation of land use changes and spatial variability in urban areas. (Non-Point Source (NPS) models provide hypothetical opportunities to assess impacts which storm water management strategies and land use changes have on watersheds by predicting loadings on a watershed scale. This study establishes a methodology for analyzing land use changes and management associated with them by utilizing a GIS analysis of impervious surfaces and AGricultural Non- Point Source (AGNPS) modeling. The GIS analysis of Total Impervious Area (TIA) was used to quantify increases in development and provided land use data for use in AGNPS modeling in a small artificially- delineated urban watershed. AGNPS modeling was executed in several different scenarios to predict changes in NPS loadings associated with increases in TIA and its subsequent management in a small artificially- delineated urban watershed. Data editing, creation and extracting was completed using ArcView (3.2) GeoMedia (6) GIS systems. The GIS analysis quantified the increase in urbanization via TIA within the Bluebonnet Swamp Watershed (BSW) in East Baton Rouge Parish (EBRP), Louisiana. The BSW had significant increases in urbanization in the 8 year time span of 1996 2004 causing and increase in quantity and decrease in quality of subsequent runoff. Datasets made available from the GIS analysis included TIA and the change in percentage from 1996 to 2004. This information is fundamental for the AGNPS model because it was used to calculate TIA percentages within each AGNPS cell. A 30 year daily climate file was used to execute AGNPS in different land use and storm water management scenarios within the 1100 acre BSW. Runoff qualities and quantities were then compared for different periods of 1996 and 2004. Predictions of sediment, erosion and runoff were compared according by scenario year. Management practices were also simulated by changing the Runoff Curve Number (RCN) within AGNPS and their results were also compared. This study provides an aid to planners and managers in estimating increases in urbanization by artificially- delineated watershed. It also in illustrates how to use AGNPS to predict NPS pollution and the influence that change in TIA, land use and storm water management strategies have on sediment loadings, erosion and runoff in a watershed.

Hydrologists in the City: Re-envisioning How We Manage Water in Urban Areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McPhillips, L. E.

2014-12-01

As the footprint of our urban areas expands, so does our manipulation of the hydrology. For decades we have channeled runoff into storm sewers, wreaking havoc on downstream water bodies with pulses of polluted stormwater. Recently, there has been a push for 'green infrastructure' to replace this hard, grey infrastructure, where green infrastructure- from rain gardens to green roofs to restored riparian areas- would detain stormwater and promote pollutant removal, in addition to a plethora of other ecosystem services. Primarily, it has been landscape architects, engineers, and urban planners who have jumped on the green infrastructure bandwagon. I believe there is also a niche for hydrologists and biogeochemists in re-envisioning how we manage stormwater in urban areas. Developed areas may not be as enticing as a remote mountain field site and their hydrology may be a lot more complicated to model than that of a forest hillslope, but these areas are where the majority of people live and where we could have a great impact on informing better water management practices. In collaboration with more applied fields like landscape architecture and engineering, we can provide crucial insight on existing hydrology as well as how certain green infrastructure or other alternative considerations could support a more sustainable and resilient city, particularly in the face of climate change. Our knowledge on landscape hydrological processes and biogeochemical cycling- combined with the expertise of these other fields- can inform design of truly multi-functional green infrastructure that can effectively manage storm runoff in addition to providing wildlife habitat, carbon sequestration, improved aesthetics, and even an opportunity to engage with citizens. While there are certainly some hydrologists that have recognized this opportunity, I hope to see many more pursuing research and seeking solutions for better management of water in urbanized areas.

Ground water pollution by roof runoff infiltration evidenced with multi-tracer experiments.

PubMed

Ammann, Adrian A; Hoehn, Eduard; Koch, Sabine

2003-03-01

The infiltration of urban roof runoff into well permeable subsurface material may have adverse effects on the ground water quality and endanger drinking water resources. Precipitation water from three different roofs of an industrial complex was channelled to a pit and infiltrated into a perialpine glaciofluvial gravel-and-sand aquifer. A shaft was constructed at the bottom of the pit and equipped with an array of TDR probes, lysimeters and suction cups that allowed measuring and sampling soil water at different depths. A fast infiltration flow was observed during natural rainfall events and during artificial infiltration experiments. For a better understanding of the behaviour of contaminants, experiments were conducted with cocktails of compounds of different reactivity (ammonium, strontium, atratone) and of non-reactive tracers (uranine, bromide, naphthionate), which represent different classes of pollutants. The experiment identified cation exchange reactions influencing the composition of the infiltrating water. These processes occurred under preferential flow conditions in macropores of the material. Measuring concentration changes under the controlled inflow of tracer experiments, the pollution potential was found to be high. Non-reactive tracers exhibited fast breakthrough and little sorption.

Impact of Climate Variability and Landscape Patterns on Water Budget and Nutrient Loads in a Peri-urban Watershed: A Coupled Analysis Using Process-based Hydrological Model and Landscape Indices.

PubMed

Li, Chongwei; Zhang, Yajuan; Kharel, Gehendra; Zou, Chris B

2018-06-01

Nutrient discharge into peri-urban streams and reservoirs constitutes a significant pressure on environmental management, but quantitative assessment of non-point source pollution under climate variability in fast changing peri-urban watersheds is challenging. Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was used to simulate water budget and nutrient loads for landscape patterns representing a 30-year progression of urbanization in a peri-urban watershed near Tianjin metropolis, China. A suite of landscape pattern indices was related to nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) loads under dry and wet climate using CANOCO redundancy analysis. The calibrated SWAT model was adequate to simulate runoff and nutrient loads for this peri-urban watershed, with Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient (NSE) and coefficient of determination (R 2 ) > 0.70 and percentage bias (PBIAS) between -7 and +18 for calibration and validation periods. With the progression of urbanization, forest remained the main "sink" landscape while cultivated and urban lands remained the main "source" landscapes with the role of orchard and grassland being uncertain and changing with time. Compared to 1984, the landscape use pattern in 2013 increased nutrient discharge by 10%. Nutrient loads modelled under wet climate were 3-4 times higher than that under dry climate for the same landscape pattern. Results indicate that climate change could impose a far greater impact on runoff and nutrient discharge in a peri-urban watershed than landscape pattern change.

Impact of Climate Variability and Landscape Patterns on Water Budget and Nutrient Loads in a Peri-urban Watershed: A Coupled Analysis Using Process-based Hydrological Model and Landscape Indices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Chongwei; Zhang, Yajuan; Kharel, Gehendra; Zou, Chris B.

2018-06-01

Nutrient discharge into peri-urban streams and reservoirs constitutes a significant pressure on environmental management, but quantitative assessment of non-point source pollution under climate variability in fast changing peri-urban watersheds is challenging. Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was used to simulate water budget and nutrient loads for landscape patterns representing a 30-year progression of urbanization in a peri-urban watershed near Tianjin metropolis, China. A suite of landscape pattern indices was related to nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) loads under dry and wet climate using CANOCO redundancy analysis. The calibrated SWAT model was adequate to simulate runoff and nutrient loads for this peri-urban watershed, with Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient (NSE) and coefficient of determination ( R 2) > 0.70 and percentage bias (PBIAS) between -7 and +18 for calibration and validation periods. With the progression of urbanization, forest remained the main "sink" landscape while cultivated and urban lands remained the main "source" landscapes with the role of orchard and grassland being uncertain and changing with time. Compared to 1984, the landscape use pattern in 2013 increased nutrient discharge by 10%. Nutrient loads modelled under wet climate were 3-4 times higher than that under dry climate for the same landscape pattern. Results indicate that climate change could impose a far greater impact on runoff and nutrient discharge in a peri-urban watershed than landscape pattern change.

A new method for modelling roofing materials emissions on the city scale: application for zinc in the City of Créteil (France).

PubMed

Sellami-Kaaniche, Emna; de Gouvello, Bernard; Gromaire, Marie-Christine; Chebbo, Ghassan

2014-04-01

Today, urban runoff is considered as an important source of environmental pollution. Roofing materials, in particular, the metallic ones, are considered as a major source of urban runoff metal contaminations. In the context of the European Water Directive (2000/60 CE), an accurate evaluation of contaminant flows from roofs is thus required on the city scale, and therefore the development of assessment tools is needed. However, on this scale, there is an important diversity of roofing materials. In addition, given the size of a city, a complete census of the materials of the different roofing elements represents a difficult task. Information relating roofing materials and their surfaces on an urban district do not currently exist in urban databases. The objective of this paper is to develop a new method of evaluating annual contaminant flow emissions from the different roofing material elements (e.g., gutter, rooftop) on the city scale. This method is based on using and adapting existing urban databases combined with a statistical approach. Different rules for identifying the materials of the different roofing elements on the city scale have been defined. The methodology is explained through its application to the evaluation of zinc emissions on the scale of the city of Créteil.

Stormwater Runoff: What it is and Why it is Important in Johnson County, Kansas

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rasmussen, Teresa J.; Schmidt, Heather C.

2009-01-01

Stormwater runoff is a leading contributor to pollution in streams, rivers, and lakes in Johnson County, Kansas, and nationwide. Because stormwater runoff contains pollutants from many different sources, decreasing pollution from stormwater runoff is a challenging task. It requires cooperation from residents, businesses, and municipalities. An important step in protecting streams from stormwater pollution is understanding watershed processes, stormwater characteristics, and their combined effects on streams and water quality.

Urbanisation impacts on storm runoff along a rural-urban gradient

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, James David; Hess, Tim

2017-09-01

Urbanisation alters the hydrological response of catchments to storm events and spatial measures of urban extent and imperviousness are routinely used in hydrological modelling and attribution of runoff response to land use changes. This study evaluates whether a measure of catchment urban extent can account for differences in runoff generation from storm events along an rural-urban gradient. We employed a high-resolution monitoring network across 8 catchments in the south of the UK - ranging from predominantly rural to heavily urbanised - over a four year period, and from this selected 336 storm events. Hydrological response was compared using volume- and scaled time-based hydrograph metrics within a statistical framework that considered the effect of antecedent soil moisture. Clear differences were found between rural and urban catchments, however above a certain threshold of urban extent runoff volume was relatively unaffected by changes and runoff response times were highly variable between catchments due to additional hydraulic controls. Results indicate a spatial measure of urbanisation can generally explain differences in the hydrological response between rural and urban catchments but is insufficient to explain differences between urban catchments along an urban gradient. Antecedent soil moisture alters the volume and timing of runoff generated in catchments with large rural areas, but was not found to affect the runoff response where developed areas are much greater. The results of this study suggest some generalised relationships between urbanisation and storm runoff are not represented in observed storm events and point to limitations in using a simplified representations of the urban environment for attribution of storm runoff in small urban catchments. The study points to the need for enhanced hydrologically relevant catchment descriptors specific to small urban catchments and more focused research on the role of urban soils and soil moisture in storm runoff generation in mixed land-use catchments.

Simulating the effect of flow path roughness to examine how green infrastructure restores urban runoff timing and magnitude

Treesearch

Yang Yang; Theodore A. Endreny; David J. Nowak

2015-01-01

Impervious land cover was the choice for many urban development projects in order to accelerate runoff and reduce the depth and duration of local flooding, however this led to increases in downstream runoff characterized by large, flashy peak flows. Urban ecosystem restoration now involves slowing down urban runoff to restore local hydrology with green infrastructure,...

Pesticides in storm runoff from agricultural and urban areas in the Tuolumne River basin in the vicinity of Modesto, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kratzer, Charles R.

1998-01-01

The occurrence, concentrations, and loads of dissolved pesticides in storm runoff were compared for two contrasting land uses in the Tuolumne River Basin, California, during two different winter storms: agricultural areas (February 1994) and the Modesto urban area (February 1995). Both storms followed the main application period of pesticides on dormant almond orchards. Eight samples of runoff from agricultural areas were collected from a Tuolumne River site, and 10 samples of runoff from urban areas were collected from five storm drains. All samples were analyzed for 46 pesticides. Six pesticides were detected in runoff from agricultural areas, and 15 pesticides were detected in runoff from urban areas. Chlorpyrifos, diazinon, dacthal (DCPA), metolachlor, and simazine were detected in almost every sample. Median concentrations were higher in the runoff from urban areas for all pesticides except napropamide and simazine. The greater occurrence and concentrations in storm drains is partly attributed to dilution of agricultural runoff by nonstorm base-flow in the Tuolumne River and by storm runoff from nonagricultural and nonurban land. In most cases, the occurrence and relative concentrations of pesticides found in storm runoff from agricultural and urban areas were related to reported pesticide application. Pesticide concentrations in runoff from agricultural areas were more variable during the storm hydrograph than were concentrations in runoff from urban areas. All peak pesticide concentrations in runoff from agricultural areas occurred during the rising limb of the storm hydrograph, whereas peak concentrations in the storm drains occurred at varying times during the storm hydrograph. Transport of pesticides from agricultural areas during the February 1994 storm exceeded transport from urban areas during the February 1995 storm for chlorpyrifos, diazinon, metolachlor, napropamide, and simazine. Transport of DCPA was about the same from agricultural and urban sources, and the main source of transport for the other pesticides could not be determined because of concentrations less than the method detection limit.

23S rRNA gene-based enterococci community signatures in Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana, USA, following urban runoff inputs after Hurricane Katrina.

PubMed

Bae, Hee-Sung; Hou, Aixin

2013-02-01

Little is known about the impacts of fecal polluted urban runoff inputs on the structure of enterococci communities in estuarine waters. This study employed a 23S rRNA gene-based polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay with newly designed genus-specific primers, Ent127F-Ent907R, to determine the possible impacts of Hurricane Katrina floodwaters via the 17th Street Canal discharge on the community structure of enterococci in Lake Pontchartrain. A total of 94 phylotypes were identified through the restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) screening of 494 clones while only 8 phylotypes occurred among 88 cultivated isolates. Sequence analyses of representative phylotypes and their temporal and spatial distribution in the lake and the canal indicated the Katrina floodwater input introduced a large portion of Enterococcus flavescens, Enterococcus casseliflavus, and Enterococcus dispar into the lake; typical fecal groups Enterococcus faecium, Enterococcus durans, Enterococcus hirae, and Enterococcus mundtii were detected primarily in the floodwater-impacted waters. This study provides a global picture of enterococci in estuarine waters impacted by Hurricane Katrina-derived urban runoff. It also demonstrates the culture-independent PCR approach using 23S rRNA gene as a molecular marker could be a good alternative in ecological studies of enterococci in natural environments to overcome the limitation of conventional cultivation methods.

Weathering steel as a potential source for metal contamination: Metal dissolution during 3-year of field exposure in a urban coastal site.

PubMed

Raffo, Simona; Vassura, Ivano; Chiavari, Cristina; Martini, Carla; Bignozzi, Maria C; Passarini, Fabrizio; Bernardi, Elena

2016-06-01

Surface and building runoff can significantly contribute to the total metal loading in urban runoff waters, with potential adverse effects on the receiving ecosystems. The present paper analyses the corrosion-induced metal dissolution (Fe, Mn, Cr, Ni, Cu) from weathering steel (Cor-Ten A) with or without artificial patinas, exposed for 3 years in unsheltered conditions at a marine urban site (Rimini, Italy). The influence of environmental parameters, atmospheric pollutants and surface finish on the release of dissolved metals in rain was evaluated, also by means of multivariate analysis (two-way and three-way Principal Component Analysis). In addition, surface and cross-section investigations were performed so as to monitor the patina evolution. The contribution provided by weathering steel runoff to the dissolved Fe, Mn and Ni loading at local level is not negligible and pre-patination treatments seem to worsen the performance of weathering steel in term of metal release. Metal dissolution is strongly affected by extreme events and shows seasonal variations, with different influence of seasonal parameters on the behaviour of bare or artificially patinated steel, suggesting that climate changes could significantly influence metal release from this alloy. Therefore, it is essential to perform a long-term monitoring of the performance, the durability and the environmental impact of weathering steel. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Characterising urban zinc generation to identify surface pollutant hotspots in a low intensity rainfall climate.

PubMed

Charters, F J; Cochrane, T A; O'Sullivan, A D

2017-09-01

Characterising stormwater runoff quality provides useful insights into the dynamics of pollutant generation and wash off rates. These can be used to prioritise stormwater management strategies. This study examined the effects of a low intensity rainfall climate on zinc contributions from different impermeable urban surface types. First flush (FF) and steady state samples were collected from seven different surfaces for characterisation, and the data were also used to calibrate an event-based pollutant load model to predict individual 'hotspot' surfaces across the catchment. Unpainted galvanised roofs generated very high concentrations of zinc, primarily in the more biologically available dissolved form. An older, unpainted galvanised roof had FF concentrations averaging 32,338 μg/L, while the new unpainted roof averaged 4,782 μg/L. Roads and carparks also had elevated zinc, but FF concentrations averaged only 822-1,584 μg/L. Modelling and mapping expected zinc loads from individual impermeable surfaces across the catchment identified specific commercial roof surfaces to be targeted for zinc management. The results validate a policy strategy to replace old galvanised roof materials and avoid unpainted galvanised roofing in future urban development for better urban water quality outcomes. In the interim, readily-implemented treatment options are required to help mitigate chronic zinc impacts on receiving waterways.

A traditional first flush assessment of E. coli in urban stormwater runoff.

PubMed

McCarthy, D T

2009-01-01

The behaviour of microorganisms in urban stormwater should be thoroughly investigated and understood to (a) design treatment technologies that can reduce the human health risks of utilising stormwater and (b) develop models which can accurately predict the levels of microorganisms in urban stormwater to aid in health risk assessments. A crucial part of understanding the behaviour of pollutants in urban stormwater is to determine whether the pollutant experiences higher levels in certain portions of the event (e.g. does the pollutant experience a first flush?). The aim of this paper is twofold: (a) determine if the first flush phenomenon exists for a commonly used microbial indicator, Escherichia coli, and (b) determine whether the presence of a first flush is dependent on antecedent climatic and/or hydrologic characteristics. E. coli data collected from the wet weather flows of four urban catchments in Melbourne was used in the paper. Cumulative mass versus volume curves were used in conjunction with standard statistical inferences to determine that the first flush phenomenon was not consistently present, and that the presence and magnitude of a first flush varied considerably between each site. Regression analyses were used to determine that this variation was probably not caused by the same governing processes for all four sites, with different explanatory variables significantly explaining the first flush at each site.

Hydrologic data for urban storm runoff in the Denver metropolitan area, Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gibbs, Johnnie W.; Doefer, John T.

1982-01-01

Urban storm-runoff data collected from April through September 1981 from nine Denver Nationwide Urban Runoff Program sites, urban storm-runoff data collected from April 1980 through September 1981 from ten South Platte River Study sites, and rainfall-runoff simulation data from two sites for June 1980 and May 1981 are presented in this report. The Denver Nationwide Urban Runoff Program sites were two single-family residential areas, two multifamily residential areas, one commercial area (shopping center), one mixed commercial and multifamily residential area, one natural area (open space), and two detention ponds. The South Platte River Study sites were six tributaries of the South Platte River and four instream sites on the South Platte River. The tributary sites were Bear Creek at mouth, at Sheridan; Harvard Gulch at Harvard Park, at Denver; Sanderson Gulch at mouth, at Denver; Weir Gulch at mouth, at Denver; Lakewood Gulch at mouth, at Denver; and Cherry Creek at Denver. The instream sites were South Platte River at Littleton; South Platte River at Florida Avenue, at Denver; South Platte River at Denver; and South Platte River at 50th Avenue, at Denver. The rainfall-runoff simulation sites were North Avenue at Denver Federal Center, at Lakewood and Rooney Gulch at Rooney Ranch, near Morrison. Precipitation, rainfall-runoff, water-quality data, and basin characteristics were collected at the urban storm-runoff sites. The urban storm-runoff data may be used to characterize runoff loading for various land-use types in Denver and other semiarid regions. (USGS)

On-site infiltration of a copper roof runoff: role of clinoptilolite as an artificial barrier material.

PubMed

Athanasiadis, Konstantinos; Helmreich, Brigitte; Horn, Harald

2007-08-01

On-site infiltration may be considered as a promising way of managing rainwater runoffs in urban areas, provided the hydrological and ecological conditions allow infiltration, and provided there is adequate treatment of the contaminants to avoid a risk of soil and groundwater pollution. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of the application of a new technical infiltration system equipped with clinoptilolite as an artificial barrier material for the treatment of the copper roof runoff of the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, Germany. During the 2-yr sampling period, 30 rain events were examined. The cover material of the roof and the drainage system was responsible for the high copper concentrations in the roof runoff. The rain height and the rain intensity were of great significance regarding the establishment of the copper runoff rate. The technical infiltration system applied was able to reduce the copper from the roof runoff by a factor up to 96%. The mean measured copper concentration in percolation water was lower than the critical value of 50 microg/l set by the German Federal Soil Protection Act and Ordinance, indicating no risk for soil and groundwater contamination.

Modeling the Ecosystem Services Provided by Trees in Urban Ecosystems: Using Biome-BGC to Improve i-Tree Eco

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brown, Molly E.; McGroddy, Megan; Spence, Caitlin; Flake, Leah; Sarfraz, Amna; Nowak, David J.; Milesi, Cristina

2012-01-01

As the world becomes increasingly urban, the need to quantify the effect of trees in urban environments on energy usage, air pollution, local climate and nutrient run-off has increased. By identifying, quantifying and valuing the ecological activity that provides services in urban areas, stronger policies and improved quality of life for urban residents can be obtained. Here we focus on two radically different models that can be used to characterize urban forests. The i-Tree Eco model (formerly UFORE model) quantifies ecosystem services (e.g., air pollution removal, carbon storage) and values derived from urban trees based on field measurements of trees and local ancillary data sets. Biome-BGC (Biome BioGeoChemistry) is used to simulate the fluxes and storage of carbon, water, and nitrogen in natural environments. This paper compares i-Tree Eco's methods to those of Biome-BGC, which estimates the fluxes and storage of energy, carbon, water and nitrogen for vegetation and soil components of the ecosystem. We describe the two models and their differences in the way they calculate similar properties, with a focus on carbon and nitrogen. Finally, we discuss the implications of further integration of these two communities for land managers such as those in Maryland.

Prioritising and planning of urban stormwater treatment in the Alna watercourse in Oslo.

PubMed

Nordeidet, B; Nordeide, T; Astebøl, S O; Hvitved-Jacobsen, T

2004-12-01

The Oslo municipal Water and Sewage Works (VAV) intends to improve the water quality in the Alna watercourse, in particular, with regards to the biological diversity. In order to reduce existing discharges of polluted urban stormwater, a study has been carried out to rank subcatchment areas in descending order of magnitude and to assess possible measures. An overall ranking methodology was developed in order to identify and select the most suitable subcatchment areas for further assessment studies (74 subcatchment/drainage areas). The municipality's comprehensive geographical information system (GIS) was applied as a base for the ranking. A weighted ranking based on three selected parameters was chosen from several major influencing factors, namely total yearly discharge (kg pollution/year), specific pollution discharge (kg/area/year) and existing stormwater system (pipe lengths/area). Results show that the highest 15 ranked catchment areas accounted for 70% of the total calculated pollution load of heavy metals. The highest ranked areas are strongly influenced by three major highways. Based on the results from similar field studies, it would be possible to remove 75-85% of total solids and about 50-80% of heavy metals using wet detention ponds as Best Available Technology (BAT). Based on the final ranking, two subcatchment areas were selected for further practical assessment of possible measures. VAV plans to use wet detention ponds, in combination with other measures when relevant, to treat the urban runoff. Using calculated loading and aerial photographs (all done in the same GIS environment), a preliminary sketch design and location of ponds were performed. The resulting GIS methodology for urban stormwater management will be used as input to a holistic and long-term planning process for the management of the watercourse, taking into account future urban development and other pollution sources.

The development of an ecological approach to manage the pollution risk from highway runoff.

PubMed

Crabtree, B; Dempsey, P; Johnson, I; Whitehead, M

2009-01-01

In the UK, the Highways Agency is responsible for operating, maintaining and improving the strategic road network in England. One focus of the Highways Agency's ongoing research into the nature and impact of highway runoff is aimed at ensuring that the Highways Agency will meet the requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive. A research programme, undertaken in partnership with the Environment Agency, is in progress to develop a better understanding of pollutants in highway runoff and their ecological impact. The paper presents the outcome of a study to: (1) monitor pollutants in highway runoff under different climate and traffic conditions; (2) develop standards to assess potential ecological risks from soluble pollutants in highway runoff; and (3) develop a model to predict pollutant concentrations in highway runoff. The model has been embedded in a design tool incorporating risk assessment procedures and receiving water standards for soluble and insoluble pollutants--the latter has been developed elsewhere in another project within the research programme. The design tool will be used to support improved guidance on where, and to what level, treatment of runoff is required for highway designers to manage the risk of ecological impact from highway runoff.

Evaluation of accuracy of linear regression models in predicting urban stormwater discharge characteristics.

PubMed

Madarang, Krish J; Kang, Joo-Hyon

2014-06-01

Stormwater runoff has been identified as a source of pollution for the environment, especially for receiving waters. In order to quantify and manage the impacts of stormwater runoff on the environment, predictive models and mathematical models have been developed. Predictive tools such as regression models have been widely used to predict stormwater discharge characteristics. Storm event characteristics, such as antecedent dry days (ADD), have been related to response variables, such as pollutant loads and concentrations. However it has been a controversial issue among many studies to consider ADD as an important variable in predicting stormwater discharge characteristics. In this study, we examined the accuracy of general linear regression models in predicting discharge characteristics of roadway runoff. A total of 17 storm events were monitored in two highway segments, located in Gwangju, Korea. Data from the monitoring were used to calibrate United States Environmental Protection Agency's Storm Water Management Model (SWMM). The calibrated SWMM was simulated for 55 storm events, and the results of total suspended solid (TSS) discharge loads and event mean concentrations (EMC) were extracted. From these data, linear regression models were developed. R(2) and p-values of the regression of ADD for both TSS loads and EMCs were investigated. Results showed that pollutant loads were better predicted than pollutant EMC in the multiple regression models. Regression may not provide the true effect of site-specific characteristics, due to uncertainty in the data. Copyright © 2014 The Research Centre for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Review on physical and chemical characterizations of contaminated sediments from urban stormwater infiltration basins within the framework of the French observatory for urban hydrology (SOERE URBIS).

PubMed

El-Mufleh, Amelène; Béchet, Béatrice; Ruban, Véronique; Legret, Michel; Clozel, Blandine; Barraud, Sylvie; Gonzalez-Merchan, Carolina; Bedell, Jean-Philippe; Delolme, Cécile

2014-04-01

Urban stormwater infiltration basins are designed to hold runoff from impervious surfaces and allow the settling of sediments and associated pollutants. However concerns have been expressed about the environmental impacts that may be exerted by the trapped pollutants on groundwater, soils and ecosystems. In this context, sediment characterization represents a key issue for local authorities in terms of management strategies. During the last two decades, several studies were launched including either physical or chemical characterization of stormwater sediments but without real synthesis of data and methods used. Consequently, there is an important need for reviewing the current experimental techniques devoted to the physico-chemical characterization of sediment. The review is based on the outcomes of two experimental sites for which long term monitoring and data collection have been done: the Cheviré basin (near Nantes) and the Django Reinhardt basin (near Lyon). The authors summarize the studies dealing with bulk properties, pollutant contents, their potential mobility and speciation. This paper aims at promoting the significant progresses that were made through a multidisciplinary approach involving multi-scaled and combined experimental techniques.

[Analysis on nitrogen and phosphorus loading of non-point sources in Shiqiao river watershed based on L-THIA model].

PubMed

Li, Kai; Zeng, Fan-Tang; Fang, Huai-Yang; Lin, Shu

2013-11-01

Based on the Long-term Hydrological Impact Assessment (L-THIA) model, the effect of land use and rainfall change on nitrogen and phosphorus loading of non-point sources in Shiqiao river watershed was analyzed. The parameters in L-THIA model were revised according to the data recorded in the scene of runoff plots, which were set up in the watershed. The results showed that the distribution of areas with high pollution load was mainly concentrated in agricultural land and urban land. Agricultural land was the biggest contributor to nitrogen and phosphorus load. From 1995 to 2010, the load of major pollutants, namely TN and TP, showed an obviously increasing trend with increase rates of 17.91% and 25.30%, respectively. With the urbanization in the watershed, urban land increased rapidly and its area proportion reached 43.94%. The contribution of urban land to nitrogen and phosphorus load was over 40% in 2010. This was the main reason why pollution load still increased obviously while the agricultural land decreased greatly in the past 15 years. The rainfall occurred in the watershed was mainly concentrated in the flood season, so the nitrogen and phosphorus load of the flood season was far higher than that of the non-flood season and the proportion accounting for the whole year was over 85%. Pearson regression analysis between pollution load and the frequency of different patterns of rainfall demonstrated that rainfall exceeding 20 mm in a day was the main rainfall type causing non-point source pollution.

Enhanced Removal of Nutrients and Trace Organics from Urban Runoff with Novel Capture, Treatment, and Recharge Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ashoori, N.; Planes, M. T.; Lefevre, G.; Sedlak, D.; Luthy, R. G.

2017-12-01

Rapid population growth, urban sprawl and impact of climate change are forcing water-stressed areas to rely on new local sources of water supply. Under this scenario, reclamation of stormwater runoff has emerged as a source for irrigation and replenishing drinking-water groundwater reservoirs. However, urban stormwater can be a significant source of pollutants, including nutrients and organic compounds. In order to overcome the stormwater treatment system limitations, this project has developed a pilot-scale column system for passive treatment of infiltrated water using low-cost, low-energy geomedia. The objective was to provide guidance on the design and operation of systems for controlling nutrient and trace organic contaminant releases to surface waters. The work comprised of replicate column studies in the field to test stormwater treatment modules with various media, such as woodchips and biochar, using urban runoff from a watershed in Sonoma, California. Woodchip bioreactors host an endemic population of microorganisms that can be harnessed to biologically degrade nitrate. The columns amended with biochar enhance removal of organic pollutants present in stormwater through physicochemical processes (i.e., adsorption onto biochar) and biodegradation in the column through increasing retention time. The field columns were conditioned with stormwater for eight months before being spiked weekly with 50 ppb of representative trace organics. The key finding was the successful field demonstration of a novel treatment system for both the removal of nitrate and trace organics. Nitrogen removal was successful in all columns for the thirteen month experiment due to the woodchips being an effective source of carbon for denitrifying microorganisms to convert nitrate to nitrogen gases. As for the trace organics experiments, the results highlight an overall attenuation of the studied trace organic compounds by the columns containing woodchip and biochar throughout the five months of contaminant dosing. By developing a fundamental understanding of the mechanisms of contaminant removal in the laboratory and testing system performance at the test-bed scale, the project advances efforts to improve water quality and augment local water supplies through distributed capture, treatment, and recharge systems.

Trace metals and persistent organic pollutants in sediments from river-reservoir systems in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC): Spatial distribution and potential ecotoxicological effects.

PubMed

Mwanamoki, Paola M; Devarajan, Naresh; Thevenon, Florian; Birane, Niane; de Alencastro, Luiz Felippe; Grandjean, Dominique; Mpiana, Pius T; Prabakar, Kandasamy; Mubedi, Josué I; Kabele, Christophe G; Wildi, Walter; Poté, John

2014-09-01

This paper discusses the occurrence and spatial distribution of metals and persistent organic pollutants (POPs: including organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in sediments from a river-reservoir system. Surface sediments were sampled from thirteen sites of the Congo River Basin and Lake Ma Vallée, both situated in the vicinity of the capital city Kinshasa (Congo Democratic Republic). Sediment qualities were evaluated using toxicity test based on exposing Ostracods to the sediment samples. The highest metal concentrations were observed in sediments subjected to anthropogenic influences, urban runoff and domestic and industrial wastewaters, discharge into the Congo River basin. Ostracods exposed to the sediments resulted in 100% mortality rates after 6d of incubation, indicating the ultimate toxicity of these sediments as well as potential environmental risks. The POPs and PAHs levels in all sediment samples were low, with maximum concentration found in the sediments (area of pool Malebo): OCP value ranged from 0.02 to 2.50 with ∑OCPs: 3.3μgkg(-1); PCB ranged from 0.07 to 0.99 with Total PCBs (∑7×4.3): 15.31μgkg(-1); PAH value ranged from 0.12 to 9.39 with ∑PAHs: 63.89μgkg(-1). Our results indicate that the deterioration of urban river-reservoir water quality result mainly from urban stormwater runoff, untreated industrial effluents which discharge into the river-reservoirs, human activities and uncontrolled urbanization. This study represents useful tools incorporated to evaluate sediment quality in river-reservoir systems which can be applied to similar aquatic environments. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Modeling of highway stormwater runoff.

PubMed

Kim, Lee-Hyung; Kayhanian, Masoud; Zoh, Kyung-Duk; Stenstrom, Michael K

2005-09-15

Highways are stormwater intensive landuses since they are impervious and have high pollutant mass emissions from vehicular activity. Vehicle emissions include different pollutants such as heavy metals, oil and grease, particulates from sources such as fuels, brake pad wear and tire wear, and litter. To understand the magnitude and nature of the stormwater emissions, a 3-year study was conducted to quantify stormwater pollutant concentrations, mass emission rates, and the first flush of pollutants. Eight highway sites were monitored over 3 years for a large suite of pollutants. The monitoring protocol emphasized detecting the first flush and quantifying the event mean concentration. Grab and flow-weighted composite samples, rainfall, and runoff data were collected. A new runoff model with four parameters was developed that to describe the first flush of pollutants for a variety of rainfall and runoff conditions. The model was applied to more than 40 events for 8 pollutants, and the parameters were correlated to storm and site conditions, such as total runoff, antecedent dry days, and runoff coefficient. Improved definitions of first flush criteria are also presented.

A new database on urban runoff pollution: comparison of separate and combined sewer systems.

PubMed

Brombach, H; Weiss, G; Fuchs, S

2005-01-01

For a long time people have questioned what the "best" sewer system is for limiting the pollution load released into the receiving waters. In this paper the traditional separate and combined sewer systems are compared using a pollution load balance. The investigation is based on measured concentration data for a range of pollutant parameters in the sewer from the new database "ATV-DVWK Datenpool 2001". The approach also accounted for the wastewater treatment plant outflow which contributes to the total pollutant load considerably. In spite of a number of neglected effects, the results show that the separate system is superior to the combined for some parameters only, such as nutrients, whereas for other parameters, e.g. heavy metals and COD, the combined system yields less total loads. Any uncritical preference of the separate system as a particularly advantageous solution is thus questionable. Individual investigations case by case are recommended.

Alkylphenolic compounds and bisphenol A contamination within a heavily urbanized area: case study of Paris.

PubMed

Cladière, Mathieu; Gasperi, Johnny; Lorgeoux, Catherine; Bonhomme, Céline; Rocher, Vincent; Tassin, Bruno

2013-05-01

This study evaluates the influence of a heavily urbanized area (Paris Metropolitan area), on receiving water contamination by both bisphenol A (BPA) and alkylphenol ethoxylate (APE) biodegradation product. The study began by investigating concentrations within urban sources. In addition to the more commonly studied wastewater treatment plant effluent, wet weather urban sources (including combined sewer overflows, urban runoff, and total atmospheric fallout) were considered. The initial results highlight a significant contamination of all urban sources (from a few nanograms per liter in atmospheric fallout to several micrograms per liter in the other sources) with clearly distinguishable distribution patterns. Secondly, concentration changes along the Seine River from upstream of the Paris Metropolitan area to downstream were investigated. While the concentrations of BPA and nonylphenoxy acetic acid (NP₁EC) increase substantially due to urban sources, the 4-nonylphenol concentrations remain homogeneous along the Seine. These results suggest a broad dissemination of 4-nonylphenol at the scale of the Seine River basin. Moreover, the relationship between pollutant concentrations and Seine River flow was assessed both upstream and downstream of the Paris conurbation. Consequently, a sharp decrease in dissolved NP1EC concentrations relative to Seine River flow underscores the influence of single-point urban pollution on Seine River contamination. Conversely, dissolved 4-nonylphenol concentrations serve to reinforce the hypothesis of its widespread presence at the Seine River basin scale.

Principles for urban stormwater management to protect stream ecosystems

USGS Publications Warehouse

Walsh, Christopher J.; Booth, Derek B.; Burns, Matthew J.; Fletcher, Tim D.; Hale, Rebecca L.; Hoang, Lan N.; Livingston, Grant; Rippy, Megan A.; Roy, Allison; Scoggins, Mateo; Wallace, Angela

2016-01-01

Urban stormwater runoff is a critical source of degradation to stream ecosystems globally. Despite broad appreciation by stream ecologists of negative effects of stormwater runoff, stormwater management objectives still typically center on flood and pollution mitigation without an explicit focus on altered hydrology. Resulting management approaches are unlikely to protect the ecological structure and function of streams adequately. We present critical elements of stormwater management necessary for protecting stream ecosystems through 5 principles intended to be broadly applicable to all urban landscapes that drain to a receiving stream: 1) the ecosystems to be protected and a target ecological state should be explicitly identified; 2) the postdevelopment balance of evapotranspiration, stream flow, and infiltration should mimic the predevelopment balance, which typically requires keeping significant runoff volume from reaching the stream; 3) stormwater control measures (SCMs) should deliver flow regimes that mimic the predevelopment regime in quality and quantity; 4) SCMs should have capacity to store rain events for all storms that would not have produced widespread surface runoff in a predevelopment state, thereby avoiding increased frequency of disturbance to biota; and 5) SCMs should be applied to all impervious surfaces in the catchment of the target stream. These principles present a range of technical and social challenges. Existing infrastructural, institutional, or governance contexts often prevent application of the principles to the degree necessary to achieve effective protection or restoration, but significant potential exists for multiple co-benefits from SCM technologies (e.g., water supply and climate-change adaptation) that may remove barriers to implementation. Our set of ideal principles for stream protection is intended as a guide for innovators who seek to develop new approaches to stormwater management rather than accept seemingly insurmountable historical constraints, which guarantee future, ongoing degradation.

Preservation of natural aquatic ecosystems by application of bottom coal ash based bioreactor for in situ treatment of anthropogenic effluents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anker, Y.; Nisnevitch, M.; Tal, M.; Cahan, R.; Michael, E.

2012-12-01

One consequence of global climate change is recharge decrease at sub tropical and Mediterranean regions to both the surface and the ground fresh water resources. As a general rule, when water source quantity is reduced, the level of salination, as well as chemical and biological pollutants, tends to increase. The situation is more severe whenever the drainage basin is (a) heavily populated from urban, industrial and agricultural areas, (b) has wide areas of thin or non soil cover and (c) has a karstic structure and morphology. These latter conditions are typical to many regions around the Middle East; whereas pollution hazard to Mid Eastern streams is greater than to those in more humid regions owing to their relative small size and poor dilution capacity. The consequence of this ongoing and increasing anthropogenic pollution is endangerment of natural aquatic habitats and due to decrease in fresh water supply availability also to human sustainability. The ecological impact may involve transition of ephemeral (Wadi) streams into intermittent ones with the accompanied biodiversity change or extinction once the pollution is extreme. The impact on indigenous human communities might be as severe owing to drinking water quality decrease and the consequent decrease id quantity as well as damage to dryland farming. In setting of operations applied to the Yarkon Taninim watershed (central Israel) management, a pilot biofilter facility for sustainable preservation and rehabilitation of natural fluvial ecosystems was tested. This biofilter is planned to operate through low impact concept assimilating natural treatment processes occurring during runoff recharge through a porous flow media. The facility is constructed out of several grain sizes of bottom coal ash aggregate, which was found to be a better microbial mats growing stratum, compared to common natural aggregates such as tuff and lime pebbles (and also has an EPA directive for wastewater treatment). The biofilter is operating with initial horizontal flow and continuous vertical circulation through aeration apparatus. Along the flow path several different bio-modules are applied, the sequence consists of aerobic and anaerobic stages, as well as biomass preservation section and fine grain filtration. The pilot biofilter facility was built during the summer of 2009; the influent consisted of domestic wastewater (of the adjacent Ariel University dormitories) and also synthetic aquatic solutions equivalent to urban, industrial, and roads runoff effluents. The biofilter operation evaluation demonstrated significant decrease in pollution loads, including organic, salts and pathogens. The facility's efficiency reached approximately 90% reduction or more, allowing the release of treated runoff without limitation to natural fluvial ecosystems (according to the required regulations). The present stage in the project is implementation of the method and process by application of a full scale pilot facility at a joint between an anthropogenic drainage network, consisting of urban, industrial and motorway runoff collection systems and a typical natural Samaritan fluvial ecosystem. The purpose of the system is to treat these anthropogenic effluents prior to their release into the stream and by that to prevent the negative environmental above mentioned effects.

Contribution and loading estimation of organochlorine pesticides from rain and canopy throughfall to runoff in an urban environment.

PubMed

Zhang, Wei; Ye, Youbin; Tong, Yindong; Ou, Langbo; Hu, Dan; Wang, Xuejun

2011-01-30

Concentrations of OCPs in rain, canopy throughfall, and runoff water were measured in the Beijing metropolitan area during the rainy seasons from 2006 to 2007. This study was conducted to calculate the fluxes of OCPs in rain and canopy throughfall, as well as their contributions to runoff. At urban sites, the contribution of HCB and ΣHCHs from rainfall accounted for approximately 50% of the mass in runoff. At the site with significant coverage of landscaping trees, the HCB, ΣHCHs, and ΣDDTs from the net canopy throughfall accounted for approximately 10% of the mass in the runoff. Based on the data obtained in this study, loadings of OCPs (in μg) in rain, net canopy throughfall, and runoff water were calculated. The input of OCPs from rain and canopy throughfall water accounted for a significant portion of urban runoff. In cities undergoing rapid urban sprawl, monitoring and control of the transport of OCPs in urban runoff are essential for effective control of environmental hazards in surface water bodies. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Atmospheric deposition of selected chemicals and their effect on nonpoint-source pollution in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area, Minnesota

USGS Publications Warehouse

Brown, R.G.

1984-01-01

The atmospheric contribution to nonpoint-source-runoff pollution of nitrogen, in the form of nitrite-plus-nitrate, and lead was extremely high contributing as much as 84 percent of the runoff load. In contrast, phosphorus and chloride inputs were low averaging of 6 percent of the total runoff load. Future investigations of nonpoint-source pollution in runoff might include collection of data on atmospheric deposition of nitrite-plus-nitrate nitrogen and lead because of the importance of that source of these constituents in runoff.

Life cycle implications of urban green infrastructure.

PubMed

Spatari, Sabrina; Yu, Ziwen; Montalto, Franco A

2011-01-01

Low Impact Development (LID) is part of a new paradigm in urban water management that aims to decentralize water storage and movement functions within urban watersheds. LID strategies can restore ecosystem functions and reduce runoff loadings to municipal water pollution control facilities (WPCF). This research examines the avoided energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of select LID strategies using life cycle assessment (LCA) and a stochastic urban watershed model. We estimate annual energy savings and avoided GHG emissions of 7.3 GJ and 0.4 metric tons, respectively, for a LID strategy implemented in a neighborhood in New York City. Annual savings are small compared to the energy and GHG intensity of the LID materials, resulting in slow environmental payback times. This preliminary analysis suggests that if implemented throughout an urban watershed, LID strategies may have important energy cost savings to WPCF, and can make progress towards reducing their carbon footprint. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Treatment of heavy metals by iron oxide coated and natural gravel media in Sustainable urban Drainage Systems.

PubMed

Norris, M J; Pulford, I D; Haynes, H; Dorea, C C; Phoenix, V R

2013-01-01

Sustainable urban Drainage Systems (SuDS) filter drains are simple, low-cost systems utilized as a first defence to treat road runoff by employing biogeochemical processes to reduce pollutants. However, the mechanisms involved in pollution attenuation are poorly understood. This work aims to develop a better understanding of these mechanisms to facilitate improved SuDS design. Since heavy metals are a large fraction of pollution in road runoff, this study aimed to enhance heavy metal removal of filter drain gravel with an iron oxide mineral amendment to increase surface area for heavy metal scavenging. Experiments showed that amendment-coated and uncoated (control) gravel removed similar quantities of heavy metals. Moreover, when normalized to surface area, iron oxide coated gravels (IOCGs) showed poorer metal removal capacities than uncoated gravel. Inspection of the uncoated microgabbro gravel indicated that clay particulates on the surface (a natural product of weathering of this material) augmented heavy metal removal, generating metal sequestration capacities that were competitive compared with IOCGs. Furthermore, when the weathered surface was scrubbed and removed, metal removal capacities were reduced by 20%. When compared with other lithologies, adsorption of heavy metals by microgabbro was 10-70% higher, indicating that both the lithology of the gravel, and the presence of a weathered surface, considerably influence its ability to immobilize heavy metals. These results contradict previous assumptions which suggest that gravel lithology is not a significant factor in SuDS design. Based upon these results, weathered microgabbro is suggested to be an ideal lithology for use in SuDS.

Design and Construction of an Urban Runoff Research Facility

PubMed Central

Wherley, Benjamin G.; White, Richard H.; McInnes, Kevin J.; Fontanier, Charles H.; Thomas, James C.; Aitkenhead-Peterson, Jacqueline A.; Kelly, Steven T.

2014-01-01

As the urban population increases, so does the area of irrigated urban landscape. Summer water use in urban areas can be 2-3x winter base line water use due to increased demand for landscape irrigation. Improper irrigation practices and large rainfall events can result in runoff from urban landscapes which has potential to carry nutrients and sediments into local streams and lakes where they may contribute to eutrophication. A 1,000 m2 facility was constructed which consists of 24 individual 33.6 m2 field plots, each equipped for measuring total runoff volumes with time and collection of runoff subsamples at selected intervals for quantification of chemical constituents in the runoff water from simulated urban landscapes. Runoff volumes from the first and second trials had coefficient of variability (CV) values of 38.2 and 28.7%, respectively. CV values for runoff pH, EC, and Na concentration for both trials were all under 10%. Concentrations of DOC, TDN, DON, PO4-P, K+, Mg2+, and Ca2+ had CV values less than 50% in both trials. Overall, the results of testing performed after sod installation at the facility indicated good uniformity between plots for runoff volumes and chemical constituents. The large plot size is sufficient to include much of the natural variability and therefore provides better simulation of urban landscape ecosystems. PMID:25146420

Liquid filtration properties in gravel foundation of railroad tracks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strelkov, A.; Teplykh, S.; Bukhman, N.

2016-08-01

Railway bed gravel foundation has a constant permanent impact on urban ecology and ground surface. It is only natural that larger objects, such as railway stations, make broader impact. Surface run-off waters polluted by harmful substances existing in railroad track body (ballast section) flow along railroad tracks and within macadam, go down into subterranean ground flow and then enter neighbouring rivers and water basins. This paper presents analytic calculations and characteristics of surface run-off liquid filtration which flows through gravel multiple layers (railroad track ballast section). The authors analyse liquids with various density and viscosity flowing in multi-layer porous medium. The paper also describes liquid stationary and non-stationary weepage into gravel foundation of railroad tracks.

Greywater reuse through a bioretention system prototype in the arid region.

PubMed

Chowdhury, Rezaul K

2015-01-01

The concept of a greywater-fed bioretention system in arid regions was investigated in this study. Bioretention systems are conventionally used as a source control mechanism for urban runoff. Nevertheless, in arid regions, where rain and urban runoff are not an abundant water resource, their application is limited. Greywater (residential wastewater without toilet and kitchen sources) is comparatively less polluted and has the potential for reuse in irrigation and non-potable water uses. However, selection of an appropriate treatment is a challenge. A prototype bioretention system was made and its ability to improve greywater quality was monitored for more than 10 consecutive days. A vegetative and non-vegetative system were monitored separately. After 24 hours of retention in both systems, greywater quality was improved significantly. Both systems performed almost equally well; however, the vegetative system (with canary reed grass, Phalaris arundinacea) was found to be more effective in reducing the sodium and chemical oxygen demand contents. The study revealed that the concept of the greywater-fed bioretention system has the potential to add multi-functional benefits (greywater treatment, water conservation, landscape aesthetic and biodiversity) to the arid regions' urban environment.

Evaluating the effectiveness of management practices on hydrology and water quality at watershed scale with a rainfall-runoff model.

PubMed

Liu, Yaoze; Bralts, Vincent F; Engel, Bernard A

2015-04-01

The adverse influence of urban development on hydrology and water quality can be reduced by applying best management practices (BMPs) and low impact development (LID) practices. This study applied green roof, rain barrel/cistern, bioretention system, porous pavement, permeable patio, grass strip, grassed swale, wetland channel, retention pond, detention basin, and wetland basin, on Crooked Creek watershed. The model was calibrated and validated for annual runoff volume. A framework for simulating BMPs and LID practices at watershed scales was created, and the impacts of BMPs and LID practices on water quantity and water quality were evaluated with the Long-Term Hydrologic Impact Assessment-Low Impact Development 2.1 (L-THIA-LID 2.1) model for 16 scenarios. The various levels and combinations of BMPs/LID practices reduced runoff volume by 0 to 26.47%, Total Nitrogen (TN) by 0.30 to 34.20%, Total Phosphorus (TP) by 0.27 to 47.41%, Total Suspended Solids (TSS) by 0.33 to 53.59%, Lead (Pb) by 0.30 to 60.98%, Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) by 0 to 26.70%, and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) by 0 to 27.52%. The implementation of grass strips in 25% of the watershed where this practice could be applied was the most cost-efficient scenario, with cost per unit reduction of $1m3/yr for runoff, while cost for reductions of two pollutants of concern was $445 kg/yr for Total Nitrogen (TN) and $4871 kg/yr for Total Phosphorous (TP). The scenario with very high levels of BMP and LID practice adoption (scenario 15) reduced runoff volume and pollutant loads from 26.47% to 60.98%, and provided the greatest reduction in runoff volume and pollutant loads among all scenarios. However, this scenario was not as cost-efficient as most other scenarios. The L-THIA-LID 2.1 model is a valid tool that can be applied to various locations to help identify cost effective BMP/LID practice plans at watershed scales. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

EVALUATION OF CONSTRUCTED WETLAND AND RETENTION POND BMPS FOR ATTENUATING MICROBIAL CONTAMINANTS IN URBAN STORMWATER RUNOFF

EPA Science Inventory

This project investigated the use of constructed wetlands and retention ponds for decreasing microbial concentrations from urban stormwater runoff. Increased urbanization has resulted in a larger percentage of impervious areas which cause large quantities of stormwater runoff an...

LABORATORY-SCALE SIMULATION OF RUNOFF RESPONSE FROM PERVIOUS-IMPERVIOUS SYSTEMS

EPA Science Inventory

Urban development yields landscapes that are composites of impervious and pervious areas, with a consequent reduction in infiltration and increase in stormwater runoff. Although basic rainfall-runoff models are used in the vast majority of runoff prediction in urban landscapes, t...

Hydrologic data for urban storm runoff from three localities in the Denver metropolitan area, Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ellis, Sherman R.

1978-01-01

Urban storm-runoff data, collected from 1975 to 1977, on three catchment areas in the Denver, Colo., metropolitan area are presented. The catchment are predominantly a single-family residential catchment area in Littleton, a multifamily residential and commercial catchment area in Lakewood, and a high-density residential and commercial catchment area in Denver. Precipitation, rainfall-runoff, snowmelt-runoff, water-quality (common constituents, nutrients, biochemical oxygen demand, coliform bacteria, and solids, trace elements, and pesticides), and catchment-area data are necessary to use the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 's Storm Water Management Model II. The urban storm-runoff data may be used by planning, water-management, and environmental-protection agencies to assess the impact of urban storm runoff on the hydrologic system. (Woodard-USGS)

Evaluation of undersized bioretention stormwater control measures for treatment of highway bridge deck runoff.

PubMed

Luell, S K; Hunt, W F; Winston, R J

2011-01-01

Two grassed bioretention cells were constructed in the easement of a bridge deck in Knightdale, North Carolina, USA, in October, 2009. One was intentionally undersized ('small'), while the other was full sized ('large') per current North Carolina standards. The large and small cells captured runoff from the 25- and 8-mm events, respectively. Both bioretention cells employed average fill media depths of 0.65 m and internal water storage (IWS) zones of 0.6 m. Flow-proportional, composite water quality samples were collected and analyzed for nitrogen species, phosphorus species, and TSS. During 13 months of data collection, the large cell's median effluent concentrations and loads were less than those from the small cell. The small cell's TN and TSS load reductions were 84 and 50%, respectively, of those achieved by the large cell, with both cells significantly reducing TN and TSS. TP loads were not significantly reduced by either cell, likely due to low TP concentrations in the highway runoff which may have approached irreducible levels. Outflow pollutant loads from the large and small cell were not significantly different from one another for any of the examined pollutants. The small cell's relative performance provides support for retrofitting undersized systems in urbanized areas where there is insufficient space available for conventional full-sized stormwater treatment systems.

Modeling the efficacy of future BMP implementation to improve water quality in the highly urbanized watersheds of Dominguez Channel and Machado Lake in Los Angeles California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gallo, E. M.; Hogue, T. S.; Gold, M.; Mika, K.

2016-12-01

Dominguez Channel and Machado Lake watersheds are located in highly urbanized southern Los Angeles County. The 16 mile long channel that runs through the Dominguez Channel watershed (DCW) captures stormwater from a drainage area of 71 square miles and discharges directly into the Los Angeles Harbor. Machado Lake, located within the Machado Lake watershed (MLW) and directly adjacent to DCW, has a surface area of 40 acres and receives stormwater from 25 square miles. The water quality of receiving streams and waterbodies in DCW and MLW are increasingly polluted from stormwater runoff and highly concentrated areas of industrial activities. The main concern of water impairment within DCW includes copper and zinc while MLW is focused on nutrients, Total Nitrogen and Total Phosphorous. The implementation of Low Impact Developments (LIDs) and stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs) within the watershed aim to mitigate the effects of urbanization by reducing pollutant loads, runoff volume, and storm peak flow. We utilize the EPA System for Urban Stormwater Treatment and Analysis INtegration (SUSTAIN) model in order to assess the impact of BMPs within the DCW and MLW watersheds by forecasting flow regimes and water quality time series data. Six compliance scenarios are simulated in SUSTAIN to assess pollutant load reduction and cost effectiveness. They each utilize a various suite of the five BMPs selected, which include vegetated swales, bioretention cells, dry ponds, infiltration trenches and porous pavement. Preliminary results show that while the six compliance options reduce pollutant loads by at least 73% in DCW, copper and zinc are only 9% and 50% in compliance, respectively, in terms of the wet weather TMDLs. This study further analyzes these results by comparing DCW to other previously modelled watersheds in Los Angeles, including Ballona Creek watershed and the Los Angeles River watershed. Observed water quality sampling from Machado Lake has shown the mean concentrations of nutrients well above the TMDLs. Machado Lake is currently being restored which includes the implementation BMPs. While the DCW is being modeled to determine the best scenarios for future BMP implementation, MLW is modeled to assess the efficacy of current BMPs to meet TMDL compliance.

Rainfall, runoff, and water-quality data for the urban storm-water program in the Albuquerque, New Mexico, metropolitan area, water year 2004

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kelly, Todd; Romero, Orlando; Jimenez, Mike

2006-01-01

Urbanization has dramatically increased precipitation runoff to the system of drainage channels and natural stream channels in the Albuquerque, New Mexico, metropolitan area. Rainfall and runoff data are important for planning and designing future storm-water conveyance channels in newly developing areas. Storm-water quality also is monitored in accordance with the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System mandated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control Authority, the City of Albuquerque, and the U.S. Geological Survey began a cooperative program to collect hydrologic data to assist in assessing the quality and quantity of surface-water resources in the Albuquerque area. This report presents water-quality, streamflow, and rainfall data collected from October 1, 2003, to September 30, 2004 (water year 2004). Also provided is a station analysis for each of the 18 streamflow-gaging sites and 39 rainfall-gaging sites, which includes a description of monitoring equipment, problems associated with data collection during the year, and other information used to compute streamflow discharges or rainfall records. A hydrographic comparison shows the effects that the largest drainage channel in the metropolitan area, the North Floodway Channel, has on total flow in the Rio Grande.

Investigating the influence of heavy metals on macro-invertebrate assemblages using Partial Cononical Correspondence Analysis (pCCA)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beasley, Gary; Kneale, Pauline E.

This paper defines the spectrum of impairment to stream macroinvertebrates arising from urban runoff. Field sampling of stream sediments at 62 sites across Yorkshire, UK was used to investigate the influence of heavy metals and habitat on macroinvertebrate family distribution using partial Canonical Correspondence Analysis (pCCA). Increasing urbanization and trafficking was associated with increasing levels of metal pollution but, even when traffic is light, family numbers can be reduced by 50%. Industrial areas and motorway runoff depress macroinvertebrate numbers but drainage from streets with no off-road parking in residential areas can have similar impacts. The heavy metals in the sediment accounted for approximately 24% of the variation in macroinvertebrate community composition while the physical habitat variables used in RIVPACS (River InVertebrate Prediction And Classification System) (Wright, 2000) accounted for an additional 30%. Zinc and nickel were the main metal influences regardless of the time of sampling; at these sites copper is less than critical. Results agree with those reported in other studies in which families mainly from the orders Ephemeroptera (mayfly), Plecoptera (stonefly) and Tricoptera (caddisfly) displayed metal sensitivity in that they were absent from metal polluted streams. However, within each of these orders, a continuum of sensitivity is evident: this highlights the risks of generalising on orders rather than using family or indeed species data.

[Estimation of urban non-point source pollution loading and its factor analysis in the Pearl River Delta].

PubMed

Liao, Yi-Shan; Zhuo, Mu-Ning; Li, Ding-Qiang; Guo, Tai-Long

2013-08-01

In the Pearl Delta region, urban rivers have been seriously polluted, and the input of non-point source pollution materials, such as chemical oxygen demand (COD), into rivers cannot be neglected. During 2009-2010, the water qualities at eight different catchments in the Fenjiang River of Foshan city were monitored, and the COD loads for eight rivulet sewages were calculated in respect of different rainfall conditions. Interesting results were concluded in our paper. The rainfall and landuse type played important roles in the COD loading, with greater influence of rainfall than landuse type. Consequently, a COD loading formula was constructed that was defined as a function of runoff and landuse type that were derived SCS model and land use map. Loading of COD could be evaluated and predicted with the constructed formula. The mean simulation accuracy for single rainfall event was 75.51%. Long-term simulation accuracy was better than that of single rainfall. In 2009, the estimated COD loading and its loading intensity were 8 053 t and 339 kg x (hm2 x a)(-1), and the industrial land was regarded as the main source of COD pollution area. The severe non-point source pollution such as COD in Fenjiang River must be paid more attention in the future.

Priority pollutants in urban stormwater: part 1 - case of separate storm sewers.

PubMed

Zgheib, Sally; Moilleron, Régis; Chebbo, Ghassan

2012-12-15

Organic and mineral pollutants have become part of today's urban environment. During a rain event, stormwater quality as well as the corresponding contaminant loads is affected by both atmospheric deposition and the various types of impervious surfaces (roads, rooftops, parking lots etc.) on which runoff occurs. This study provides results on stormwater pollution in Paris and its suburbs from three separate storm sewers (n=20 samples). These results show that the stormwater had been contaminated by 55 chemical substances out of the 88 investigated. A particular attention was given to stormwater particle contamination. Concentrations are provided for: metals, PAHs, PCBs, organotins, alkylphenols, phthalates, pesticides, and VOCs. Our findings are among the first available in the literature since the relevant analyses were all conducted on both the particulate (P) and dissolved (D) phases. For most substances, particles from the three storm sewers were more heavily contaminated than dredged sediments and settleable particles from the Seine River. As a consequence of this finding, the release of untreated stormwater discharges may impact the receiving waters and contribute to sediment contamination. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Controls on Biogeochemical Cycling of Nitrogen in Urban Ecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Templer, P. H.; Hutyra, L.; Decina, S.; Rao, P.; Gately, C.

2017-12-01

Rates of atmospheric nitrogen deposition are declining across much of the United States and Europe, yet they remain substantially elevated by almost an order of magnitude over pre-industrial levels and occur as hot spots in urban areas. We measured atmospheric inputs of inorganic and organic nitrogen in multiple urban sites around the Boston Metropolitan area, finding that urban rates are substantially elevated compared to nearby rural areas, and that the range of these atmospheric inputs are as large as observed urban to rural gradients. Within the City of Boston, the variation in deposition fluxes can be explained by traffic intensity, vehicle emissions, and spring fertilizer additions. Throughfall inputs of nitrogen are approximately three times greater than bulk deposition inputs in the city, demonstrating that the urban canopy amplifies rates of nitrogen reaching the ground surface. Similar to many other metropolitan areas of the United States, the City of Boston has 25% canopy cover; however, 25% of this tree canopy is located above impervious pavement. Throughfall inputs that do not have soil below the canopy to retain excess nitrogen may lead to greater inputs of nitrogen into nearby waterways through runoff. Most measurement stations for atmospheric nitrogen deposition are intentionally located away from urban areas and point sources of pollution to capture regional trends. Our data show that a major consequence of this network design is that hotspots of nitrogen deposition and runoff into urban and coastal waterways is likely underestimated to a significant degree. A more complete determination of atmospheric nitrogen deposition and its fate in urban ecosystems is critical for closing regional nitrogen budgets and for improving our understanding of biogeochemical nitrogen cycling across multiple spatial scales.

Evidence of traffic-related pollutant control in soil-based sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS).

PubMed

Napier, F; Jefferies, C; Heal, K V; Fogg, P; Arcy, B J D; Clarke, R

2009-01-01

SUDS are being increasingly employed to control highway runoff and have the potential to protect groundwater and surface water quality by minimising the risks of both point and diffuse sources of pollution. While these systems are effective at retaining polluted solids by filtration and sedimentation processes, less is known of the detail of pollutant behaviour within SUDS structures. This paper reports on investigations carried out as part of a co-ordinated programme of controlled studies and field measurements at soft-engineered SUDS undertaken in the UK, observing the accumulation and behaviour of traffic-related heavy metals, oil and PAHs. The field data presented were collected from two extended detention basins serving the M74 motorway in the south-west of Scotland. Additional data were supplied from an experimental lysimeter soil core leaching study. Results show that basin design influences pollutant accumulation and behaviour in the basins. Management and/or control strategies are discussed for reducing the impact of traffic-related pollutants on the aqueous environment.

Prairie and turf buffer strips for controlling runoff from paved surfaces.

PubMed

Steinke, K; Stier, J C; Kussow, W R; Thompson, A

2007-01-01

Eutrophication of surface waters due to nonpoint source pollution from urban environments has raised awareness of the need to decrease runoff from roads and other impervious surfaces. These concerns have led to precautionary P application restrictions on turf and requirements for vegetative buffer strips. The impacts of two plant communities and three impervious/pervious surface ratios were assessed on runoff water quality and quantity. A mixed forb/grass prairie and a Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) blend were seeded and runoff was monitored and analyzed for total volume, total P, soluble P, soluble organic P, bioavailable P, total suspended solids, and total organic suspended solids. Mean annual runoff volumes, all types of mean annual P nutrient losses, and sediment loads were not significantly affected by treatments because over 80% of runoff occurred during frozen soil conditions. Total P losses from prairie and turf were similar, averaging 1.96 and 2.12 kg ha(-1) yr(-1), respectively. Vegetation appeared to be a likely contributor of nutrients, particularly from prairie during winter dormancy. When runoff occurred during non-frozen soil conditions turf allowed significantly (P < or = 0.10) lower runoff volumes compared with prairie vegetation and the 1:2 and 1:4 impervious/pervious surface ratios had less runoff than the 1:1 ratio (P < or = 0.05). In climates where the majority of runoff occurs during frozen ground conditions, vegetative buffers strips alone are unlikely to dramatically reduce runoff and nutrient loading into surface waters. Regardless of vegetation type or size, natural nutrient biogeochemical cycling will cause nutrient loss in surface runoff waters, and these values may represent baseline thresholds below which values cannot be obtained.

Denitrification controls in urban riparian soils: implications for reducing urban nonpoint source nitrogen pollution.

PubMed

Li, Yangjie; Chen, Zhenlou; Lou, Huanjie; Wang, Dongqi; Deng, Huanguang; Wang, Chu

2014-09-01

The purpose of this research was to thoroughly analyze the influences of environmental factors on denitrification processes in urban riparian soils. Besides, the study was also carried out to identify whether the denitrification processes in urban riparian soils could control nonpoint source nitrogen pollution in urban areas. The denitrification rates (DR) over 1 year were measured using an acetylene inhibition technique during the incubation of intact soil cores from six urban riparian sites, which could be divided into three types according to their vegetation. The soil samples were analyzed to determine the soil organic carbon (SOC), soil total nitrogen (STN), C/N ratio, extractable NO3 (-)-N and NH4 (+)-N, pH value, soil water content (SWC), and the soil nitrification potential to evaluate which of these factors determined the final outcome of denitrification. A nitrate amendment experiment further indicated that the riparian DR was responsive to added nitrate. Although the DRs were very low (0.099 ~ 33.23 ng N2O-N g(-1) h(-1)) due to the small amount of nitrogen moving into the urban riparian zone, the spatial and temporal patterns of denitrification differed significantly. The extractable NO3 (-)-N proved to be the dominant factor influencing the spatial distribution of denitrification, whereas the soil temperature was a determinant of the seasonal DR variation. The six riparian sites could also be divided into two types (a nitrate-abundant and a nitrate-stressed riparian system) according to the soil NO3 (-)-N concentration. The DR in nitrate-abundant riparian systems was significantly higher than that in the nitrate-stressed riparian systems. The DR in riparian zones that were covered with bushes and had adjacent cropland was higher than in grass-covered riparian sites. Furthermore, the riparian DR decreased with soil depth, which was mainly attributed to the concentrated nitrate in surface soils. The DR was not associated with the SOC, STN, C/N ratio, and pH. Nitrate supply and temperature finally decided the spatiotemporal distribution patterns of urban riparian denitrification. Considering both the low DR of existing riparian soils and the significance of nonpoint source nitrogen pollution, the substantial denitrification potential of urban riparian soils should be utilized to reduce nitrogen pollution using proper engineering measures that would collect the polluted urban rainfall runoff and make it flow through the riparian zones.

Urban Forest Ecosystem Service Optimization, Tradeoffs, and Disparities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bodnaruk, E.; Kroll, C. N.; Endreny, T. A.; Hirabayashi, S.; Yang, Y.

2014-12-01

Urban land area and the proportion of humanity living in cities is growing, leading to increased urban air pollution, temperature, and stormwater runoff. These changes can exacerbate respiratory and heat-related illnesses and affect ecosystem functioning. Urban trees can help mitigate these threats by removing air pollutants, mitigating urban heat island effects, and infiltrating and filtering stormwater. The urban environment is highly heterogeneous, and there is no tool to determine optimal locations to plant or protect trees. Using spatially explicit land cover, weather, and demographic data within biophysical ecosystem service models, this research expands upon the iTree urban forest tools to produce a new decision support tool (iTree-DST) that will explore the development and impacts of optimal tree planting. It will also heighten awareness of environmental justice by incorporating the Atkinson Index to quantify disparities in health risks and ecosystem services across vulnerable and susceptible populations. The study area is Baltimore City, a location whose urban forest and environmental justice concerns have been studied extensively. The iTree-DST is run at the US Census block group level and utilizes a local gradient approach to calculate the change in ecosystem services with changing tree cover across the study area. Empirical fits provide ecosystem service gradients for possible tree cover scenarios, greatly increasing the speed and efficiency of the optimization procedure. Initial results include an evaluation of the performance of the gradient method, optimal planting schemes for individual ecosystem services, and an analysis of tradeoffs and synergies between competing objectives.

Source or Sink: Investigating the role of storm water retention ponds in the urban landscape (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lev, S.; Casey, R.; Ownby, D.; Snodgrass, J.

2009-12-01

The impact of human activities on surface water, groundwater and soil is nowhere more apparent than in urban and suburban systems. Dramatic changes to watersheds in urbanizing areas have led to changes in hydrology and an associated increase in the flux of sediment and contaminants to surface and ground waters. In an effort to mediate these impacts, Best Management Practices (BMP) have been established in order to increase infiltration of runoff and trap sediment and particulates derived from impervious surfaces before they enter surface waters. Perhaps the most ubiquitous BMP are storm water retention ponds. While these structures are designed to reduce runoff and particulate loading to urban streams, their addition to the urban landscape has created a large number of new wetland habitats. In the Red Run watershed, just outside of Baltimore, Maryland, 186 discrete natural or man-made wetland areas have been identified. Of these 186 wetland areas, 165 were created to manage stormwater and most were specifically designed as stormwater management ponds (i.e., human-created basins or depressions that hold runoff for some period during the annual hydrological year). Despite their abundance in the landscape, very little is known about how these systems impact the flux of stormwater pollutants or affect the organisms using these ponds as habitat. Results from a series of related projects in the Red Run watershed are presented here in an effort to summarize the range of issues associated with stormwater management ponds. The Red Run watershed is situated inside the Urban-Rural Demarcation Line (URDL) around Baltimore City and has been identified as a smart growth corridor by Baltimore County. This region is one of two areas in Baltimore County where new development is focused. In a series of investigations of soils, surface and ground waters, and amphibian and earthworm use of 68 randomly selected stormwater retention ponds from the Red Run watershed, a range of hydrologic, ecologic, and geochemical conditions have been identified. Results from these investigations suggest that pollutant conditions, specifically trace metals and chloride, limit the use of these ponds by amphibians and effect the distribution of earthworms within ponds. The soils in ponds associated with high use roadways contain elevated levels of PAHs, Zn and Cu and the groundwater beneath these same ponds tends to have elevated chloride levels year round. Pond and associated flood plain soils in these systems have been altered and exhibit elevated Na+ or Ca2+ concentrations suggesting years of interaction with road salt contaminated discharge. These Na+ and Ca2+ form soils affect the retention of dissolved trace metals with Ca-enriched soils potentially increasing the dissolved metal concentrations of surface and pore waters and enabling the transport of roadway derived metals to surface waters and Na-enriched soils scavenging trace metals from incoming runoff. The increase in dissolved metals may also increase the toxicity to amphibians and other organisms inhabiting the storm water ponds and ultimately, streams fed by ground water recharge from ponds. Our results to date suggest both the intended and unintended function of storm water ponds in urban landscapes are complicated and deserving of more attention.

Urban Runoff Impact on the qPCR Signal of Enterococci and Other Alternative Fecal Indicators in a Tropical Beach

EPA Science Inventory

In order to effectively control inputs of contamination to coastal recreational waters, an improved understanding of the impact of both point and non-point sources of urban runoff is needed. In this study, we focused on the effect of non-point source urban runoff on the enterococ...

The Effects Of Urban Landscape Patterns On Rainfall-Runoff Processes At Small Scale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, L.

2016-12-01

Many studies have indicated that urban landscape change may alter rainfall-runoff processes. However, how urban landscape pattern affect this process is little addressed. In this study, the hydrological effects of landscape pattern on rainfall-runoff processes at small-scale was explored. Twelve residential blocks with independent drainage systems in Beijing were selected as case study areas. Impervious metrics of these blocks, i.e., total impervious area (TIA) and directly connected impervious area (DCIA), were identified. A drainage index describing catchment general drainage load and the overland flow distance, Ad, was estimated and used as one of the landscape spatial metrics. Three scenarios were designed to test the potential influence of impervious surface pattern on runoff processes. Runoff variables including total and peak runoff depth (Qt and Qp) were simulated under different rainfall conditions by Storm Water Management Model (SWMM). The relationship between landscape patterns and runoff variables were analyzed, and further among the three scenarios. The results demonstrated that, in small urban blocks, spatial patterns have inherent influences on rainfall-runoff processes. Specifically, (1) Imperviousness acts as effective indicators in predicting both Qt and Qp. As rainfall intensity increases, the major affecting factor changes from DCIA to TIA for both Qt and Qp; (2) Increasing the size of drainage area dominated by each drainage inlet will benefit the block peak flow mitigation; (3) Different spatial concentrations of impervious surfaces have inherent influences on Qp, when impervious surfaces located away from the outlet can reduce the peak flow discharge. These findings may provide insights into the role of urban landscape patterns in driving rainfall-runoff responses in urbanization, which is essential for urban planning and stormwater management.

Grassed swales for stormwater pollution control during rain and snowmelt.

PubMed

Bäckström, M

2003-01-01

The retention of suspended solids, particles and heavy metals in different grassed swales during rain events and snowmelt is discussed. The experimental results derived from investigations performed in existing grassed swales in the Luleå region, Northern Sweden. During high pollutant loading rates, grassed swales retain significant amounts of pollutants, mainly due to sedimentation of particulate matter. Low to moderate removal efficiencies could be expected for heavy metals, especially metals in solution (i.e. the dissolved phase). When grassed swales receive urban runoff with low pollutant concentrations, they may release rather than retain pollutants. Swales are important snow deposit areas in the city and particle bound pollutants do to a large extent remain in the swale after snowmelt. However, dissolved pollutants (i.e. dissolved heavy metals) are likely to escape the swale with the melt water. Grassed swales may be regarded as facilities that even out the peaks in pollutant loads without being capable of producing consistent high removal rates. This suggests that swales should be considered as primary treatment devices. Possible design parameters for grassed swales are mean hydraulic detention time, surface loading rate or specific swale area.

Runoff characteristics and non-point source pollution analysis in the Taihu Lake Basin: a case study of the town of Xueyan, China.

PubMed

Zhu, Q D; Sun, J H; Hua, G F; Wang, J H; Wang, H

2015-10-01

Non-point source pollution is a significant environmental issue in small watersheds in China. To study the effects of rainfall on pollutants transported by runoff, rainfall was monitored in Xueyan town in the Taihu Lake Basin (TLB) for over 12 consecutive months. The concentrations of different forms of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), and chemical oxygen demand, were monitored in runoff and river water across different land use types. The results indicated that pollutant loads were highly variable. Most N losses due to runoff were found around industrial areas (printing factories), while residential areas exhibited the lowest nitrogen losses through runoff. Nitrate nitrogen (NO3-N) and ammonia nitrogen (NH4-N) were the dominant forms of soluble N around printing factories and hotels, respectively. The levels of N in river water were stable prior to the generation of runoff from a rainfall event, after which they were positively correlated to rainfall intensity. In addition, three sites with different areas were selected for a case study to analyze trends in pollutant levels during two rainfall events, using the AnnAGNPS model. The modeled results generally agreed with the observed data, which suggests that AnnAGNPS can be used successfully for modeling runoff nutrient loading in this region. The conclusions of this study provide important information on controlling non-point source pollution in TLB.

On storm movement and its applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niemczynowicz, Janusz

Rainfall-runoff models applicable for design and analysis of sewage systems in urban areas are further developed in order to represent better different physical processes going on on an urban catchment. However, one important part of the modelling procedure, the generation of the rainfall input is still a weak point. The main problem is lack of adequate rainfall data which represent temporal and spatial variations of the natural rainfall process. Storm movement is a natural phenomenon which influences urban runoff. However, the rainfall movement and its influence on runoff generation process is not represented in presently available urban runoff simulation models. Physical description of the rainfall movement and its parameters is given based on detailed measurements performed on twelve gauges in Lund, Sweden. The paper discusses the significance of the rainfall movement on the runoff generation process and gives suggestions how the rainfall movement parameters may be used in runoff modelling.

Contribution of directly connected and isolated impervious areas to urban drainage network hydrographs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seo, Y.; Choi, N.-J.; Schmidt, A. R.

2013-05-01

This paper addresses the mass balance error observed in runoff hydrographs in urban watersheds by introducing assumptions regarding the contribution of infiltrated rainfall from pervious areas and isolated impervious area (IIA) to the runoff hydrograph. Rainfall infiltrating into pervious areas has been assumed not to contribute to the runoff hydrograph until Hortonian excess rainfall occurs. However, mass balance analysis in an urban watershed indicates that rainfall infiltrated to pervious areas can contribute to direct runoff hydrograph, thereby offering an explanation for the long hydrograph tail commonly observed in runoff from urban storm sewers. In this study, a hydrologic analysis based on the width function is introduced, with two types of width functions obtained from both pervious and impervious areas, respectively. The width function can be regarded as the direct interpretation of the network response. These two width functions are derived to obtain distinct response functions for directly connected impervious areas (DCIA), IIA, and pervious areas. The results show significant improvement in the estimation of runoff hydrographs and suggest the need to consider the flow contribution from pervious areas to the runoff hydrograph. It also implies that additional contribution from flow paths through joints and cracks in sewer pipes needs to be taken into account to improve the estimation of runoff hydrographs in urban catchments.

Contribution of directly connected and isolated impervious areas to urban drainage network hydrographs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seo, Y.; Choi, N.-J.; Schmidt, A. R.

2013-09-01

This paper addresses the mass balance error observed in runoff hydrographs in urban watersheds by introducing assumptions regarding the contribution of infiltrated rainfall from pervious areas and isolated impervious area (IIA) to the runoff hydrograph. Rainfall infiltrating into pervious areas has been assumed not to contribute to the runoff hydrograph until Hortonian excess rainfall occurs. However, mass balance analysis in an urban watershed indicates that rainfall infiltrated to pervious areas can contribute directly to the runoff hydrograph, thereby offering an explanation for the long hydrograph tail commonly observed in runoff from urban storm sewers. In this study, a hydrologic analysis based on the width function is introduced, with two types of width functions obtained from both pervious and impervious areas, respectively. The width function can be regarded as the direct interpretation of the network response. These two width functions are derived to obtain distinct response functions for directly connected impervious areas (DCIA), IIA, and pervious areas. The results show significant improvement in the estimation of runoff hydrographs and suggest the need to consider the flow contribution from pervious areas to the runoff hydrograph. It also implies that additional contribution from flow paths through joints and cracks in sewer pipes needs to be taken into account to improve the estimation of runoff hydrographs in urban catchments.

Decision Support System (DSS) for MSMA Integrated Stormwater Management Ecohydrology for Sustainable Green Infrastructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sidek, L. M.; Mohiyaden, H. A.; Haris, H.; Basri, H.; Muda, Z. C.; Roseli, Z. A.; Norlida, M. D.

2016-03-01

Rapid urbanization has known to have several adverse impacts towards hydrological cycle due to increasing impervious surface and degradation of water quality in stormwater runoff. In the past, urban waterways have been confined to narrow river corridors with the channels canalised and concrete and other synthetic materials forming the bed and banks of the river. Apart from that, stormwater pollutants such as litter, debris and sediments in drainage system are common problems that can lead to flooding and the degradation of water quality. To solve this problem, implementing stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs) proves very promising due to its near natural characteristics and multiple effects on the drainage of stormwater runoff in urban areas. This judgment of using BMPs depends on not only relevant theoretical considerations, but also a large amount of practical experience and the availability of relevant data, as well. To fulfil this task, the so-called Decision Support System (DSS) in MSMA Design Aid and Database system are able to assist engineers and developers in management and improvement of water quantity and quality entering urban rivers from urban regions. This system is also helpful when an expert level judgment procure some repetitive and large amount of cases, like in the planning of stormwater BMPs systems for an entire city catchment. One of the advantages of an expert system is that it provides automation of expert-level judgement using availability of checking tools system.

Restoration of wildcelery, Vallisneria americana Michx., in the lower Detroit River of the Lake Huron-Lake Erie Corridor

USGS Publications Warehouse

Schloesser, D.W.; Manny, B.A.

2007-01-01

American wildcelery (Vallisneria americana Michx.) is a valuable submersed aquatic plant that was negatively affected by pollution and urban runoff in the lower Detroit River for much of the 20th century. Following 25 years of water-pollution and urban-runoff abatement initiated in the early 1970s, we postulated that water clarity had increased and that this would allow restoration of wildcelery in the lower Detroit River. In addition, water clarity increased in the late 1980s due to water filtration and particulate removal by exotic dreissenid mussels (Dreissena polymorpha and D. bugensis), which could contribute to potential wildcelery restoration. We sampled wildcelery in 1996–97 and compared these data to wildcelery data from 1950–51 and 1984–85. Over the 48-year period of comparison, areal density of wildcelery tubers decreased 72% (from 51.2 million to 14.4 million tubers) between 1950–51 and 1984–85 then increased 251% (from14.4 million to 50.5 million tubers) between 1984–85 and 1996–97. As a result, overall areal abundance was about the same in 1950–51 as in fall 1996–97. However, tuber densities in spring 1996 were similar to historical low abundances in springs of 1984–85. Then between spring and fall 1996, tuber densities increased 333% and remained relatively abundant through October 1997 indicating the beginning of the restoration of wildcelery in the lower Detroit River. In addition, we believe further reductions of turbidity through continued pollution-abatement programs and water filtration by dreissenid mussels combined with habitat protection and active management of wildcelery will contribute even further to the restoration of wildcelery in the Detroit River in the 21st century.

Spatial and temporal variations of water quality in Cao-E River of eastern China.

PubMed

Chen, Ding-jiang; Lu, Jun; Yuan, Shao-feng; Jin, Shu-quan; Shen, Ye-na

2006-01-01

Evaluation and analysis of water quality variations were performed with integrated consideration of water quality parameters, hydrological-meteorologic and anthropogenic factors in Cao-E River, Zhejiang Province of China. Cao-E River system has been polluted and the water quality of some reaches are inferior to Grade V according to National Surface Water Quality Standard of China (GB2002). However, mainly polluted indices of each tributary and mainstream are different. Total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) in the water are the main polluted indices for mainstream that varies from 1.52 to 45.85 mg/L and 0.02 to 4.02 mg/L, respectively. TN is the main polluted indices for Sub-watershed I, II, IV and V (0.76 to 18.27 mg/L). BOD5 (0.36 to 289.5 mg/L), CODMn (0.47 to 78.86 mg/L), TN (0.74 to 31.09 mg/L) and TP (0 to 3.75 mg/L) are the main polluted indices for Sub-watershed III. There are tow pollution types along the river including nonpoint source pollution and point source pollution types. Remarkably temporal variations with a few spatial variations occur in nonpoint pollution type reaches (including mainstream, Sub-watershed I and II) that mainly drained by arable field and/or dispersive rural dwelling district, and the maximum pollutant concentration appears in flooding seasons. It implied that the runoff increases the pollutant concentration of the water in the nonpoint pollution type reaches. On the other hand, remarkably spatial variations occur in the point pollution type reaches (include Sub-watershed III, IV and V) and the maximum pollutant concentration appears in urban reaches. The runoff always decreases the pollutant concentration of the river water in the seriously polluted reaches that drained by industrial point sewage. But for the point pollution reaches resulted from centralized town domestic sewage pipeline and from frequent shipping and digging sands, rainfall always increased the concentration of pollutant (TN) in the river water too. Pollution controls were respectively suggested for these tow types according to different pollution causes.

Assessment of pollution in road runoff using a Bufo viridis biological assay.

PubMed

Dorchin, A; Shanas, U

2010-12-01

Road runoff is a major source of environmental pollution, significantly threatening nearby aquatic habitats. Chemical analyses indicate high pollutant concentrations in the road's "first flush", but bioassays are more advantageous for addressing the cumulative effects of the numerous pollutants within the runoff. We used Bufo viridis embryos and larvae to assess the toxicity of road runoff from two major highways in Israel. We show, for the first time, that exposure to midseason runoff not only has an adverse effect on growth and development rates of B. viridis larvae but can also lead to increased rates of morphological deformations. Seasonal first flushes, despite having higher metal concentrations, did not adversely affect the toad larvae, apparently due to a counter effect of organic matter that potentially served as a supplementary energy resource. Road runoff can be a major cause for a qualitative decrease in the quality of aquatic habitats threatening amphibians in Israel. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Empirical assessment of effects of urbanization on event flow hydrology in watersheds of Canada's Great Lakes-St Lawrence basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trudeau, M. P.; Richardson, Murray

2016-10-01

We conducted an empirical hydrological analysis of high-temporal resolution streamflow records for 27 watersheds within 11 river systems in the Greater Toronto Region of the Canadian Great Lakes basin. Our objectives were to model the event-scale flow response of watersheds to urbanization and to test for scale and threshold effects. Watershed areas ranged from 37.5 km2 to 806 km2 and urban percent land cover ranged from less than 0.1-87.6%. Flow records had a resolution of 15-min increments and were available over a 42-year period, allowing for detailed assessment of changes in event-scale flow response with increasing urban land use during the post-freshet period (May 26 to November 15). Empirical statistical models were developed for flow characteristics including total runoff, runoff coefficient, eightieth and ninety-fifth percentile rising limb event runoff and mean rising limb event acceleration. Changes in some of these runoff metrics began at very low urban land use (<4%). Urban land use had a very strong influence on total runoff and event-scale hydrologic characteristics, with the exception of 80th percentile flows, which had a curvilinear relationship with urban cover. Event flow acceleration increased with increasing urban cover, thus causing 80th percentile runoff depths to be reached sooner. These results indicate the potential for compromised water balance when cumulative changes are considered at the watershed scale. No abrupt or threshold changes in hydrologic characteristics were identified along the urban land use gradient. A positive interaction of urban percent land use and watershed size indicated a scale effect on total runoff. Overall, the results document compromised hydrologic stability attributable to urbanization during a period with no detectable change in rainfall patterns. They also corroborate literature recommendations for spatially distributed low impact urban development techniques; measures would be needed throughout the urbanized area of a watershed to dampen event-scale hydrologic responses to urbanization. Additional research is warranted into event-scale hydrologic trends with urbanization in other regions, in particular rising limb event flow accelerations.

A real-time control strategy for separation of highly polluted storm water based on UV-Vis online measurements--from theory to operation.

PubMed

Hoppe, H; Messmann, S; Giga, A; Gruening, H

2011-01-01

'Classical' real-time control (RTC) strategies in sewer systems are based on water level and flow measurements with the goal of activation of retention volume. The control system rule of 'clean (storm water) runoff into the receiving water - polluted runoff into the treatment plant' has been thwarted by rough operating conditions and lack of measurements. Due to the specific boundary conditions in the city of Wuppertal's separate sewer system (clean stream water is mixed with polluted storm water runoff) a more sophisticated--pollution-based--approach was needed. In addition the requirements to be met by the treatment of storm water runoff have become more stringent in recent years. To separate the highly-polluted storm water runoff during rain events from the cleaner stream flow a pollution-based real-time control (P-RTC) system was developed and installed. This paper describes the measurement and P-RTC equipment, the definition of total suspended solids as the pollution-indicating parameter, the serviceability of the system, and also gives a cost assessment. A sensitivity analysis and pollution load calculations have been carried out in order to improve the P-RTC algorithm. An examination of actual measurements clearly shows the ecological and economic advantages of the P-RTC strategy.

Effectiveness of foam-based and traditional green roofs in reducing nitrogen, phosphorus, organic carbon and suspended solids in urban installations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

MacAvoy, S. E.; Mucha, S.; Williamson, G.

2017-12-01

While green roofs have well understood benefits for retaining runoff, there is less of a consensus regarding the potential for retaining and absorbing nutrients or suspended solids from roof runoff that would otherwise travel to waterways. Additionally, there are numerous designs, materials and maintenance plans associated with "green" roofs/surfaces that may greatly impact not only their hydrological benefit but also their pollution mitigation potential. Here we examine the NO3, NH4, total organic carbon (TOC), total phosphorus (TP) and total suspended solids (TSS) retention potential from planted and unplanted foam roofs and traditional soil roofs. Direct precipitation, untreated runoff and throughflow from the different roof types were collected for 3 to 11 rain events over a year (depending on roof). Unplanted and traditional roofs reduced TSS by 80% or better relative to runoff. Traditional roofs showed 50% lower TP than runoff or other roof types. TOC was higher than direct precipitation for all treatments, although there were no differences among the treatments themselves. Taken as averages over the 11 events, NO3 and NH4 concentrations were highly variable for runoff and treatments and significant differences were not detected. Preliminary analysis suggests there were no differences between performance of traditional versus foam-based roofs, although a greater sample size is required to be definitive.

Pollutant runoff yields in the Yamato-gawa River, Japan, to be applied for EAH books of municipal wastewater intending pollutant discharge reduction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsuzuki, Yoshiaki; Yoneda, Minoru

2011-04-01

SummaryA Social Experiment Program to decrease municipal wastewater pollutant discharge by "soft interventions" in households and to improve river water quality was conducted in the Yamato-gawa River Basin, Japan. Environmental accounting housekeeping (EAH) books of municipal wastewater were prepared mainly for dissemination purpose to be applied during the Social Experiment Program. The EAH books are table format spreadsheets to estimate pollutant discharges. Pollutant load per capita flowing into water body (PLC wb) and pollutant runoff yields from sub-river basins to the river mouth are indispensable parameters for their preparation. In order to estimate the pollutant runoff yields of the pollutants, BOD, TN and TP, a concept of pollutant runoff yield from upper monitoring point, MP n, to lower monitoring point, MP n+1 ( Rm n(n+1)), and that from corresponding sub-river basin ( Rd(n+1)(n+1)) was introduced in this paper. When proportion of the pollutant runoff yields, p n (= Rm n(n+1)/ Rd(n+1)(n+1)), was equal to 1.0 in all the river sections, which was determined based on the simulation results of Rm and Rd, pollutant runoff yield from sub-river basin n to the monitoring point nearest to the river mouth, Ry n7, were estimated to be 0.3-66.8% for BOD, 25.8-75.8% for TN and 18.9-78.5% for TP. The EAH books of municipal wastewater were prepared by adopting the estimated pollutant runoff yields, Ry n7. The EAH books were thought to be distributed widely, however, they did not seem to be used by many ordinary citizens in the Social Experiment Program in February, 2010, judging from the small number of website visitor counter and less responses from people. Possible reasons for less usage than expected were considered to be unsuccessful negotiation with the official organizations of the Social Experiment Program on the EAH books utilization as official tools and some difficulties in using the EAH books for ordinary people.

Speciation distribution and mass balance of copper and zinc in urban rain, sediments, and road runoff.

PubMed

Zuo, Xiaojun; Fu, Dafang; Li, He

2012-11-01

Heavy metal pollution in road runoff had caused widespread concern since the last century. However, there are little references on metal speciation in multiple environmental media (e.g., rain, road sediments, and road runoff). Our research targeted the investigation of metal speciation in rain, road sediments, and runoff; the analysis of speciation variation and mass balance of metals among rain, road sediments, and runoff; the selection of main factors by principal component analysis (PCA); and the establishment of equation to evaluate the impact of rain and road sediments to metals in road runoff. Sequential extraction procedure contains five steps for the chemical fractionation of metals. Flame atomic absorption spectrometry (Shimadzu, AA-6800) was used to determine metal speciation concentration, as well as the total and dissolved fractions. The dissolved fractions for both Cu and Zn were dominant in rain. The speciation distribution of Zn was different from that of Cu in road sediments, while speciation distribution of Zn is similar to that of Cu in runoff. The bound to carbonates for both Cu and Zn in road sediments were prone to be dissolved by rain. The levels of Cu and Zn in runoff were not obviously influenced by rain, but significantly influenced by road sediments. The masses for both Cu and Zn among rain, road sediments, and road runoff approximately meet the mass balance equation for all rainfall patterns. Five principal factors were selected for metal regression equation based on PCA, including rainfall, average rainfall intensity, antecedent dry periods, total suspended particles, and temperature. The established regression equations could be used to predict the effect of road runoff on receiving environments.

Characterization of Stormwater Runoff from a Light Rail Transit Area.

PubMed

Sajjad, Raja Umer; Kim, Kyoung Jin; Memon, Sheeraz; Sukhbaatar, Chinzorig; Paule, Ma Cristina; Lee, Bum-Yeon; Lee, Chang-Hee

2015-09-01

The monitoring of stormwater runoff from Light Rail Transit (LRT) facilities is insufficient in many regions around the world. In this study, runoff quality and quantity were monitored during operational and non-operational LRT phases during 2010-2013. The event mean concentration (EMC) of pollutants showed little statistical variability during both phases. The antecedent dry day (ADD) showed a strong to moderate positive correlation with most pollutant EMCs during the non-operational phase. The existence and magnitude of the first flush from LRT runoff was found to be similar to those from other transportation land uses. The comparison of LRT runoff data with an adjacent road bridge site showed that the pollutant EMC and unit load were 2 to 9 times higher from the road bridge. It was suggested that LRT automated operation and the elevated track makes this transportation mode a viable option for the management of non-point source pollution.

A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO MANAGING STORMWATER RUNOFF IN AN URBAN WATERSHED

EPA Science Inventory

Increased impervious surface (e.g., roofs, pavement) due to urbanization can lead to excess runoff throughout a watershed, overwhelming the existing stormwater infrastructure. High volumes of runoff, delivered to receiving streams over short durations at high flow rates, negative...

Evaluation of the capability of low-impact development practices for the removal of heavy metal from urban stormwater runoff.

PubMed

Maniquiz-Redillas, Marla C; Kim, Lee-Hyung

2016-09-01

Low-impact development (LID) and green infrastructure (GI) have recently become well-known methods to capture, collect, retain, and remove pollutants in stormwater runoff. The research was conducted to assess the efficiency of LID/GI systems applied in removing the particulate and dissolved heavy metals (Zn, Pb, Cu, Ni, Cr, Cd, and Fe) from urban stormwater runoff. A total of 82 storm events were monitored over a four-year period (2010-2014) on six LID/GI systems including infiltration trenches, tree box filter, rain garden, and hybrid constructed wetlands employed for the management of road, parking lot, and roof runoff. It was observed that the heavy metal concentration increased proportionally with the total suspended solids concentration. Among the heavy metal constituents, Fe appeared to be highly particulate-bound and was the easiest to remove followed by Zn and Pb; while metals such as Cr, Ni, Cu, and Cd were mostly dissolved and more difficult to remove. The mass fraction ratios of metal constituents at the effluent were increased relative to the influent. All the systems performed well in the removal of particulate-bound metals and were more efficient for larger storms greater than 15 mm wherein more particulate-bound metals were generated compared to smaller storms less than 5 mm that produced more dissolved metals. The efficiency of the systems in removing the particulate-bound metals was restricted during high average/peak flows; that is, high-intensity storms events and when heavy metals have low concentration levels.

Microplastic contamination in the San Francisco Bay, California, USA.

PubMed

Sutton, Rebecca; Mason, Sherri A; Stanek, Shavonne K; Willis-Norton, Ellen; Wren, Ian F; Box, Carolynn

2016-08-15

Despite widespread detection of microplastic pollution in marine environments, data describing microplastic abundance in urban estuaries and microplastic discharge via treated municipal wastewater are limited. This study presents information on abundance, distribution, and composition of microplastic at nine sites in San Francisco Bay, California, USA. Also presented are characterizations of microplastic in final effluent from eight wastewater treatment plants, employing varying treatment technologies, that discharge to the Bay. With an average microplastic abundance of 700,000particles/km(2), Bay surface water appears to have higher microplastic levels than other urban waterbodies sampled in North America. Moreover, treated wastewater from facilities that discharge into the Bay contains considerable microplastic contamination. Facilities employing tertiary filtration did not show lower levels of contamination than those using secondary treatment. As textile-derived fibers were more abundant in wastewater, higher levels of fragments in surface water suggest additional pathways of microplastic pollution, such as stormwater runoff. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparison of conceptually based and regression rainfall-runoff models, Denver Metropolitan area, Colorado, and potential applications in urban areas

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lindner-Lunsford, J. B.; Ellis, S.R.

1987-01-01

Multievent, conceptually based models and a single-event, multiple linear-regression model for estimating storm-runoff quantity and quality from urban areas were calibrated and verified for four small (57 to 167 acres) basins in the Denver metropolitan area, Colorado. The basins represented different land-use types - light commercial, single-family housing, and multi-family housing. Both types of models were calibrated using the same data set for each basin. A comparison was made between the storm-runoff volume, peak flow, and storm-runoff loads of seven water quality constituents simulated by each of the models by use of identical verification data sets. The models studied were the U.S. Geological Survey 's Distributed Routing Rainfall-Runoff Model-Version II (DR3M-II) (a runoff-quantity model designed for urban areas), and a multievent urban runoff quality model (DR3M-QUAL). Water quality constituents modeled were chemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, total lead, total manganese, and total zinc. (USGS)

Modeling the Effect of Summertime Heating on Urban Runoff Temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thompson, A. M.; Gemechu, A. L.; Norman, J. M.; Roa-Espinosa, A.

2007-12-01

Urban impervious surfaces absorb and store thermal energy, particularly during warm summer months. During a rainfall/runoff event, thermal energy is transferred from the impervious surface to the runoff, causing it to become warmer. As this higher temperature runoff enters receiving waters, it can be harmful to coldwater habitat. A simple model has been developed for the net energy flux at the impervious surfaces of urban areas to account for the heat transferred to runoff. Runoff temperature is determined as a function of the physical characteristics of the impervious areas, the weather, and the heat transfer between the moving film of runoff and the heated impervious surfaces that commonly exist in urban areas. Runoff from pervious surfaces was predicted using the Green- Ampt Mein-Larson infiltration excess method. Theoretical results were compared to experimental results obtained from a plot-scale field study conducted at the University of Wisconsin's West Madison Agricultural Research Station. Surface temperatures and runoff temperatures from asphalt and sod plots were measured throughout 15 rainfall simulations under various climatic conditions during the summers of 2004 and 2005. Average asphalt runoff temperatures ranged from 23.2°C to 37.1°C. Predicted asphalt runoff temperatures were in close agreement with measured values for most of the simulations (average RMSE = 4.0°C). Average pervious runoff temperatures ranged from 19.7° to 29.9°C and were closely approximated by the rainfall temperature (RMSE = 2.8°C). Predicted combined asphalt and sod runoff temperatures using a flow-weighted average were in close agreement with observed values (average RMSE = 3.5°C).

Calculation of intercepted runoff depth based on stormwater quality and environmental capacity of receiving waters for initial stormwater pollution management.

PubMed

Peng, Hai-Qin; Liu, Yan; Gao, Xue-Long; Wang, Hong-Wu; Chen, Yi; Cai, Hui-Yi

2017-11-01

While point source pollutions have gradually been controlled in recent years, the non-point source pollution problem has become increasingly prominent. The receiving waters are frequently polluted by the initial stormwater from the separate stormwater system and the wastewater from sewage pipes through stormwater pipes. Consequently, calculating the intercepted runoff depth has become a problem that must be resolved immediately for initial stormwater pollution management. The accurate calculation of intercepted runoff depth provides a solid foundation for selecting the appropriate size of intercepting facilities in drainage and interception projects. This study establishes a separate stormwater system for the Yishan Building watershed of Fuzhou City using the InfoWorks Integrated Catchment Management (InfoWorks ICM), which can predict the stormwater flow velocity and the flow of discharge outlet after each rainfall. The intercepted runoff depth is calculated from the stormwater quality and environmental capacity of the receiving waters. The average intercepted runoff depth from six rainfall events is calculated as 4.1 mm based on stormwater quality. The average intercepted runoff depth from six rainfall events is calculated as 4.4 mm based on the environmental capacity of the receiving waters. The intercepted runoff depth differs when calculated from various aspects. The selection of the intercepted runoff depth depends on the goal of water quality control, the self-purification capacity of the water bodies, and other factors of the region.

Water and wastewater related issues in Sri Lanka.

PubMed

Bandara, N J G J

2003-01-01

The primary problems concerning water resources in Sri Lanka are the depletion and degradation of the resource caused by various anthropogenic activities. Surface inland waters in urban areas are polluted heavily with domestic sewage and industrial effluents, and in rural areas with agricultural runoff. With regard to ground water in certain areas of the dry zone, there is a high fluoride content and in hard, rocky, alluvial areas, there is a high concentration of iron. In urban over-crowded cities, there is biological contamination of ground water. Over-utilization, particularly through tube wells, is another major problem affecting ground water resources in Sri Lanka. Oil spills, dumping of waste from ships, coral and sand mining, and activities are the main causes of marine pollution in the country. Except for pipe-borne water supply, irrigation and hydropower schemes, in general water resources in Sri Lanka are managed very poorly. Regulations are available to control most water related problems but enforcement of these regulations is lacking. The ultimate result of degradation and depletion of water resources is the increasing health hazards. Water-borne and vector-borne diseases are prevalent, particularly amongst urban low-income communities with poor sanitary facilities and drainage. Despite government initiatives and legislation, very slow progress has been made towards combating water pollution. This paper examines the most significant water and wastewater related issues in Sri Lanka and their controlling mechanisms.

Understanding re-distribution of road deposited particle-bound pollutants using a Bayesian Network (BN) approach.

PubMed

Liu, An; Wijesiri, Buddhi; Hong, Nian; Zhu, Panfeng; Egodawatta, Prasanna; Goonetilleke, Ashantha

2018-05-08

Road deposited pollutants (build-up) are continuously re-distributed by external factors such as traffic and wind turbulence, influencing stormwater runoff quality. However, current stormwater quality modelling approaches do not account for the re-distribution of pollutants. This undermines the accuracy of stormwater quality predictions, constraining the design of effective stormwater treatment measures. This study, using over 1000 data points, developed a Bayesian Network modelling approach to investigate the re-distribution of pollutant build-up on urban road surfaces. BTEX, which are a group of highly toxic pollutants, was the case study pollutants. Build-up sampling was undertaken in Shenzhen, China, using a dry and wet vacuuming method. The research outcomes confirmed that the vehicle type and particle size significantly influence the re-distribution of particle-bound BTEX. Compared to heavy-duty traffic in commercial areas, light-duty traffic dominates the re-distribution of particles of all size ranges. In industrial areas, heavy-duty traffic re-distributes particles >75 μm, and light-duty traffic re-distributes particles <75 μm. In residential areas, light-duty traffic re-distributes particles >300 μm and <75 μm and heavy-duty traffic re-distributes particles in the 300-150 μm range. The study results provide important insights to improve stormwater quality modelling and the interpretation of modelling outcomes, contributing to safeguard the urban water environment. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

40 CFR 419.34 - Effluent limitations guidelines representing the degree of effluent reduction attainable by the...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... limitations for contaminated runoff. The following effluent limitations constitute the quantity and quality of pollutants or pollutant properties controlled by this paragraph and attributable to contaminated runoff which... point source subject to this subpart. (1) If wastewater consists solely of contaminated runoff and is...

Osmotically driven membrane process for the management of urban runoff in coastal regions.

PubMed

Li, Zhenyu; Valladares Linares, Rodrigo; Abu-Ghdaib, Muhannad; Zhan, Tong; Yangali-Quintanilla, Victor; Amy, Gary

2014-01-01

An osmotic detention pond was proposed for the management of urban runoff in coastal regions. Forward osmosis was employed as a bridge to utilize natural osmotic energy from seawater for concentrating and reusing urban runoff water, and as a barrier to reject runoff-derived contaminants. The process was demonstrated by a lab scale testing using synthetic urban runoff (as the feed solution) and synthetic seawater (as the draw solution). The submerged forward osmosis process was conducted under neutral, acidic and natural organic matter fouling condition, respectively. Forward osmosis flux decline was mainly attributed to the dilution of seawater during a semi-batch process in lab scale testing. However, it is possible to minimize flux decrease by maintaining a constant salinity at the draw solution side. Various changes in urban runoff water quality, including acidic conditions (acid rain) and natural organic matter presence, did not show significant effects on the rejection of trace metals and phosphorus, but influenced salt leakage and the rejection of nitrate and total nitrogen. Rejection of trace metals varied from 98% to 100%, phosphorus varied from 97% to 100, nitrate varied from 52% to 94% and total nitrogen varied from 65% to 85% under different feed water conditions. The work described in this study contributes to an integrated system of urban runoff management, seawater desalination and possible power generation in coastal regions to achieve a sustainable solution to the water-energy nexus. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Quantifying the effects of stream channels on storm water quality in a semi-arid urban environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gallo, Erika L.; Lohse, Kathleen A.; Brooks, Paul D.; McIntosh, Jennifer C.; Meixner, Thomas; McLain, Jean E. T.

2012-11-01

SummaryStormwater drainage systems can have a large effect on urban runoff quality, but it is unclear how ephemeral urban streams alter runoff hydrochemistry. This problem is particularly relevant in semi-arid regions, where urban storm runoff is considered a renewable water resource. Here we address the question: how do stream channels alter urban runoff hydrochemistry? We collected synoptic stormwater samples during three rainfall-runoff events from nine ephemeral streams reaches (three concrete or metal, three grass, three gravel) in Tucson, Arizona. We identified patterns of temporal and spatial (longitudinal) variability in concentrations of conservative (chloride and isotopes of water) and reactive solutes (inorganic-N, soluble reactive phosphorous, sulfate-S, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nitrogen, and fecal indicator bacteria). Water isotopes and chloride (Cl) concentrations indicate that solute flushing and evapoconcentration alter temporal patterns in runoff hydrochemistry, but not spatial hydrochemical responses. Solute concentrations and stream channel solute sourcing and retention during runoff were significantly more variable at the grass reaches (CV = 2.3 - 144%) than at the concrete or metal (CV = 1.6 - 107%) or gravel reaches (CV = 1.9 - 60%), which functioned like flow-through systems. Stream channel soil Cl and DOC decreased following a runoff event (Cl: 12.1-7.3 μg g-1 soil; DOC: 87.7-30.1 μg g-1 soil), while soil fecal indicator bacteria counts increased (55-215 CFU g-1 soil). Finding from this study suggest that the characteristics of the ephemeral stream channel substrate control biogeochemical reactions between runoff events, which alter stream channel soil solute stores and the hydrochemistry of subsequent runoff events.

Estimating subcatchment runoff coefficients using weather radar and a downstream runoff sensor.

PubMed

Ahm, Malte; Thorndahl, Søren; Rasmussen, Michael R; Bassø, Lene

2013-01-01

This paper presents a method for estimating runoff coefficients of urban drainage subcatchments based on a combination of high resolution weather radar data and flow measurements from a downstream runoff sensor. By utilising the spatial variability of the precipitation it is possible to estimate the runoff coefficients of the separate subcatchments. The method is demonstrated through a case study of an urban drainage catchment (678 ha) located in the city of Aarhus, Denmark. The study has proven that it is possible to use corresponding measurements of the relative rainfall distribution over the catchment and downstream runoff measurements to identify the runoff coefficients at subcatchment level.

Contrasting nitrogen and phosphorus budgets in urban watersheds and implications for managing urban water pollution

PubMed Central

Janke, Benjamin D.; Nidzgorski, Daniel A.; Millet, Dylan B.; Baker, Lawrence A.

2017-01-01

Managing excess nutrients remains a major obstacle to improving ecosystem service benefits of urban waters. To inform more ecologically based landscape nutrient management, we compared watershed inputs, outputs, and retention for nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in seven subwatersheds of the Mississippi River in St. Paul, Minnesota. Lawn fertilizer and pet waste dominated N and P inputs, respectively, underscoring the importance of household actions in influencing urban watershed nutrient budgets. Watersheds retained only 22% of net P inputs versus 80% of net N inputs (watershed area-weighted averages, where net inputs equal inputs minus biomass removal) despite relatively low P inputs. In contrast to many nonurban watersheds that exhibit high P retention, these urban watersheds have high street density that enhanced transport of P-rich materials from landscapes to stormwater. High P exports in storm drainage networks and yard waste resulted in net P losses in some watersheds. Comparisons of the N/P stoichiometry of net inputs versus storm drain exports implicated denitrification or leaching to groundwater as a likely fate for retained N. Thus, these urban watersheds exported high quantities of N and P, but via contrasting pathways: P was exported primarily via stormwater runoff, contributing to surface water degradation, whereas N losses additionally contribute to groundwater pollution. Consequently, N management and P management require different strategies, with N management focusing on reducing watershed inputs and P management also focusing on reducing P movement from vegetated landscapes to streets and storm drains. PMID:28373560

Statistical analysis of vegetation and stormwater runoff in an urban watershed during summer and winter storms in Portland, Oregon, U.S

Treesearch

Geoffrey H. Donovan; David T. Butry; Megan Y. Mao

2016-01-01

Past research has examined the effect of urban trees, and other vegetation, on stormwater runoff using hydrological models or small-scale experiments. However, there has been no statistical analysis of the influence of vegetation on runoff in an intact urban watershed, and it is not clear how results from small-scale studies scale up to the city level. Researchers...

[Particle Size Distribution and Pollutant Speciation Analyses of Stormwater Runoff in the Ancient Town of Suzhou].

PubMed

Li, Huai; Wu, Wei; Tian, Yong-jing; Huang, Tian-yin

2016-02-15

The particle size distribution (PSD) and its transformation processes in the stormwater runoffs in the ancient town of Suzhou were studied based on the particles size analyses, the water-quality monitoring data and the parameters of the rainfall-runoff models. The commercial districts, the modern residential area, the old residential area, the traffic area and the landscape tourist area were selected as the five functional example areas in the ancient town of Suzhou. The effects of antecedent dry period, the rainfall intensity and the amount of runoffs on the particle size distributions were studied, and the existing forms of the main pollutants in different functional areas and their possible relations were analyzed as well. The results showed that the particle size distribution, the migration processes and the output characteristics in the stormwater runoffs were greatly different in these five functional areas, which indicated different control measures for the pollution of the runoffs should be taken in the design process. The antecedent dry period, the rainfall intensity and the amount of runoffs showed significant correlations with the particle size distribution, showing these were the important factors. The output of the particles was greatly influenced by the flow scouring in the early period of the rainfall, and the correlations between the amount of runoffs and the particle migration ability presented significant difference in 30% (early period) and 70% (later period) of the runoff volume. The major existence form of the output pollutants was particle, and the correlation analyses of different diameter particles showed that the particles smaller than 150 microm were the dominant carrier of the pollutants via adsorption and accumulation processes.

Toxicity characterization of urban stormwater with bioanalytical tools.

PubMed

Tang, Janet Y M; Aryal, Rupak; Deletic, Ana; Gernjak, Wolfgang; Glenn, Eva; McCarthy, David; Escher, Beate I

2013-10-01

Stormwater harvesting has become an attractive alternative strategy to address the rising demand for urban water supply due to limited water sources and population growth. Nevertheless, urban stormwater is also a major source of surface water pollution. Runoff from different urban catchments with source contributions from anthropogenic activities and various land uses causes variable contaminant profiles, thus posing a challenging task for environmental monitoring and risk assessment. A thorough understanding of raw stormwater quality is essential to develop appropriate treatment facilities for potential indirect potable reuse of stormwater. While some of the key chemical components have previously been characterized, only scarce data are available on stormwater toxicity. We benchmarked stormwater samples from urban, residential and industrial sites across various Australian capital cities against samples from the entire water cycle, from sewage to drinking water. Six biological endpoints, targeting groups of chemicals with modes of toxic action of particular relevance for human and environmental health, were investigated: non-specific toxicity (Microtox and combined algae test), the specific modes of action of phytotoxicity (combined algae test), dioxin-like activity (AhR-CAFLUX), and estrogenicity (E-SCREEN), as well as reactive toxicity encompassing genotoxicity (umuC) and oxidative stress (AREc32). Non-specific toxicity was highly variable across sites. The baseline toxicity equivalent concentrations of the most polluted samples were similar to secondary treated effluent from wastewater treatment plants. Phytotoxicity results correlated well with the measured herbicide concentrations at all sites. High estrogenicity was found in two sampling events and could be related to sewage overflow. Genotoxicity, dioxin-like activity, and oxidative stress response were evident in only three of the samples where the stormwater drain was beside a heavy traffic road, confirming that road runoff is the potential source of contaminants, while the bioanalytical equivalent concentrations (BEQ) of these samples were similar to those of raw sewage. This study demonstrates the benefit of bioanalytical tools for screening-level stormwater quality assessment, forming the basis for the evaluation of future stormwater treatment and reuse schemes. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Stormwater Runoff Plumes in Southern California Detected with Satellite SAR and MODIS Imagery - Areas of Increased Contamination Risk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trinh, R. C.; Holt, B.; Gierach, M.

2016-12-01

Coastal pollution poses both a major health and environmental hazard, not only for beachgoers and coastal communities, but for marine organisms as well. Stormwater runoff is the largest source of pollution in the coastal waters of the Southern California Bight (SCB). The SCB is the final destination of four major urban watersheds and associated rivers, Ballona Creek, the Los Angeles River, the San Gabriel River, and the Santa Ana River, which act as channels for runoff and pollution during and after episodic rainstorms. Previous studies of SCB water quality have made use of both fine resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery and wide-swath medium resolution optical "ocean color" imagery from SeaWiFS and MODIS. In this study, we expand on previous SAR efforts, compiling a more extensive collection of multi-sensor SAR data, spanning from 1992 to 2014, analyzing the surface slick component of stormwater plumes. We demonstrate the use of SAR data in early detection of coastal stormwater plumes, relating plume extent to cumulative river discharge, and shoreline fecal bacteria loads. Intensity maps of the primary extent and direction of plumes were created, identifying coastal areas that may be subject to the greatest risk of environmental contamination. Additionally, we illustrate the differences in the detection of SAR surface plumes with the sediment-related discharge plumes derived from MODIS ocean color imagery. Finally, we provide a concept for satellite monitoring of stormwater plumes, combining both optical and radar sensors, to be used to guide the collection of in situ water quality data and enhance the assessment of related beach closures.

Engineering hyporheic zones for the attenuation of urban pesticides and other stormwater trace organic contaminants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Portmann, A. C.; Halpin, B. N.; Herzog, S.; Higgins, C.; McCray, J. E.

2017-12-01

The hyporheic zone (HZ) is a natural bioreactor that can provide in-stream attenuation of various nonpoint source contaminants. Main contributions of nonpoint source pollution are coming from urban stormwater and agricultural runoff, which both adversely impact aquatic life. Stormwater pollutants of concern commonly include nutrients, metals, pathogens, and trace organic contaminants (TOrCs). Despite substantial water quality challenges, current stormwater management typically focuses on water quantity issues rather than pollutant removal. Furthermore, current HZ restoration best management practices do not explicitly control HZ residence times, and generally only induce localized effects. To increase hyporheic exchange and therefore improving water quality, we introduced engineered streambeds featuring modifications to subsurface hydraulic conductivity (K) and reactivity - termed Biohydrochemical Enhancements for Streamwater Treatment (BEST). BEST modifications comprise subsurface modules that employ 1) low-permeability sediments to drive hyporheic exchange and control subsurface residence times, and 2) permeable reactive geomedia to change reaction rates within the HZ. Here we present performance data collected in constructed stream experiments, comparing an all-sand control condition with a stream containing BEST modules and a mixture of 70/30 sand/woodchips (v/v). We evaluated the attenuation of a suite of TOrCs in the BEST versus the control system for two different streambed media: a coarse sand with K = 0.48 cm/s and a fine sand with K = 0.16 cm/s. The range of TOrCs investigated comprises urban pesticides and other stormwater relevant TOrCs. Benefits of applying BEST include increased exchange between streamwater and HZ water, leading to diverse redox conditions that are beneficial for aquatic organisms and will facilitate in-stream pollutant transformation. Future work will focus on tailoring the BEST design for specific pollutants, thereby controlling HZ residence times to match reaction timescales and conditions of interest.

Degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) present in used motor oil and implications for urban runoff quality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferreira, M.; Stenstrom, M. K.; Lau, S.

2013-12-01

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are common organic pollutants of urban stormwater runoff due to atmospheric deposition, vehicle-related discharges, and coal tar pavement sealants. The US EPA lists sixteen PAHs as priority pollutants and seven of those are potential carcinogenic compounds. Due to their molecular structure, PAHs tend to attach to particles that will subsequently be deposited as sediments in waterways. This study focuses on the degradation of PAHs present in used motor oil. Four experimental setups were used to simulate volatilization and photooxidation in the degradation of sixteen PAHs as observed for up to 54 days. The volatilization-only experiment showed substantial reduction only in the concentration of Napthalene (Nap). However, photooxidation-only was more efficient in degrading PAHs. In this process, substantial reduction in the concentrations of Nap, Acenapthene (Anthe), Anthracene (ANT), Fluoranthene (FLT), Pyrene (PYR), Benz[a]anthracene (BaA), Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), Indeno[1,2,3,cd]pyrene (INP), and Benz[g,h,i]perylene (BghiP) were observed as early as five days. The two volatilization-photooxidation experiments exhibited substantial reduction in the concentrations of Fluorene (FLU), Chrysene (CHR) and Benzo[b]fluoranthene (BbF), in addition to the PAHs reduced by photooxidation-only. Phenanthrene (PHE), Fluoranthene (FLT), and Benzo[b]fluoranthene (BbF) only exhibited substantial decreased concentrations after 20 days in the volatilization-photooxidation experiment. One PAH, acenapthylene (Anthy), was not detected in the original sample of used motor oil. The highest degradations were observed in the combined volatilization-photooxidation experiment. In regions with infrequent rainfall, such as Southern California, molecules of PAHs attached to highway particles will have time to undergo degradation prior to transport. Therefore, PAHs may be present in lower concentrations in highway runoff in dry climates than in rainy climates. To support this hypothesis, a review of highway-related PAHs concentrations is presented.

Urban Runoff and Combined Sewer Overflow.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Field, Richard; Gardner, Bradford B.

1978-01-01

Presents a literature review of wastewater treatment, covering publications of 1976-77. This review includes areas such as: (1) urban runoff quality and quantity; (2) urban hydrology; (3) management practices; and (4) combined sewer overflows. A list of 140 references is also presented. (HM)

The application of electrical conductivity as a tracer for hydrograph separation in urban catchments

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pellerin, B.A.; Wollheim, W.M.; Feng, X.; Vororsmarty, C.J.

2008-01-01

Two-component hydrograph separation was performed on 19 low-to-moderate intensity rainfall events in a 4.1-km2 urban watershed to infer the relative and absolute contribution of surface runoff (e.g. new water) to stormflow generation between 2001 and 2003. The electrical conductivity (EC) of water was used as a continuous and inexpensive tracer, with order of magnitude differences in precipitation (12-46 ??S/cm) and pre-event streamwater EC values (520-1297 ??S/cm). While new water accounted for most of the increased discharge during storms (61-117%), the contribution of new water to total discharge during events was typically lower (18-78%) and negatively correlated with antecedent stream discharge (r2 = 0??55, p < 0??01). The amount of new water was positively correlated with total rainfall (r2 = 0??77), but hydrograph separation results suggest that less than half (9-46%) of the total rainfall on impervious surfaces is rapidly routed to the stream channel as new water. Comparison of hydrograph separation results using non-conservative tracers (EC and Si) and a conservative isotopic tracer (??D) for two events showed similar results and highlighted the potential application of EC as an inexpensive, high frequency tracer for hydrograph separation studies in urban catchments. The use of a simple tracer-based approach may help hydrologists and watershed managers to better understand impervious surface runoff, stormflow generation and non-point-source pollutant loading to urban streams. Copyright ?? 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

[A review of green roof performance towards management of roof runoff].

PubMed

Chen, Xiao-ping; Huang, Pei; Zhou, Zhi-xiang; Gao, Chi

2015-08-01

Green roof has a significant influence on reducing runoff volume, delaying runoff-yielding time, reducing the peak flow and improving runoff quality. This paper addressed the related research around the world and concluded from several aspects, i.e., the definition of green roof of different types, the mechanism how green roof manages runoff quantity and quality, the ability how green roof controls roof runoff, and the influence factors of green roof toward runoff quantity and quality. Afterwards, there was a need for more future work on research of green roof toward roof runoff, i.e., vegetation selection of green roof, efficient construction model selection of green roof, the regulating characteristics of green roof on roof runoff, the value assessment of green roof on roof runoff, analysis of source-sink function of green roof on the water pollutants of roof runoff and the research on the mitigation measures of roof runoff pollution. This paper provided a guideline to develop green roofs aiming to regulating roof runoff.

A spatially distributed model for assessment of the effects of changing land use and climate on urban stream quality: Development of a Spatially Distributed Urban Water Quality Model

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sun, Ning; Yearsley, John; Baptiste, Marisa

While the effects of land use change in urban areas have been widely examined, the combined effects of climate and land use change on the quality of urban and urbanizing streams have received much less attention. We describe a modeling framework that is applicable to the evaluation of potential changes in urban water quality and associated hydrologic changes in response to ongoing climate and landscape alteration. The grid-based spatially distributed model, DHSVM-WQ, is an outgrowth of the Distributed Hydrology-Soil-Vegetation Model (DHSVM) that incorporates modules for assessing hydrology and water quality in urbanized watersheds at a high spatial and temporal resolution.more » DHSVM-WQ simulates surface runoff quality and in-stream processes that control the transport of nonpoint-source (NPS) pollutants into urban streams. We configure DHSVM-WQ for three partially urbanized catchments in the Puget Sound region to evaluate the water quality responses to current conditions and projected changes in climate and/or land use over the next century. Here we focus on total suspended solids (TSS) and total phosphorus (TP) from nonpoint sources (runoff), as well as stream temperature. The projection of future land use is characterized by a combination of densification in existing urban or partially urban areas, and expansion of the urban footprint. The climate change scenarios consist of individual and concurrent changes in temperature and precipitation. Future precipitation is projected to increase in winter and decrease in summer, while future temperature is projected to increase throughout the year. Our results show that urbanization has a much greater effect than climate change on both the magnitude and seasonal variability of streamflow, TSS and TP loads largely due to substantially increased streamflow, and particularly winter flow peaks. Water temperature is more sensitive to climate warming scenarios than to urbanization and precipitation changes. Future urbanization and climate change together are predicted to significantly increase annual mean streamflow (up to 55%), water temperature (up to 1.9 ºC), TSS load (up to 182%), and TP load (up to 74%).« less

Impact of Roadway Stormwater Runoff on Microbial Contamination in the Receiving Stream.

PubMed

Wyckoff, Kristen N; Chen, Si; Steinman, Andrew J; He, Qiang

2017-09-01

Stormwater runoff from roadways has increasingly become a regulatory concern for water pollution control. Recent work has suggested roadway stormwater runoff as a potential source of microbial pollutants. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of roadway runoff on the microbiological quality of receiving streams. Microbiological quality of roadway stormwater runoff and the receiving stream was monitored during storm events with both cultivation-dependent fecal bacteria enumeration and cultivation-independent high-throughput sequencing techniques. Enumeration of total coliforms as a measure of fecal microbial pollution found consistently lower total coliform counts in roadway runoff than those in the stream water, suggesting that roadway runoff was not a major contributor of microbial pollutants to the receiving stream. Further characterization of the microbial community in the stormwater samples by 16S ribosomal RNA gene-based high-throughput amplicon sequencing revealed significant differences in the microbial composition of stormwater runoff from the roadways and the receiving stream. The differences in microbial composition between the roadway runoff and stream water demonstrate that roadway runoff did not appear to have a major influence on the stream in terms of microbiological quality. Thus, results from both fecal bacteria enumeration and high-throughput amplicon sequencing techniques were consistent that roadway stormwater runoff was not the primary contributor of microbial loading to the stream. Further studies of additional watersheds with distinct characteristics are needed to validate these findings. Understanding gained in this study could support the development of more effective strategies for stormwater management in sensitive watersheds. Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.

Priority pollutants in urban stormwater: part 2 - case of combined sewers.

PubMed

Gasperi, Johnny; Zgheib, Sally; Cladière, Mathieu; Rocher, Vincent; Moilleron, Régis; Chebbo, Ghassan

2012-12-15

This study has evaluated the quality of combined sewer overflows (CSOs) in an urban watershed, such as Paris, by providing accurate data on the occurrence of priority pollutants (PPs) and additional substances, as well as on the significance of their concentrations in comparison with wastewater and stormwater. Of the 88 substances monitored, 49 PPs were detected, with most of these also being frequently encountered in wastewater and stormwater, thus confirming their ubiquity in urban settings. For the majority of organic substances, concentrations range between 0.01 and 1 μgl(-1), while metals tend to display concentrations above 10 μgl(-1). Despite this ubiquity, CSO, wastewater and stormwater feature a number of differences in both their concentration ranges and pollutant patterns. For most hydrophobic organic pollutants and some particulate-bound metals, CSOs exhibit higher concentrations than those found in stormwater and wastewater, due to the contribution of in-sewer deposit erosion. For pesticides and Zn, CSOs have shown concentrations close to those of stormwater, suggesting runoff as the major contributor, while wastewater appears to be the main source of volatile organic compounds. Surprisingly, similar concentration ranges have been found for DEHP and tributyltin compounds in CSOs, wastewater and stormwater. The last section of this article identifies substances for which CSO discharges might constitute a major risk of exceeding Environmental Quality Standards in receiving waters and moreover indicates a significant risk for PAHs, tributyltin compounds and chloroalkanes. The data generated during this survey can subsequently be used to identify PPs of potential significance that merit further investigation. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Modeling Ballasted Tracks for Pollutants

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-08-01

In this study, the Regional Transportation Districts (RTDs) light rail operations were examined for pollutant production and runoff. To : accomplish this, a laboratory study utilizing a rainfall-runoff facility was conducted. Input to this labo...

Nitrogen cycling process rates across urban ecosystems.

PubMed

Reisinger, Alexander J; Groffman, Peter M; Rosi-Marshall, Emma J

2016-09-21

Nitrogen (N) pollution of freshwater, estuarine, and marine ecosystems is widespread and has numerous environmental and economic impacts. A portion of this excess N comes from urban watersheds comprised of natural and engineered ecosystems which can alter downstream N export. Studies of urban N cycling have focused on either specific ecosystems or on watershed-scale mass balances. Comparisons of specific N transformations across ecosystems are required to contextualize rates from individual studies. Here we reviewed urban N cycling in terrestrial, aquatic, and engineered ecosystems, and compared N processing in these urban ecosystem types to native reference ecosystems. We found that net N mineralization and net nitrification rates were enhanced in urban forests and riparian zones relative to reference ecosystems. Denitrification was highly variable across urban ecosystem types, but no significant differences were found between urban and reference denitrification rates. When focusing on urban streams, ammonium uptake was more rapid than nitrate uptake in urban streams. Additionally, reduction of stormwater runoff coupled with potential decreases in N concentration suggests that green infrastructure may reduce downstream N export. Despite multiple environmental stressors in urban environments, ecosystems within urban watersheds can process and transform N at rates similar to or higher than reference ecosystems. © FEMS 2016. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Can additional urban development have major impacts on streamflow of a peri-urban catchment? A case study from Portugal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferreira, Carla; Walsh, Rory; Nunes, João; Steenhuis, Tammo; de Lima, João; Coelho, Celeste; Ferreira, António

2016-04-01

It is well known that urban development brings about changes in hydrological response. Relatively little, however, is known about impacts on streamflow during urban development in the Mediterranean climate. This paper examines changes in streamflow resulting from the construction of an enterprise park, a major road and apartment blocks in a small partially urbanized peri-urban catchment (6.2 km2) in central Portugal. These developments led to an increase in urban area from 32% to 40% over a five-year period (hydrological years 2008/09-2012/13). In the initial two-year period minor land-use changes increased impervious surfaces from 12.8% to 13.2%. The subsequent three-year period led to a further 17.2% increase in impervious area. Streamflow was recorded by a V-notch weir at the catchment outlet. Rainfall was recorded at a weather station 0.5km north of the catchment, and by five tipping-bucket raingauges installed in January 2011 within the study catchment. Annual runoff and storm runoff coefficients ranged from 14% to 21% and 9% to 14%, respectively, recorded in 2011/12 and 2012/13. Although these differences in runoff were caused in part by variation in rainfall, the comparison between 2009/10 (pre-) and 2012/13 (post-additional urban development), with broadly similar rainfall (887mm vs 947mm, respectively) and evapotranspiration (740mm vs 746mm), showed a 43% increase in storm runoff (from 90mm to 129mm), resulting from additional overland flow generated largely by the 4.4% increase in impervious surfaces. The additional urban development also led to changes in hydrograph parameters. The increase in storm runoff was not progressive over the study period, but regression lines of storm runoff against rainstorm parameters exhibited higher vertical positions in 2012/13 than 2008/09. Increasing peak flows, however, were more progressive over the study period, with annual regression lines displaying higher vertical positions, but with a clear distance between pre- and post- additional urban development periods. Response time to rainfall reduced from 60-75 minutes to 40 minutes and recession time fell from 21.3-29.5 h to 7.4-8.7 h, respectively. The relatively low runoff and storm runoff coefficients given the extent of urban land-use is due to the dispersed urban pattern and movement of at least part of the overland flow from impervious surfaces into pervious soils (within urban areas and/or downslope woodland and abandoned fields). High soil permeability, linked to the sandstone and limestone bedrock, favours the establishment of water sinks. The additional extension of observed urban development during the study period, however, also included partial routing of overland flow from additional impervious surfaces into the stream network, enhancing flow connectivity, thus, increasing storm runoff and providing quicker hydrologic response. Urban planning should consider the landscape mosaic of peri-urban areas in order to maximize water infiltration and minimize the impacts on streamflow regime and urban flooding.

Distinguishing spatiotemporal variability of sediment sources in small urbanized catchment as a response to urban expansion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belyaev, Vladimir; Feoktistov, Artem; Huygens, Dries; Shamshurina, Eugenia; Golosov, Valentin

2014-05-01

Understanding hydrological response and geomorphic behavior of small catchments in urban environments, especially those experiencing urban expansion, represents serious and important problem which has not yet been given an adequate research attention. Urbanization exerts profound and diverse impacts on catchment characteristics, particularly by increasing surface runoff coefficients, peak flow discharges and rates of flash flood waves propagation as a result of widespread appearance of buildings and paved surfaces with practically zero infiltration capacities. Another essential influence of urbanization on small catchment hydrological regimes is associated with significant changes of natural topography (from relatively minor modifications such as grading of steeper slopes to complete transformations including total filling of gullies and small valleys, transfer of small streams from surface into underground pipes or collectors, etc.) combined with creation of systems of concrete-protected surface drainages and underground storm flow sewages. Such activities can result in substantial changes of runoff- and sediment-contributing areas for the remaining gullies and small valleys in comparison to the pre-urbanization conditions, causing dramatic increase of fluvial activity in some of those and much lower flow discharges in others. In addition, gullies and small valleys in urban settlements often become sites of dumping for both dry and liquid domestic and industrial wastes, thus being major pathways for dissolved and particle-bound pollutant transfer into perennial streams and rivers. All the problems listed require detailed hydrological and geomorphic investigations in order to provide sound basis for developing appropriate measures aimed to control and decrease urban erosion, sediment redistribution, pollution of water bodies, damage to constructions and communications. Recent advances in sediment tracing and fingerprinting techniques provide promising opportunities for distinguishing contributions of different sediment sources into catchment sediment budgets on a reliable quantitative basis. In combination with microstratigraphic differentiation and dating of sediment in continuous deposition zones by 137Cs depth distribution curves and available land use records, spatial and temporal variability of sediment sources and sinks can be reconstructed for the last several decades. That is especially important for catchments which experienced profound land use changes such as transition from pristine or agriculture-dominated to urbanized environment. The example presented here describes the results of reconstruction of changing sediment source types, contributions and spatial patterns for small reservoir catchment within the city of Kursk (Sredenerusskaya Upland, Central European Russia). Combination of compound specific stable isotopes, 137Cs, sediment grain size composition, land use information for several time intervals and daily rainfall record for the Kursk meteorological station (conveniently located within the study catchment) have been employed in order to evaluate major sediment sources within the catchment, their spatial pattern and temporal changes and compare those to history of reservoir sedimentation. The reservoir is situated on the Kur River - small river which gave its name to the city itself. The dam and reservoir were constructed and put into operation in 1969, thus the beginning of its infill is located stratigraphically later than the main peak of the global 137Cs fallout. It has been found that transition from dominantly agricultural land use to urbanized conditions caused decrease of contribution of soil erosion from cultivated land and increase of that of the active gullies into reservoir sedimentation. However, it is important to note that during extreme runoff events contribution of sediment originated from soil erosion on arable land still remains dominant, even though its area within the catchment recently became very limited.

Polluted rainwater runoff from waste recovery and recycling companies: Determination of emission levels associated with the best available techniques.

PubMed

Huybrechts, D; Verachtert, E; Vander Aa, S; Polders, C; Van den Abeele, L

2016-08-01

Rainwater falling on outdoor storage areas of waste recovery and recycling companies becomes polluted via contact with the stored materials. It contains various pollutants, including heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and polychlorinated biphenyls, and is characterized by a highly fluctuating composition and flow rate. This polluted rainwater runoff is legally considered as industrial wastewater, and the polluting substances contained in the rainwater runoff at the point of discharge, are considered as emissions into water. The permitting authorities can set emission limit values (discharge limits) at the point of discharge. Best available techniques are an important reference point for setting emission limit values. In this paper, the emission levels associated with the best available techniques for dealing with polluted rainwater runoff from waste recovery and recycling companies were determined. The determination is based on an analysis of emission data measured at different companies in Flanders. The data show that a significant fraction of the pollution in rainwater runoff is associated with particles. A comparison with literature data provides strong indications that not only leaching, but also atmospheric deposition play an important role in the contamination of rainwater at waste recovery and recycling companies. The prevention of pollution and removal of suspended solids from rainwater runoff to levels below 60mg/l are considered as best available techniques. The associated emission levels were determined by considering only emission data from plants applying wastewater treatment, and excluding all samples with suspended solid levels >60mg/l. The resulting BAT-AEL can be used as a reference point for setting emission limit values for polluted rainwater runoff from waste recovery and recycling companies. Since the BAT-AEL (e.g. 150μg/l for Cu) are significantly lower than current emission levels (e.g. 300μg/l as the 90% percentile and 4910μg/l as the maximum level for Cu), this will result in a significant reduction in emissions into water. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Simulation and assessment of urbanization impacts on runoff metrics: insights from landuse changes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yongyong; Xia, Jun; Yu, Jingjie; Randall, Mark; Zhang, Yichi; Zhao, Tongtiegang; Pan, Xingyao; Zhai, Xiaoyan; Shao, Quanxi

2018-05-01

Urbanization-induced landuse changes alter runoff regimes in complex ways. In this study, a detailed investigation of the urbanization impacts on runoff regimes is provided by using multiple runoff metrics and with consideration of landuse dynamics. A catchment hydrological model is modified by coupling a simplified flow routing module of the urban drainage system and landuse dynamics to improve long-term urban runoff simulations. Moreover, multivariate statistical approach is adopted to mine the spatial variations of runoff metrics so as to further identify critical impact factors of landuse changes. The Qing River catchment as a peri-urban catchment in the Beijing metropolitan area is selected as our study region. Results show that: (1) the dryland agriculture is decreased from 13.9% to 1.5% of the total catchment area in the years 2000-2015, while the percentages of impervious surface, forest and grass are increased from 63.5% to 72.4%, 13.5% to 16.6% and 5.1% to 6.5%, respectively. The most dramatic landuse changes occur in the middle and downstream regions; (2) The combined landuse changes do not alter the average flow metrics obviously at the catchment outlet, but slightly increase the high flow metrics, particularly the extreme high flows; (3) The impacts on runoff metrics in the sub-catchments are more obvious than those at the catchment outlet. For the average flow metrics, the most impacted metric is the runoff depth in the dry season (October ∼ May) with a relative change from -10.9% to 11.6%, and the critical impact factors are the impervious surface and grass. For the high flow metrics, the extreme high flow depth is increased most significantly with a relative change from -0.6% to 10.5%, and the critical impact factors are the impervious surface and dryland agriculture; (4) The runoff depth metrics in the sub-catchments are increased because of the landuse changes from dryland agriculture to impervious surface, but are decreased because of the landuse changes from dryland agriculture or impervious surface to grass or forest. The results of this study provide useful information for urban planning such as Sponge City design.

Trace metals adhered to urban sediments. Results from fieldwork in Poços de Caldas, Brazil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Isidoro, Jorge; Silveira, Alexandre; Júnior, José; Poleto, Cristiano; de Lima, João; Gonçalves, Flávio; Alvarenga, Lívia

2016-04-01

The urbanization process has consequences such as the introduction of new sources of pollution and changes in the natural environment, like increase of impervious areas that accumulate pollutants between rainfall events. The pollution caused by the washing of accumulated sediment on the gutters, ultimately carried to water bodies through the stormwater drainage system, stands out in this process. This study aimed to quantify and characterize the sediments accumulated in the gutters of roads in an urban area of Poços de Caldas (MG), Brazil. Fieldwork took place during the period of 21.05.2013 to 27.08.2013. Main goal was to investigate the process of accumulation of dry sediments on impervious surfaces and find how this process relates with the urban occupation. More specific goals were to quantify the average mass and characterize the granulometric distribution of accumulated sediments, and identify the occurrence of trace metals Zn, Cu, Ni, Cd, Cu and Pb in the fraction of sediments with diameter smaller or equal to 63μm. The samples were weighed to find the aggregate mass and then sieved through meshes of 63μm, 125μm, 250μm, 600μm, 1180μm, and 2000μm for the granulometric analysis. Samples of the sediment fraction smaller than 63μm of diameter were subjected to analysis by Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) for the identification of trace metals. We found that the aggregate mass of accumulated sediments varies in time and space and is particularly influenced by the land use of the sampling areas. Areas under construction produced more sediments than built areas or areas without construction. This study may serve as an input for creating diffuse pollution control and mitigation strategies towards the reduction of accumulated pollutants in the urban environment of Poços de Caldas. Pb and Zn shown the highest concentrations. The heavy metal concentration decreases after wet periods, showing that runoff carries these elements.

Stormwater and fire as sources of black carbon nanoparticles to Lake Tahoe.

PubMed

Bisiaux, Marion M; Edwards, Ross; Heyvaert, Alan C; Thomas, James M; Fitzgerald, Brian; Susfalk, Richard B; Schladow, S Geoffrey; Thaw, Melissa

2011-03-15

Emitted to the atmosphere through fire and fossil fuel combustion, refractory black carbon nanoparticles (rBC) impact human health, climate, and the carbon cycle. Eventually these particles enter aquatic environments, where they may affect the fate of other pollutants. While ubiquitous, the particles are still poorly characterized in freshwater systems. Here we present the results of a study determining rBC in waters of the Lake Tahoe watershed in the western United States from 2007 to 2009. The study period spanned a large fire within the Tahoe basin, seasonal snowmelt, and a number of storm events, which resulted in pulses of urban runoff into the lake with rBC concentrations up to 4 orders of magnitude higher than midlake concentrations. The results show that rBC pulses from both the fire and urban runoff were rapidly attenuated suggesting unexpected aggregation or degradation of the particles. We find that those processes prevent rBC concentrations from building up in the clear and oligotrophic Lake Tahoe. This rapid removal of rBC soon after entry into the lake has implications for the transport of rBC in the global aquatic environment and the flux of rBC from continents to the global ocean.

Adsorption of mixtures of nutrients and heavy metals in simulated urban stormwater by different filter materials.

PubMed

Reddy, Krishna R; Xie, Tao; Dastgheibi, Sara

2014-01-01

In recent years, several best management practices have been developed for the removal of different types of pollutants from stormwater runoff that lead to effective stormwater management. Filter materials that remove a wide range of contaminants have great potential for extensive use in filtration systems. In this study, four filter materials (calcite, zeolite, sand, and iron filings) were investigated for their adsorption and efficiency in the removal of nutrients and heavy metals when they exist individually versus when they co-exist. Laboratory batch experiments were conducted separately under individual and mixed contaminants conditions at different initial concentrations. Adsorption capacities varied under the individual and mixed contaminant conditions due to different removal mechanisms. Most filter materials showed lower removal efficiency under mixed contaminant conditions. In general, iron filings were found effective in the removal of nutrients and heavy metals simultaneously to the maximum levels. Freundlich and Langmuir isotherms were used to model the batch adsorption results and the former better fitted the experimental results. Overall, the results indicate that the filter materials used in this study have the potential to be effective media for the treatment of nutrients and heavy metals commonly found in urban stormwater runoff.

Towards the determination of an optimal scale for stormwater quality management: micropollutants in a small residential catchment.

PubMed

Bressy, A; Gromaire, M-C; Lorgeoux, C; Saad, M; Leroy, F; Chebbo, G

2012-12-15

Stormwater and atmospheric deposits were collected on a small residential urban catchment (0.8 ha) near Paris in order to determine the levels of certain micropollutants (using a preliminary scan of 69 contaminants, followed by a more detailed quantification of PAHs, PCBs, alkylphenols and metals). Atmospheric inputs accounted for only 10%-38% of the stormwater contamination (except for PCBs), thus indicating substantial release within the catchment. On this small upstream catchment however, stormwater contamination is significantly lower than that observed downstream in storm sewers on larger adjacent urban catchments with similar land uses. These results likely stem from cross-contamination activity during transfers inside the sewer system and underscore the advantages of runoff management strategies at the source for controlling stormwater pollutant loads. Moreover, it has been shown that both contamination levels and contaminant speciation evolve with the scale of the catchment, in correlation with a large fraction of dissolved contaminants in upstream runoff, which differs from what has been traditionally assumed for stormwater. Consequently, the choice of treatment device/protocol must be adapted to the management scale as well as to the targeted type of contaminant. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Vegetated Treatment Systems for Removing Contaminants Associated with Surface Water Toxicity in Agriculture and Urban Runoff.

PubMed

Anderson, Brian S; Phillips, Bryn M; Voorhees, Jennifer P; Cahn, Michael

2017-05-15

Urban stormwater and agriculture irrigation runoff contain a complex mixture of contaminants that are often toxic to adjacent receiving waters. Runoff may be treated with simple systems designed to promote sorption of contaminants to vegetation and soils and promote infiltration. Two example systems are described: a bioswale treatment system for urban stormwater treatment, and a vegetated drainage ditch for treating agriculture irrigation runoff. Both have similar attributes that reduce contaminant loading in runoff: vegetation that results in sorption of the contaminants to the soil and plant surfaces, and water infiltration. These systems may also include the integration of granulated activated carbon as a polishing step to remove residual contaminants. Implementation of these systems in agriculture and urban watersheds requires system monitoring to verify treatment efficacy. This includes chemical monitoring for specific contaminants responsible for toxicity. The current paper emphasizes monitoring of current use pesticides since these are responsible for surface water toxicity to aquatic invertebrates.

Application of a water quality model in the White Cart water catchment, Glasgow, UK.

PubMed

Liu, S; Tucker, P; Mansell, M; Hursthouse, A

2003-03-01

Water quality models of urban systems have previously focused on point source (sewerage system) inputs. Little attention has been given to diffuse inputs and research into diffuse pollution has been largely confined to agriculture sources. This paper reports on new research that is aimed at integrating diffuse inputs into an urban water quality model. An integrated model is introduced that is made up of four modules: hydrology, contaminant point sources, nutrient cycling and leaching. The hydrology module, T&T consists of a TOPMODEL (a TOPography-based hydrological MODEL), which simulates runoff from pervious areas and a two-tank model, which simulates runoff from impervious urban areas. Linked into the two-tank model, the contaminant point source module simulates the overflow from the sewerage system in heavy rain. The widely known SOILN (SOIL Nitrate model) is the basis of nitrogen cycle module. Finally, the leaching module consists of two functions: the production function and the transfer function. The production function is based on SLIM (Solute Leaching Intermediate Model) while the transfer function is based on the 'flushing hypothesis' which postulates a relationship between contaminant concentrations in the receiving water course and the extent to which the catchment is saturated. This paper outlines the modelling methodology and the model structures that have been developed. An application of this model in the White Cart catchment (Glasgow) is also included.

Characterization and treatment of runoff from highways in the Netherlands paved with impervious and pervious asphalt

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Berbee, R.; Rijs, G.; Brouwer, R. de

1999-03-01

This paper presents the results of a study to assess the effects of impervious and pervious (or porous) asphalt on the quality of runoff from highways in the Netherlands. Furthermore, the effects of settling and filtration on the quality of runoff of both types of asphalt have been elaborated. This study has been performed to support decisionmaking on how to deal with polluted runoff from highways in the Netherlands. The results show that runoff from well-maintained pervious asphalt contains a relatively low concentration of pollutants such as heavy metals, mineral oil, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, and suspended solids compared to runoffmore » from impervious asphalt. In runoff from both types of asphalt, copper, lead, and zinc are the prevailing heavy metals. The impression exists that especially the hard shoulders along highways provided with pervious asphalt act as a sink for suspended solids, soil particles, and other pollutants. To maintain its permeability and filter action, the hard shoulders should be regularly cleaned.« less

Environmental aspects of run-off and siltation in the Anacostia basin from hyperaltitude photographs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ealy, C. D.; Mueller, R. F.; Weider, J. R.

1973-01-01

The effects of urbanization and highway construction on run-off, erosion and siltation on the Anacostia watershed was analyzed. The analysis was based on changes in land use patterns demonstrated by aerial photographs, geologic and hydrologic data. Subwatersheds were studied in terms of three hypothetical storms of different magnitudes. An approximately 10 percent increase in impervious surface can cause a 12 percent increase in peak discharge for storms of the magnitude of tropical storm Agnes, a 20 percent increase for a 10 hour storm and a 150 percent increase for a thunderstorm. The early discharge from a storm of Agnes' magnitude can be increased by 100 percent. Corresponding effects were observed in soil erosion and siltation from bare construction sites. These effects are interrelated with sewage, oil, and chemical pollution and inadequate public transportation. The net result is steady degradation of the local environment, the estuary and the bay.

An analytical probabilistic model of the quality efficiency of a sewer tank

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balistrocchi, Matteo; Grossi, Giovanna; Bacchi, Baldassare

2009-12-01

The assessment of the efficiency of a storm water storage facility devoted to the sewer overflow control in urban areas strictly depends on the ability to model the main features of the rainfall-runoff routing process and the related wet weather pollution delivery. In this paper the possibility of applying the analytical probabilistic approach for developing a tank design method, whose potentials are similar to the continuous simulations, is proved. In the model derivation the quality issues of such devices were implemented. The formulation is based on a Weibull probabilistic model of the main characteristics of the rainfall process and on a power law describing the relationship between the dimensionless storm water cumulative runoff volume and the dimensionless cumulative pollutograph. Following this approach, efficiency indexes were established. The proposed model was verified by comparing its results to those obtained by continuous simulations; satisfactory agreement is shown for the proposed efficiency indexes.

Biodegradability and Molecular Composition of Dissolved Organic Nitrogen in Urban Stormwater Runoff and Outflow Water from a Stormwater Retention Pond.

PubMed

Lusk, Mary G; Toor, Gurpal S

2016-04-05

Dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) can be a significant part of the reactive N in aquatic ecosystems and can accelerate eutrophication and harmful algal blooms. A bioassay method was coupled with Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS) to determine the biodegradability and molecular composition of DON in the urban stormwater runoff and outflow water from an urban stormwater retention pond. The biodegradability of DON increased from 10% in the stormwater runoff to 40% in the pond outflow water and DON was less aromatic and had lower overall molecular weight in the pond outflow water than in the stormwater runoff. More than 1227 N-bearing organic formulas were identified with FT-ICR-MS in the stormwater runoff and pond outflow water, which were only 13% different in runoff and outflow water. These molecular formulas represented a wide range of biomolecules such as lipids, proteins, amino sugars, lignins, and tannins in DON from runoff and pond outflow water. This work implies that the urban infrastructure (i.e., stormwater retention ponds) has the potential to influence biogeochemical processes in downstream water bodies because retention ponds are often a junction between the natural and the built environment.

Role of Vegetation and Mulch in Mitigating the Effects of Raindrop Impact on Runoff and Infiltration from Urban Vegetated Green Infrastructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alizadehtazi, B.; Montalto, F. A.

2013-12-01

Rain drop impact causes soil crust formation which, in turn, reduces infiltration rates and increases runoff, contributing to soil erosion, downstream flooding and non point source pollutant loads. Unprotected soil surfaces (e.g. without vegetation canopies, mulch, or other materials), are more susceptible to crust formation due to the higher kinetic energy associated with raindrop impact. This impulse breaks larger soil aggregates into smaller particles and disperses soil from its original position. The displaced soil particles self-stratify, with finer particles at the top forming the crust. By contrast, soil that is protected by vegetation canopies and mulch layers is less susceptible to crust formation, since these surfaces intercept raindrops, dissipating some of their kinetic energy prior to their impact with the soil. Very little research has sought to quantify the effect that canopies and mulch can have on this phenomenon. This presentation presents preliminary findings from ongoing study conducted using rainfall simulator to determine the ability of new urban vegetation and mulch to minimize soil crust formation. Three different scenarios are compared: a) bare soil, b) soil with mulch cover, and c) soil protected by vegetation canopies. Soil moisture, surface penetration resistance, and physical measurements of the volume of infiltrate and runoff are made on all three surface treatments after simulated rainfall events. The results are used to discuss green infrastructure facility maintenance and design strategies, namely whether heavily vegetated GI facilities require mulching to maintain infiltration capacity.

Research notes : monitoring water quality along highways.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2006-12-01

Runoff from highways typically picks up a variety of pollutants from the roadway. These pollutants include sediment, trash, residue from petroleum products, and heavy metals. Depending on the highway and its geographic setting, highway runoff can eva...

Contributions to the design of rainwater harvesting systems in buildings with green roofs in a Mediterranean climate.

PubMed

Monteiro, Cristina M; Calheiros, Cristina S C; Pimentel-Rodrigues, Carla; Silva-Afonso, Armando; Castro, Paula M L

2016-01-01

Green roofs (GRs) are becoming a trend in urban areas, favouring thermal performance of buildings, promoting removal of atmospheric pollutants, and acting as possible water collection spots. Rainwater harvesting systems in buildings can also contribute to the management of stormwater runoff reducing flood peaks. These technologies should be enhanced in Mediterranean countries where water scarcity is increasing and the occurrence of extreme events is becoming very significant, as a result of climate change. An extensive pilot GR with three aromatic plant species, Satureja montana, Thymus caespititius and Thymus pseudolanuginosus, designed to study several parameters affecting rainwater runoff, has been in operation for 12 months. Physico-chemical analyses of roof water runoff (turbidity, pH, conductivity, NH4(+), NO3(-), PO4(3-), chemical oxygen demand) have shown that water was of sufficient quality for non-potable uses in buildings, such as toilet flushing. An innovative approach allowed for the development of an expression to predict a 'monthly runoff coefficient' of the GR system. This parameter is essential when planning and designing GRs combined with rainwater harvesting systems in a Mediterranean climate. This study is a contribution to improving the basis for the design of rainwater harvesting systems in buildings with extensive GRs under a Mediterranean climate.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in storm runoff from urban and coastal South Carolina.

PubMed

Ngabe, B; Bidleman, T F; Scott, G I

2000-06-08

Stormwater runoff was collected in urbanized areas of South Carolina to investigate the levels and sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Mean concentrations of total PAHs in runoff (sum(PAHs), 14 compounds), determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, were 5590 ng/l in the city of Columbia and 282 ng/l in the coastal community of Murrells Inlet. Lower concentrations were found in estuarine water at Murrells Inlet (mean = 35 ng/l) and at undeveloped North Inlet estuary (13 ng/l). The PAH profiles in Columbia and Murrells Inlet runoff were similar to those of atmospheric particulate matter and unlike those in used crankcase oil. Examination of the aliphatic fraction of Columbia runoff samples by gas chromatography with flame ionization detection showed patterns that were more similar to used crankcase oil than to urban aerosols.

Interpolating precipitation and its relation to runoff and non-point source pollution.

PubMed

Chang, Chia-Ling; Lo, Shang-Lien; Yu, Shaw-L

2005-01-01

When rainfall spatially varies, complete rainfall data for each region with different rainfall characteristics are very important. Numerous interpolation methods have been developed for estimating unknown spatial characteristics. However, no interpolation method is suitable for all circumstances. In this study, several methods, including the arithmetic average method, the Thiessen Polygons method, the traditional inverse distance method, and the modified inverse distance method, were used to interpolate precipitation. The modified inverse distance method considers not only horizontal distances but also differences between the elevations of the region with no rainfall records and of its surrounding rainfall stations. The results show that when the spatial variation of rainfall is strong, choosing a suitable interpolation method is very important. If the rainfall is uniform, the precipitation estimated using any interpolation method would be quite close to the actual precipitation. When rainfall is heavy in locations with high elevation, the rainfall changes with the elevation. In this situation, the modified inverse distance method is much more effective than any other method discussed herein for estimating the rainfall input for WinVAST to estimate runoff and non-point source pollution (NPSP). When the spatial variation of rainfall is random, regardless of the interpolation method used to yield rainfall input, the estimation errors of runoff and NPSP are large. Moreover, the relationship between the relative error of the predicted runoff and predicted pollutant loading of SS is high. However, the pollutant concentration is affected by both runoff and pollutant export, so the relationship between the relative error of the predicted runoff and the predicted pollutant concentration of SS may be unstable.

Improved methods to estimate the effective impervious area in urban catchments using rainfall-runoff data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ebrahimian, Ali; Wilson, Bruce N.; Gulliver, John S.

2016-05-01

Impervious surfaces are useful indicators of the urbanization impacts on water resources. Effective impervious area (EIA), which is the portion of total impervious area (TIA) that is hydraulically connected to the drainage system, is a better catchment parameter in the determination of actual urban runoff. Development of reliable methods for quantifying EIA rather than TIA is currently one of the knowledge gaps in the rainfall-runoff modeling context. The objective of this study is to improve the rainfall-runoff data analysis method for estimating EIA fraction in urban catchments by eliminating the subjective part of the existing method and by reducing the uncertainty of EIA estimates. First, the theoretical framework is generalized using a general linear least square model and using a general criterion for categorizing runoff events. Issues with the existing method that reduce the precision of the EIA fraction estimates are then identified and discussed. Two improved methods, based on ordinary least square (OLS) and weighted least square (WLS) estimates, are proposed to address these issues. The proposed weighted least squares method is then applied to eleven urban catchments in Europe, Canada, and Australia. The results are compared to map measured directly connected impervious area (DCIA) and are shown to be consistent with DCIA values. In addition, both of the improved methods are applied to nine urban catchments in Minnesota, USA. Both methods were successful in removing the subjective component inherent in the analysis of rainfall-runoff data of the current method. The WLS method is more robust than the OLS method and generates results that are different and more precise than the OLS method in the presence of heteroscedastic residuals in our rainfall-runoff data.

Estuarine and Riverine Areas Final Programmatic Environmental Assessment

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-06-25

sources in the study area include WWTP spray field runoff, urban and agricultural runoff, septic tank leachate , landfill leachate , silviculture...overland sheet flow. Urban and agricultural runoff are sources of fecal and total coliform and fecal streptococcus bacteria. Septic tank leachate and...in leachate from experiments using sand showed the greatest mobility of tungsten. Outdoor exposures and accelerated aging tests studied the

Tracking nonpoint source nitrogen pollution in human-impacted watersheds

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kaushal, Sujay S.; Groffman, Peter M; Band, Lawrence; Elliott, Emily M.; Shields, Catherine A.; Kendall, Carol

2011-01-01

Nonpoint source nitrogen (N) pollution is a leading contributor to U.S. water quality impairments. We combined watershed N mass balances and stable isotopes to investigate fate and transport of nonpoint N in forest, agricultural, and urbanized watersheds at the Baltimore Long-Term Ecological Research site. Annual N retention was 55%, 68%, and 82% for agricultural, suburban, and forest watersheds, respectively. Analysis of δ15N-NO3–, and δ18O-NO3– indicated wastewater was an important nitrate source in urbanized streams during baseflow. Negative correlations between δ15N-NO3– and δ18O-NO3– in urban watersheds indicated mixing between atmospheric deposition and wastewater, and N source contributions changed with storm magnitude (atmospheric sources contributed ∼50% at peak storm N loads). Positive correlations between δ15N-NO3– and δ18O-NO3– in watersheds suggested denitrification was removing septic system and agriculturally derived N, but N from belowground leaking sewers was less susceptible to denitrification. N transformations were also observed in a storm drain (no natural drainage network) potentially due to organic carbon inputs. Overall, nonpoint sources such as atmospheric deposition, wastewater, and fertilizer showed different susceptibility to watershed N export. There were large changes in nitrate sources as a function of runoff, and anticipating source changes in response to climate and storms will be critical for managing nonpoint N pollution.

Rainfall-induced runoff from exposed streambed sediments: an important source of water pollution.

PubMed

Frey, S K; Gottschall, N; Wilkes, G; Grégoire, D S; Topp, E; Pintar, K D M; Sunohara, M; Marti, R; Lapen, D R

2015-01-01

When surface water levels decline, exposed streambed sediments can be mobilized and washed into the water course when subjected to erosive rainfall. In this study, rainfall simulations were conducted over exposed sediments along stream banks at four distinct locations in an agriculturally dominated river basin with the objective of quantifying the potential for contaminant loading from these often overlooked runoff source areas. At each location, simulations were performed at three different sites. Nitrogen, phosphorus, sediment, fecal indicator bacteria, pathogenic bacteria, and microbial source tracking (MST) markers were examined in both prerainfall sediments and rainfall-induced runoff water. Runoff generation and sediment mobilization occurred quickly (10-150 s) after rainfall initiation. Temporal trends in runoff concentrations were highly variable within and between locations. Total runoff event loads were considered large for many pollutants considered. For instance, the maximum observed total phosphorus runoff load was on the order of 1.5 kg ha. Results also demonstrate that runoff from exposed sediments can be a source of pathogenic bacteria. spp. and spp. were present in runoff from one and three locations, respectively. Ruminant MST markers were also present in runoff from two locations, one of which hosted pasturing cattle with stream access. Overall, this study demonstrated that rainfall-induced runoff from exposed streambed sediments can be an important source of surface water pollution. Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.

Using the KINEROS2 modeling framework to evaluate the increase in storm runoff from residential development in a semi-arid environment

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kennedy, Jeffrey R.; Goodrich, David C.; Unkrich, Carl L.

2013-01-01

The increase in runoff from urbanization is well known; one extreme example comes from a 13 hectare residential neighborhood in southeast Arizona where runoff was 27 times greater than an adjacent grassland watershed over a forty‐month period from 2005 to 2008. Rainfall‐runoff modeling using the newly‐described KINEROS2 urban element and tension infiltrometer measurements indicate that 17±14 percent of this increase in runoff is due to a 53 percent decrease in the saturated hydraulic conductivity of constructed pervious areas, as compared to the undeveloped grassland. Directly connected impervious areas, primarily streets and driveways, cause 56 percent of the increase in runoff, and indirectly connected impervious areas, primarily rooftops and sidewalks, and a decrease in canopy interception account for the remaining 27 percent increase. Tension infiltrometer measurements show that saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) is about double in the grassland watershed than in the urban watershed, 6.2 ± 3.5mm/hr and 2.9 ± 1.6mm/hr, respectively. Ks in the urban watershed identified from calibrating the rainfall‐runoff model to measured runoff is 9.5 ± 2.8 mm/hr—higher than what was measured but much lower than the 26 mm/hr value indicated by a soil‐texture based KINEROS2 parameter look‐up table. A new component of the KINEROS2 modeling framework, the urban element, forms the basis for the model by simulating a contiguous row of houses and the adjoining street as a series of pervious and impervious overland flow planes. Tests using different levels of discretization found that watershed geometry can be represented in a simplified manner, although more detailed discretization led to better model performance.

An assessment of the potential toxicity of runoff from an urban roadscape during rain events.

PubMed

Waara, Sylvia; Färm, Carina

2008-05-01

The potential negative impact of urban storm water on aquatic freshwater ecosystems has been demonstrated in various studies with different types of biological methods. There are a number of factors that influence the amount and bioavailability of contaminants in storm water even if it is derived from an area with a fairly homogenous land use such as a roadscape where a variation in toxicity during rain events might be expected. There are only a few previous investigations on the toxicity of highway runoff and they have not explored these issues extensively. The main objective of this study is therefore to characterize the potential toxicity of highway runoff during several rain events before it enters a detention pond in Västerås, Sweden, using laboratory bioassays with test organisms representing various functional groups in an aquatic ecosystem. The results are to be used for developing a monitoring program, including biological methods. The storm water was sampled before the entrance to a detention pond, which receives run-off from a highway with approximately 20,000 vehicles a day. The drainage area, including the roadscape and vegetated areas, is 4.3 ha in size. Samples for toxicity tests were taken with an automatic sampler or manually during storm events. In total, the potential toxicity of 65 samples representing 15 different storm events was determined. The toxicity was assessed with 4 different test organisms; Vibrio fischeri using the Microtox comparison test, Daphnia magna using Daphtoxkit-F agna, Thamnocephalus platyurus using the ThamnotoxkitF and Lemna minor, duckweed using SS 028313. Of the 65 samples, 58 samples were tested with DaphniatoxkitF agna, 57 samples with the Microtox comparison test, 48 samples with ThamnotoxkitF and 20 samples with Lemna minor, duckweed. None of the storm water samples were toxic. No toxicity was detected with the Lemna minor test, but in 5 of the 23 samples tested in comparison to the control a growth stimulation of 22-46% was observed. This is in accordance with the chemical analysis of the storm water, which indicated rather large concentrations of tot-N and tot-P. In addition to the growth stimulation, morphological changes were observed in all the 5 samples from the winter event that was sampled. The lack of toxicity observed in our study might be due to a lower traffic intensity (20,000 vehicles/day) at the site and the trapping of pollutants in the vegetated areas of the roadscape, resulting in much smaller loads of pollutants in the storm water than in some previous studies. Ecotoxicological evaluations of storm water including run off from rain events from urban roadscape studies clearly reveal that toxicity may or may not be detected depending upon site, storm condition and the test organism chosen. However, storm water might not be as polluted as previously reported nor may the first flush be such a widespread phenomenon as we originally expected. In this study, there was also a good correlation between pollutant load measured and the lack of toxicity. The test organisms chosen in this study are commonly used in effluent control programs in Sweden and other countries, which makes it possible to compare the results with those from other effluents. In this study, only acute toxicity tests were used and further studies using chronic toxicity tests, assays for genotoxic compounds or in situ bioassays might reveal biological effects at this site. Furthermore, most of the samples were taken in spring, summer or fall and it is possible that winter conditions might alter the constituents in the storm water and, thus, the toxicity of the samples. Considering the complex nature of run off from urban roadscapes, it will be virtually impossible to evaluate properly the potential hazard of particular storm water and the efficiency of a particular treatment strategy from only physical and chemical characterizations of the effluent. Therefore, despite the lack of toxicity detected in this study, it is recommended that toxicity tests or other biological methods should be included in evaluations of the effects of runoff from roadscapes.

Development and evaluation of best management practices (BMPS) for highway runoff pollution control.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-12-01

Polluted storm water runoff is commonly transported through Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s). Currently, : sufficient information is not available on development and evaluation of Best Management Practices (BMPs) within an MS4 : boundary...

[Runoff Pollution Experiments of Paddy Fields Under Different Irrigation Patterns].

PubMed

Zhou, Jing-wen; Su, Bao-lin; Huang, Ning-bo; Guan, Yu-tang; Zhao, Kun

2016-03-15

To study runoff and non-point source pollution of paddy fields and to provide a scientific basis for agricultural water management of paddy fields, paddy plots in the Jintan City and the Liyang City were chosen for experiments on non-point source pollution, and flood irrigation and intermittent irrigation patterns were adopted in this research. The surface water level and rainfall were observed during the growing season of paddies, and the runoff amount from paddy plots and loads of total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) were calculated by different methods. The results showed that only five rain events of totally 27 rainfalls and one artificially drainage formed non-point source pollution from flood irrigated paddy plot, which resulted in a TN export coefficient of 49.4 kg · hm⁻² and a TP export coefficient of 1.0 kg · hm⁻². No any runoff event occurred from the paddy plot with intermittent irrigation even in the case of maximum rainfall of 95.1 mm. Runoff from paddy fields was affected by water demands of paddies and irrigation or drainage management, which was directly correlated to surface water level, rainfall amount and the lowest ridge height of outlets. Compared with the flood irrigation, intermittent irrigation could significantly reduce non-point source pollution caused by rainfall or artificial drainage.

Parking lot sealcoat: An unrecognized source of urban polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mahler, B.J.; Van Metre, P.C.; Bashara, T.J.; Wilson, J.T.; Johns, D.A.

2005-01-01

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a ubiquitous contaminant in urban environments. Although numerous sources of PAHs to urban runoff have been identified, their relative importance remains uncertain. We show that a previously unidentified source of urban PAHs, parking lot sealcoat, may dominate loading of PAHs to urban water bodies in the United States. Particles in runoff from parking lots with coal-tar emulsion sealcoat had mean concentrations of PAHs of 3500 mg/kg, 65 times higher than the mean concentration from unsealed asphalt and cement lots. Diagnostic ratios of individual PAHs indicating sources are similar for particles from coal-tar emulsion sealed lots and suspended sediment from four urban streams. Contaminant yields projected to the watershed scale for the four associated watersheds indicate that runoff from sealed parking lots could account for the majority of stream PAH loads.

Evaluation and Analysis of Regional Best Management Practices in San Diego, California (USA)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Flint, K.; Kinoshita, A. M.

2017-12-01

In urban areas, surface water quality is often impaired due to pollutants transported by stormwater runoff. To maintain and improve surface water quality, the United States Clean Water Act (CWA) requires an evaluation of available water quality information to develop a list of impaired water bodies and establish contaminant restrictions. Structural Best Management Practices (BMPs) are designed to reduce runoff volume and/or pollutant concentrations to comply with CWA requirements. Local level policy makers and managers require an improved understanding of the costs and benefits associated with BMP installation, performance, and maintenance. The International Stormwater BMP Database (Database) is an online platform for submittal of information about existing BMPs, such as cost, design details, and statistical analysis of influent and effluent pollutant concentrations. While the Database provides an aggregation of data which supports analysis of overall BMP performance at international and national scales, the sparse spatial distribution of the data is not suitable for regional and local analysis. This research conducts an extensive review of local inventory and spatial analysis of existing permanent BMPs throughout the San Diego River watershed in California, USA. Information collected from cities within the San Diego River watershed will include BMP types, locations, dates of installation, costs, expected removal efficiencies, monitoring data, and records of maintenance. Aggregating and mapping this information will facilitate BMP evaluation. Specifically, the identification of spatial trends, inconsistencies in BMP performances, and gaps in current records. Regression analysis will provide insight into the nature and significance of correlations between BMP performance and physical characteristics such as land use, soil type, and proximity to impaired waters. This analysis will also result in a metric of relative BMP performance and will provide a basis for future predictions of BMP effectiveness. Ultimately, results from this work will provide information to local governments and agencies for prioritizing, maintaining and monitoring BMPs, and improvement of hydrologic and water quality modeling in urban systems subject to compliance.

Exploring the Linkage between Urban Flood Risk and Spatial Patterns in Small Urbanized Catchments of Beijing, China

PubMed Central

Yao, Lei; Chen, Liding; Wei, Wei

2017-01-01

In the context of global urbanization, urban flood risk in many cities has become a serious environmental issue, threatening the health of residents and the environment. A number of hydrological studies have linked urban flooding issues closely to the spectrum of spatial patterns of urbanization, but relatively little attention has been given to small-scale catchments within the realm of urban systems. This study aims to explore the hydrological effects of small-scaled urbanized catchments assigned with various landscape patterns. Twelve typical residential catchments in Beijing were selected as the study areas. Total Impervious Area (TIA), Directly Connected Impervious Area (DCIA), and a drainage index were used as the catchment spatial metrics. Three scenarios were designed as different spatial arrangement of catchment imperviousness. Runoff variables including total and peak runoff depth (Qt and Qp) were simulated by using Strom Water Management Model (SWMM). The relationship between catchment spatial patterns and runoff variables were determined, and the results demonstrated that, spatial patterns have inherent influences on flood risks in small urbanized catchments. Specifically: (1) imperviousness acts as an effective indicator in affecting both Qt and Qp; (2) reducing the number of rainwater inlets appropriately will benefit the catchment peak flow mitigation; (3) different spatial concentrations of impervious surfaces have inherent influences on Qp. These findings provide insights into the role of urban spatial patterns in driving rainfall-runoff processes in small urbanized catchments, which is essential for urban planning and flood management. PMID:28264521

Exploring the Linkage between Urban Flood Risk and Spatial Patterns in Small Urbanized Catchments of Beijing, China.

PubMed

Yao, Lei; Chen, Liding; Wei, Wei

2017-02-28

In the context of global urbanization, urban flood risk in many cities has become a serious environmental issue, threatening the health of residents and the environment. A number of hydrological studies have linked urban flooding issues closely to the spectrum of spatial patterns of urbanization, but relatively little attention has been given to small-scale catchments within the realm of urban systems. This study aims to explore the hydrological effects of small-scaled urbanized catchments assigned with various landscape patterns. Twelve typical residential catchments in Beijing were selected as the study areas. Total Impervious Area ( TIA ), Directly Connected Impervious Area ( DCIA ), and a drainage index were used as the catchment spatial metrics. Three scenarios were designed as different spatial arrangement of catchment imperviousness. Runoff variables including total and peak runoff depth ( Q t and Q p ) were simulated by using Strom Water Management Model (SWMM). The relationship between catchment spatial patterns and runoff variables were determined, and the results demonstrated that, spatial patterns have inherent influences on flood risks in small urbanized catchments. Specifically: (1) imperviousness acts as an effective indicator in affecting both Q t and Q p ; (2) reducing the number of rainwater inlets appropriately will benefit the catchment peak flow mitigation; (3) different spatial concentrations of impervious surfaces have inherent influences on Q p . These findings provide insights into the role of urban spatial patterns in driving rainfall-runoff processes in small urbanized catchments, which is essential for urban planning and flood management.

Hydrological Footprints of Urban Developments in the Lake Simcoe Watershed, Canada: A Combined Paired-Catchment and Change Detection Modeling Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oni, S. K.; Futter, M. N.; Buttle, J. M.; Dillon, P.

2014-12-01

Urban sprawl and regional climate variability are major stresses on surface water resources in many places. The Lake Simcoe watershed (LSW) Ontario, Canada, is no exception. The LSW is predominantly agricultural but is experiencing rapid population growth due to its proximity to the greater Toronto area. This has led to extensive land use changes which have impacted its water resources and altered runoff patterns in some rivers draining to the lake. Here, we use a paired-catchment approach, hydrological change detection modelling and remote sensing analysis of satellite images to evaluate the impacts of land use change on the hydrology of the LSW (1994 to 2008). Results show that urbanization increased up to 16% in Lovers Creek, the most-urban impacted catchment. Annual runoff from Lovers Creek increased from 239 to 442 mm/yr in contrast to the reference catchment (Black River at Washago) where runoff was relatively stable with an annual mean of 474 mm/yr. Increased annual runoff from Lovers Creek was not accompanied by an increase in annual precipitation. Discriminant function analysis suggests that early (1992-1997; pre-major development) and late (2004-2009; fully urbanized) periods for Lovers Creek separated mainly based on model parameter sets related to runoff flashiness and evapotranspiration. As a result, parameterization in either period cannot be used interchangeably to produce credible runoff simulations in Lovers Creek due to greater scatter between the parameters in canonical space. Separation of early and late period parameter sets for the reference catchment was based on climate and snowmelt related processes. This suggests that regional climatic variability could be influencing hydrologic change in the reference catchment whereas urbanization amplified the regional natural hydrologic changes in urbanizing catchments of the LSW.

Interspecies variation in the susceptibility of adult Pacific salmon to toxic urban stormwater runoff.

PubMed

McIntyre, Jenifer K; Lundin, Jessica I; Cameron, James R; Chow, Michelle I; Davis, Jay W; Incardona, John P; Scholz, Nathaniel L

2018-07-01

Adult coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) prematurely die when they return from the ocean to spawn in urban watersheds throughout northwestern North America. The available evidence suggests the annual mortality events are caused by toxic stormwater runoff. The underlying pathophysiology of the urban spawner mortality syndrome is not known, and it is unclear whether closely related species of Pacific salmon are similarly at risk. The present study co-exposed adult coho and chum (O. keta) salmon to runoff from a high traffic volume urban arterial roadway. The spawners were monitored for the familiar symptoms of the mortality syndrome, including surface swimming, loss of orientation, and loss of equilibrium. Moreover, the hematology of both species was profiled by measuring arterial pH, blood gases, lactate, plasma electrolytes, hematocrit, and glucose. Adult coho developed behavioral symptoms within a few hours of exposure to stormwater. Various measured hematological parameters were significantly altered compared to coho controls, indicating a blood acidosis and ionoregulatory disturbance. By contrast, runoff-exposed chum spawners showed essentially no indications of the mortality syndrome, and measured blood hematological parameters were similar to unexposed chum controls. We conclude that contaminant(s) in urban runoff are the likely cause of the disruption of ion balance and pH in coho but not chum salmon. Among the thousands of chemicals in stormwater, future forensic analyses should focus on the gill or cardiovascular system of coho salmon. Because of their distinctive sensitivity to urban runoff, adult coho remain an important vertebrate indicator species for degraded water quality in freshwater habitats under pressure from human population growth and urbanization. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Distribution and disinfection of bacterial loadings associated with particulate matter fractions transported in urban wet weather flows.

PubMed

Dickenson, Joshua A; Sansalone, John J

2012-12-15

Urban runoff is a resource for reuse water. However, runoff transports indicator and pathogenic organisms which are mobilized from sources of fecal contamination. These organisms are entrained with particulate matter (PM) that can serve as a mobile substrate for these organisms. Within a framework of additional treatment for reuse of treated runoff which requires the management of PM inventories in unit operations and drainage systems there is a need to characterize organism distributions on PM and the disinfection potential thereof. This study quantifies total coliform, Escherichia coli, fecal streptococcus, and enterococcus generated from 25 runoff events. With the ubiquity and hetero-dispersivity of PM in urban runoff this study examines organism distributions for suspended, settleable and sediment PM fractions differentiated based on PM size and transport functionality. Hypochlorite is applied in batch to elaborate inactivation of PM-associated organisms for each PM fraction. Results indicate that urban runoff bacterial loadings of indicator organisms exceed U.S. wastewater reuse, recreational contact, and Australian runoff reuse criteria as comparative metrics. All monitored events exceeded the Australian runoff reuse criteria for E. coli in non-potable residential and unrestricted access systems. In PM-differentiated events, bacteriological mobilization primarily occurred in the suspended PM fraction. However, sediment PM shielded PM-associated coliforms at all hypochlorite doses, whereas suspended and settleable PM fractions provide less shielding resulting in higher inactivation by hypochlorite. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Water-quality characteristics of urban runoff and estimates of annual loads in the Tampa Bay area, Florida, 1975-80

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lopez, M.A.; Giovannelli, R.F.

1984-01-01

Rainfall, runoff, and water quality data were collected at nine urban watersheds in the Tampa Bay area from 1975 to 1980. Watershed drainage area ranged from 0.34 to 0.45 sq mi. Land use was mixed. Development ranged from a mostly residential watershed with a 19% impervious surface, to a commercial-residential watershed with a 61% impervious surface. Average biochemical oxygen demand concentrations of base flow at two sites and of stormwater runoff at five sites exceeded treated sewage effluent standards. Average coliform concentrations of stormwater runoff at all sites were several orders of magnitude greater than standards for Florida Class III receiving water (for recreation or propagation and management of fish and wildlife). Average concentrations of lead and zinc in stormwater runoff were consistently higher than Class III standards. Stormwater-runoff loads and base-flow concentrations of biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, total nitrogen, total organic nitrogen, total phosphorus, and lead were related to runoff volume, land use, urban development, and antecedent daily rainfall by multiple linear regression. Stormwater-runoff volume was related to pervious area, hydraulically connected impervious surfaces, storm rainfall, and soil-infiltration index. Base-flow daily discharge was related to drainage area and antecedent daily rainfall. The flow regression equations of this report were used to compute 1979 water-year loads of biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, total nitrogen, total organic nitrogen, total phosphorus , and total lead for the nine Tampa Bay area urban watersheds. (Lantz-PTT)

Reducing urban diffuse pollution and surface water flooding using retrofit street trees

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rothwell, James; Stringer, Pete; Causer, Katherine; Ryan, Matt; Mangan, Steve; Appleton, Ian; Savage, Mike

2016-04-01

Nature-based solutions for the management of urban stormwater have been growing in popularity, but there is a lack of empirical performance data for field-scale installations, especially in a UK context. To address this deficiency, a novel retrofit street tree demonstration project was commissioned in the City of Salford, near Manchester (UK). Three fifteen year-old London Plane trees were planted within a large roadside tree trench on an urban residential street. The DeepRoot Silvia Cell modular suspended pavement system was used to maximise soil volume, avoid compaction and support large tree growth. Road runoff is directed to the tree trench via AKO Slot Kerbs. Water is then distributed evenly throughout the whole system via a perforated pipe. Excess water is conveyed out of the system via an underdrain, which is subsequently connected to the sewer network. The tree trench is lined with an impermeable membrane. Access chambers are positioned on the inflow and outflow of the tree trench to facilitate hydrological and water quality monitoring. Installation was completed in autumn 2015 and monitoring will be conducted over a three year period. This paper will provide an overview of the installation process and present initial results on the pollutant removal performance and hydrological functioning of the system.

Combining the Power of Statistical Analyses and Community Interviews to Identify Adoption Barriers for Stormwater Best-Management Practices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoover, F. A.; Bowling, L. C.; Prokopy, L. S.

2015-12-01

Urban stormwater is an on-going management concern in municipalities of all sizes. In both combined or separated sewer systems, pollutants from stormwater runoff enter the natural waterway system during heavy rain events. Urban flooding during frequent and more intense storms are also a growing concern. Therefore, stormwater best-management practices (BMPs) are being implemented in efforts to reduce and manage stormwater pollution and overflow. The majority of BMP water quality studies focus on the small-scale, individual effects of the BMP, and the change in water quality directly from the runoff of these infrastructures. At the watershed scale, it is difficult to establish statistically whether or not these BMPs are making a difference in water quality, given that watershed scale monitoring is often costly and time consuming, relying on significant sources of funds, which a city may not have. Hence, there is a need to quantify the level of sampling needed to detect the water quality impact of BMPs at the watershed scale. In this study, a power analysis was performed on data from an urban watershed in Lafayette, Indiana, to determine the frequency of sampling required to detect a significant change in water quality measurements. Using the R platform, results indicate that detecting a significant change in watershed level water quality would require hundreds of weekly measurements, even when improvement is present. The second part of this study investigates whether the difficulty in demonstrating water quality change represents a barrier to adoption of stormwater BMPs. Semi-structured interviews of community residents and organizations in Chicago, IL are being used to investigate residents understanding of water quality and best management practices and identify their attitudes and perceptions towards stormwater BMPs. Second round interviews will examine how information on uncertainty in water quality improvements influences their BMP attitudes and perceptions.

Metals, organic compounds, and nutrients in Long Island Sound: sources, magnitudes, trends, and impacts

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mullaney, John R.; Varekamp, J.C.; MCElroy, A.E.; Brsslin, V.T.

2014-01-01

The main rivers that discharge into LIS are the East River in the west, the Housatonic and Connecticut rivers on the north, and the Thames River at the northeastern end of LIS, with the Quinnipiac and several other smaller rivers also coming in from Connecticut. The East River is a tidal strait that connects LIS with New York Harbor through the heart of the New York City metropolitan region. The Housatonic, Quinnipiac, Connecticut and Thames river basins drain agricultural, urban and industrial lands in a watershed that extends from Connecticut north to Canada. The Sound receives contaminants from many sources within and outside its contributing watershed, including direct discharges from coastal industries, wastewater treatment plants (WWTP), urban runoff, and atmospheric deposition. New England has a long history of industrial activity, with factories that once crowded its riverbanks and shores now having succumbed to economic forces that drove manufacturing overseas. Relict deposits with legacy pollutants in upland sediments persist and combine with modern runoff sources from an increasingly densely populated watershed, and continue to be a source of contaminants for LIS. While toxic exposure from legacy and active sources has diminished over the years as wastewater treatment has improved and industries closed or moved away, pockets of contamination still have consequences for many embayments and coves, particularly near urbanized areas of western LIS. Loading of nutrients and carbon have been of recent concern in LIS because of the extensive impacts observed since the mid-1980s. Excess nutrients not only create inhospitable conditions for higher forms of aquatic life through reduced oxygen levels and disrupting trophic dynamics, but also by altering the local biogeochemistry. As a result, the release of toxic substances into the water column may be enhanced in hypoxic waters, thus exerting a toxic effect or enhancing incorporation of toxic pollutants into the food we

Effect of intermittent operation model on the function of soil infiltration system.

PubMed

Hou, Lizhu; Hu, Bill X; He, Mengmeng; Xu, Xue; Zhang, Wenjing

2018-04-01

To enhance denitrification in a process of solute infiltration through a soil, a two-section mixed-medium soil infiltration system (TMSIS) for urban non-point pollution was developed. The artificial aerobic respiration and nitrification took place in the upper aerobic section (AES), while grass powders and sawdust were mixed in the bottom anaerobic section (ANS) to supply organic carbon source for denitrification bacteria, and the reduction was increased by iron addition in the ANS. Measured resident concentrations from the bottom of each ANS column were assumed to represent mean values averaged over the column cross-sectional area. The TMSIS with hydraulic loading rates (HLR) of 0.32, 0.24, and 0.16 m 3  m -2  day -1 and with wetting-drying ratio (R WD ) of 1.0 showed remarkable removal efficiencies for chemical oxygen demand (COD), NH 4 + -N, and TP, respectively. The hydraulic loading rate of 0.32 m 3  m -2  day -1 was selected as the optimal HLR due to the high contaminated runoff treatment efficiency. When R WD was 1.0, 0.5, or 0.2 with hydraulic loading rate of 0.32 m 3  m -2  day -1 , the TMSIS could treat synthetic urban runoff contaminants very well. The corresponding effluent water met the China's national quality standard for class V surface water. The wetting-drying ratio of 0.5 with hydraulic loading of 0.32 m 3  m -2  day -1 was selected as the optimal operation conditions for the TMSIS. Aerobic respiration and nitrification mainly took place in the upper AES, in which most of the COD and the NH 4 + -N were removed. Mixed sawdust and grass powders used as a carbon source and heterotrophic denitrification were put at the bottom of the ANS. The developed TMSIS has the potential to be applied for urban non-point pollution removal.

Air Permeability and Infiltration Differences Associated with Grass and Gravel Streambeds in an Urban Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Witte, B.; Ferlin, C.; Gallo, E. L.; Lohse, K. A.; Meixner, T.; Brooks, P. D.; Ferre, T. A.

2010-12-01

Storm water infiltration and recharge is a key component of sustainable water resource management in rapidly expanding urban areas of arid and semi-arid regions. Near surface streambed permeability affects the partitioning of stream flows to infiltration and subsequent groundwater recharge, or increasing runoff to be conveyed downstream. Therefore, in this study, we assessed how air permeability varied among distinct stream beds of ephemeral urban washes in the semi-arid southwest. A Soil Core Air Permeameter (SCAP) was used to quantify in situ air permeability at sixteen sites in the Tucson, Arizona metropolitan area. Significant air permeability differences between gravel and grass lined ephemeral stream beds were found, where the average air permeability at the gravel sites was 3.58 x10-2 ± 1.11 x 10-2 mm2 (mean ± std error) and the air permeability at the grass sites was 7.13 x 10-3 ± 2.02 x 10-3 mm2. A previously published linear correlation between air permeability and saturated hydraulic conductivity was used to predict saturated hydraulic conductivity at the ephemeral stream beds of this study. Preliminary results suggest that the predicted saturated hydraulic conductivity values are comparable to ring infiltration measurements taken in the field. Findings from this study indicate that the higher porosity and decreased vegetation at the gravel lined urban washes enhanced infiltration rates, which may lead to decreased storm water runoff. However, higher infiltration rates at gravel lined sites may result in less time for processing of potential pollutants with negative implications for water quality.

Effects of urban development on direct runoff to East Meadow Brook, Nassau County, Long Island, New York

USGS Publications Warehouse

Seaburn, G.E.

1969-01-01

The study described in this report is concerned with the effects of intensive urban development on direct runoff to East Meadow Brook, a southward-flowing stream in central Nassau County, N.Y., during the period 1937-66. The specific objectives of the study were (a) to relate indices of urban development to increases in the volume of annual direct runoff to the stream; (b) to compare hydrograph features at different periods during the transition of the drainage basin from rural to urban conditions; and (c) to compare the rainfall-runoff relations for periods before and after urban development.Periods of housing and street construction in the drainage basin correspond to three distinct periods of increased direct runoff after the base period 1937-43-namely, 1944-51, 1952-59, and 1960-62. During each period, the average annual direct runoff increased because of an increase in the area served by storm sewers that discharged into East Meadow Brook. The amount of land served by sewers increased from about 570 acres in 1943 to about 3,600 acres in 1962, or about 530 percent. During this same period, the average annual direct runoff increased from about 920 acre-feet per year to about 3,400 acre-feet per year, or about 270 percent.The shape of direct-runoff unit hydrographs of East Meadow Brook also changed during the period of study. The average peak discharge of a 1-hour-duration unit hydrograph increased from 313 cubic feet per second, for storms in 1937-43, to 776 cubic feet per second, for storms in 1960-62, or about 2.5 times. In addition, the widths of the unit hydrographs for 1960-62 at values of 50 and 75 percent of the peak discharge were 38 and 28 percent, respectively, the comparable widths of the unit hydrographs for 1937-43.An analysis of the rainfall-runoff relations for both preurban and urban conditions indicates that the direct runoff for both periods increased with the magnitude of the storm. However, the direct runoff during a period of urbanized conditions (1964- 66) was from 1.1 to 4.6 times greater than the corresponding runoff during the preurban period 1937-43, depending on the size of the individual storm.The volume of direct runoff from the parts of the subarea equipped with storm sewers that discharged into East Meadow Brook is estimated to have been roughly 3,000 acre-feet per year in 1960-62, or about 20 percent of the precipitation on those parts of the area.The increase in direct runoff probably represents a loss of ground-water recharge. However, because data changes in evapo-transpiration are insufficient and because the effects of recharge basins are unknown, adequate quantitative estimates of groundwater recharge can not be made.On the basis of the present zoning regulations and on assumption that an additional 320 acres in the Hempstead subarea will be serviced by storm sewers that discharge into East Meadow Brook, direct runoff from the subarea is expected to increase in the future to an estimated 4,000-4,500 acre-feet per year.

Long-term characterization of residential runoff and assessing potential surrogates of fecal indicator organisms.

PubMed

Reano, Dane C; Haver, Darren L; Oki, Lorence R; Yates, Marylynn V

2015-05-01

Investigations into the microbiological impacts of urban runoff on receiving water bodies, especially during storm conditions, have yielded general paradigms that influence runoff abatement and control management strategies. To determine whether these trends are present in other runoff sources, the physical, chemical, and microbiological components of residential runoff from eight neighborhoods in Northern and Southern California were characterized over the course of five years. Sampling occurred regularly and during storm events, resulting in 833 data sets. Analysis of runoff data assisted in characterizing residential runoff, elucidating differences between dry and storm conditions, and identifying surrogates capable of assessing microbiological quality. Results indicate that although microbial loading increases during storm events similar to urban runoff, annual microbial loading in these study sites principally occurs during dry conditions (24% storm, 76% dry). Generated artificial neural network and multiple linear regression models assessed surrogate performance by accurately predicting Escherichia coli concentrations from validation data sets (R(2) = 0.74 and 0.77, respectively), but required input from other fecal indicator organism (FIO) variables to maintain performance (R(2) = 0.27 and 0.18, respectively, without FIO). This long-term analysis of residential runoff highlights characteristics distinct from urban runoff and establishes necessary variables for determining microbiological quality, thus better informing future management strategies. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Influence of land use on the quantity and quality of runoff along Israel's coastal strip

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goldshleger, Naftaly; Asaf, Lior; Maor, Alon; Garzuzi, Jamil Jamil

2013-04-01

This study presents an analysis of the quantity and quality of urban runoff from various land uses by remote-sensing and GIS technology coupled with hydrological and chemical monitoring. The study areas were located in the cities of Herzliya and Ra'anana, in Israel's coastal plain, where extensive urbanization has taken place over the last 30 years. Land uses in urban basins were analyzed; rain and runoff were measured and sampled at measurement stations representing different land uses (residential, industrial, commercial, roads, gas station). The aim was to analyze land uses by different remote-sensing and GIS techniques, to evaluate the quality and quantity of urban storm water from various land uses, and to verify a method for predicting the impact of urban land uses on quantity and quality of urban storm water. The quality of urban storm water from residential areas was generally very high, and the water is suitable for reuse or direct recharge into the local aquifer. In light of the serious state of the Israeli water sector and the large amounts of unused runoff produced by Israel's cities, together with the high quality of urban storm water drained from the residential areas, it is important to exploit this water source

The influence of dual-substrate-layer extensive green roofs on rainwater runoff quantity and quality.

PubMed

Wang, Xiaoou; Tian, Yimei; Zhao, Xinhua

2017-08-15

This study investigates the ability of dual-substrate-layer extensive green roofs to retain rainwater and reduce pollutant leaching. The substrates in dual-substrate-layer green roofs consist of an upper organic nutrition layer for plant growth and a lower inorganic adsorption layer for water retention and pollutant reduction. One traditional single-substrate-layer extensive green roof was built for comparison with dual-substrate-layer green roofs. During the experimental period, dual-substrate-layer green roofs supported better natural vegetation growth, with coverage exceeding 90%, while the coverage in single-substrate-layer green roof was over 80%. Based on the average retention value of the total rainfall for four types of simulated rains (the total rainfall depth (mm) was 43.2, 54.6, 76.2 and 86.4, respectively), the dual-substrate-layer green roofs, which used the mixture of activated charcoal with perlite and vermiculite as the adsorption substrate, possessed better rainfall retention performance (65.9% and 55.4%) than the single-substrate-layer green roof (52.5%). All of the dual-substrate-layer green roofs appeared to be sinks for organics, heavy metals and all forms of nitrogen in all cases, while acted as sources of phosphorus contaminants in the case of heavy rains. In consideration of the factors of water retention, pollution reduction and service life of the green roof, a mixture of activated charcoal and/or pumice with perlite and vermiculite is recommended as the adsorption substrate. The green roofs were able to mitigate mild acid rain, raising the pH from approximately 5.6 in rainfall to 6.5-7.6 in green roof runoff. No signs of a first flush effect for phosphate, total phosphorus, ammonia nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, total nitrogen, organics, zinc, lead, chromium, manganese, copper, pH or turbidity were found in the green roof runoff. Cost analysis further proved the practicability of dual-substrate-layer green roofs in retaining rainwater, and their long-term rainwater runoff quantity and quality performance in urban environments merit further investigation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Indicate severe toxicity of highway runoff.

PubMed

Dorchin, Achik; Shanas, Uri

2013-09-01

Road runoff is recognized as a substantial nonpoint source of contamination to the aquatic environment. Highway seasonal first flushes contain particularly high concentrations of pollutants. To fully account for the toxicity potential of the runoff, the cumulative effects of the pollutants should be assessed, ideally by biological analyses. Acute toxicity tests with were used to measure the toxicity of runoff from three major highway sections in Israel for 2 yr. Highway first flushes resulted in the mortality of all tested individuals within 24 to 48 h. A first flush collected from Highway 4 (traffic volume: 81,200 cars d) remained toxic even after dilution to <5% (48 h EC <5%). Synthetic solutions with metal concentrations corresponding to highways' first flushes revealed a synergistic adverse effect on survival and a potential additive effect of nonmetal pollutants in the runoff. Because daphnids and other invertebrates constitute the base of the aquatic food chain, detrimental effects of highway runoff may propagate to higher levels of biological organization. The observed high potential of environmental contamination warrants the control of highway runoff in proximity to natural watercourses. Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.

Source diagnostics of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in urban road runoff, dust, rain and canopy throughfall.

PubMed

Zhang, Wei; Zhang, Shucai; Wan, Chao; Yue, Dapan; Ye, Youbin; Wang, Xuejun

2008-06-01

Diagnostic ratios and multivariate analysis were utilized to apportion polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) sources for road runoff, road dust, rain and canopy throughfall based on samples collected in an urban area of Beijing, China. Three sampling sites representing vehicle lane, bicycle lane and branch road were selected. For road runoff and road dust, vehicular emission and coal combustion were identified as major sources, and the source contributions varied among the sampling sites. For rain, three principal components were apportioned representing coal/oil combustion (54%), vehicular emission (34%) and coking (12%). For canopy throughfall, vehicular emission (56%), coal combustion (30%) and oil combustion (14%) were identified as major sources. Overall, the PAH's source for road runoff mainly reflected that for road dust. Despite site-specific sources, the findings at the study area provided a general picture of PAHs sources for the road runoff system in urban area of Beijing.

Flood reduction as an ecosystem service of constructed wetlands for combined sewer overflow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rizzo, A.; Bresciani, R.; Masi, F.; Boano, F.; Revelli, R.; Ridolfi, L.

2018-05-01

Urban runoff negatively impacts the receiving streams and different solutions have been proposed in literature to limit the effect of urbanization on the water balance. These solutions suggest to manage urban runoff in order to switch from a post-development river hydrograph (high peak and short duration) back again to a pre-development hydrograph (low peak and high duration). Combined sewer overflows (CSOs) represent severe pollutant sources for receiving streams due to the combination of first flush of roads and sewers and black water conveyed by combined sewer systems. Constructed wetlands for CSO treatment (CSO-CWs) are adopted with increasing frequency for reducing pollutant inputs to streams. Moreover, these systems exhibit the characteristic to behave similarly to ponds, wetlands, and bioretention systems that provide flood mitigation by decreasing the intensity of peak flows. This work aims to show the additional ecosystem service provided by CSO-CWs in term of limitation of the hydraulic impact of CSO on stream hydrograph. A mathematical model is developed to simulate the hydraulic behavior of a real case study situated in Gorla Maggiore (Italy), which includes vertical flow subsurface beds (VF) as first stage and a free water surface bed (FWS) as second stage. The model simulates the unsaturated flow within VF and the accumulation of water on the top of VF and within FWS. Results show a satisfactory lamination performance of the system for both single and up to 5 consecutive flood events, with a peak flow reduction ranging from 52.7% to 95.4%. Withdrawn of flow rate from the river in order to cope with long dry period does not significantly affect the lamination performances. The considered CSO-CW exhibits an excellent lamination efficiency also during more intense floods events, with a peak flow reduction of 86.2% for a CSO event with return period of 10 years. The flow rate frequency density function determined by the CSO-CW is more shifted towards lower values compared to untreated CSOs. These results indicate that CSO-CWs work properly in terms of reduction of CSO urbanization impact on stream hydrology.

Water treatment residual (WTR)-coated wood mulch for alleviation of toxic metals and phosphorus from polluted urban stormwater runoff.

PubMed

Soleimanifar, Hanieh; Deng, Yang; Wu, Laying; Sarkar, Dibyendu

2016-07-01

Aluminum-based water treatment residual (WTR)-coated wood mulches were synthesized and tested for removal of heavy metals and phosphorus (P) in synthetic urban stormwater. WTRs are an industrial waste produced from coagulation in water treatment facilities, primarily composed of amorphous aluminum or iron hydroxides. Batch tests showed that the composite filter media could effectively adsorb 97% lead (Pb), 76% zinc (Zn), 81% copper (Cu) and 97% P from the synthetic stormwater (Pb = 100 μg/L, Zn = 800 μg/L, Cu = 100 μg/L, P = 2.30 mg/L, and pH = 7.0) within 120 min, due to the presence of aluminum hydroxides as an active adsorbent. The adsorption was a 2(nd)-order reaction with respect toward each pollutant. Column tests demonstrated that the WTR-coated mulches considerably alleviated the select pollutants under a continuous-flow condition over the entire filtration period. The effluent Pb, Zn, Cu, and P varied at 0.5-8.9%, 33.4-46.7%, 45.8-55.8%, and 6.4-51.9% of their respective initial concentrations with the increasing bed volume from 0 to 50. Synthetic precipitation leaching procedure (SPLP) and toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) tests indicated that leached contaminants were all below the U.S. criteria, suggesting that the release of undesired chemicals under rainfall or landfilling conditions is not a concern during application. This study demonstrates that the WTR-coated mulches are a new, low-cost, and effective filter media for urban stormwater treatment. Equally important, this study provides a sustainable approach to beneficially reuse an industrial waste for environmental pollution control. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Temporal and spatial responses of Chironomidae (Diptera) and other benthic invertebrates to urban stormwater runoff

Treesearch

Susan E. Gresens; Kenneth T. Belt; Jamie A. Tang; Daniel C. Gwinn; Patricia A. Banks

2007-01-01

In a longitudinal study of two streams whose lower reaches received unattenuated urban stormwater runoff, physical disturbance by stormflow was less important than the persistant unidentified chemical impacts of urban stormwater in limiting the distribution of Chironomidae, and Ephemeroptera, Trichoptera and Plecoptera (EPT). A hierarchical spatial analysis showed that...

Techniques for estimating the quantity and quality of storm runoff from urban watersheds of Jefferson County, Kentucky

USGS Publications Warehouse

Evaldi, R.D.; Moore, B.L.

1994-01-01

Linear regression models are presented for estimating storm-runoff volumes, and mean con- centrations and loads of selected constituents in storm runoff from urban watersheds of Jefferson County, Kentucky. Constituents modeled include dissolved oxygen, biochemical and chemical oxygen demand, total and suspended solids, volatile residue, nitrogen, phosphorus and phosphate, calcium, magnesium, barium, copper, iron, lead, and zinc. Model estimations are a function of drainage area, percentage of impervious area, climatological data, and land uses. Estimation models are based on runoff volumes, and concen- trations and loads of constituents in runoff measured at 6 stormwater outfalls and 25 streams in Jefferson County.

Cementitious porous pavement in stormwater quality control: pH and alkalinity elevation.

PubMed

Kuang, Xuheng; Sansalone, John

2011-01-01

A certain level of alkalinity acts as a buffer and maintains the pH value in a stable range in water bodies. With rapid urban development, more and more acidic pollutants flow to watersheds with runoff and drop alkalinity to a very low level and ultimately degrade the water environment. Cementitious porous pavement is an effective tool for stormwater acidic neutralization. When stormwater infiltrates cement porous pavement (CPP) materials, alkalinity and pH will be elevated due to the basic characteristics of cement concrete. The elevated alkalinity will neutralize acids in water bodies and maintain the pH in a stable level as a buffer. It is expected that CPP materials still have a certain capability of alkalinity elevation after years of service, which is important for CPP as an effective tool for stormwater management. However, few previous studies have reported on how CPP structures would elevate runoff alkalinity and pH after being exposed to rainfall-runoff for years. In this study, three groups of CPP specimens, all exposed to rainfall-runoff for 3 years, were used to test the pH and alkalinity elevation properties. It was found that runoff pH values were elevated from 7.4 to the range of 7.8-8.6 after infiltrating through the uncoated specimens, and from 7.4 to 8.5-10.7 after infiltrating through aluminum-coated specimens. Runoff alkalinity elevation efficiencies are 11.5-14.5% for uncoated specimens and 42.2% for coated specimens. The study shows that CPP is an effective passive unit operation for stormwater acid neutralization in our built environment.

Understanding, management and modelling of urban hydrology and its consequences for receiving waters: A state of the art

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fletcher, T. D.; Andrieu, H.; Hamel, P.

2013-01-01

Urban hydrology has evolved to improve the way urban runoff is managed for flood protection, public health and environmental protection. There have been significant recent advances in the measurement and prediction of urban rainfall, with technologies such as radar and microwave networks showing promise. The ability to predict urban hydrology has also evolved, to deliver models suited to the small temporal and spatial scales typical of urban and peri-urban applications. Urban stormwater management increasingly consider the needs of receiving environments as well as those of humans. There is a clear trend towards approaches that attempt to restore pre-development flow-regimes and water quality, with an increasing recognition that restoring a more natural water balance benefits not only the environment, but enhances the liveability of the urban landscape. Once regarded only as a nuisance, stormwater is now increasingly regarded as a resource. Despite the advances, many important challenges in urban hydrology remain. Further research into the spatio-temporal dynamics of urban rainfall is required to improve short-term rainfall prediction. The performance of stormwater technologies in restoring the water balance and in removing emerging priority pollutants remain poorly quantified. All of these challenges are overlaid by the uncertainty of climate change, which imposes a requirement to ensure that stormwater management systems are adaptable and resilient to changes. Urban hydrology will play a critical role in addressing these challenges.

Evaluation of nonpoint-source contamination, Wisconsin: Land-use and Best-Management-Practices inventory, selected streamwater-quality data, urban-watershed quality assurance and quality control, constituent loads in rural streams, and snowmelt-runoff analysis, water year 1994

USGS Publications Warehouse

Walker, J.F.; Graczyk, D.J.; Corsi, S.R.; Owens, D.W.; Wierl, J.A.

1995-01-01

The objective of the watershed-management evaluation monitoring program in Wisconsin is to evaluate the effectiveness of best-management practices (BMP) for controlling nonpoint-source contamination in rural and urban watersheds. This report is an annual summary of the data collected for the program by the U.S Geological Survey and a report of the results of several different detailed analyses of the data. A land-use and BMP inventory is ongoing for 12 evaluation monitoring projects to track the sources of nonpoint-source pollution in each watershed and to document implementation of BMP's that may cause changes in the water quality of streams. Updated information is gathered each year, mapped, and stored in a geographic-information-system data base. Summaries of data collected during water years 1989-94 are presented. A water year is the period beginning October 1 and ending September 30; the water year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends. Suspended-sediment and total-phosphorus data (storm loads and annual loads) are summarized for eight rural sites. For all sites, the annual suspended-sediment or suspended-solids load for water year 1993 exceeded the average for the period of data collection; the minimum annual loads were transported in water year 1991 or 1992. Continuous dissolved-oxygen data were collected at seven rural sites during water year 1994. Data for water years 1990-93 are summarized and plotted in terms of percentage of time that a particular concentration is equaled or exceeded. Dissolved-oxygen concentrations in four streams were less than 9 mg/L at least 50 percent of the time, a condition that fails to meet suggested criterion for coldwater streams. The dissolved-oxygen probability curve for one of the coldwater streams is markedly different than the curves for the other streams, perhaps because of differences in aquatic biomass. Blank quality-assurance samples were collected at two of the urban evaluation monitoring sites to isolate contamination in the sample bottle, the automatic sampler and splitter, and the filtration system. Significant contamination caused excessive concentrations of dissolved chloride, alkalinity, and biochemical oxygen demand. The level of contamination may be large enough to affect data for water samples in which these analytes are present at low concentration. Further investigation is being done to determine the source of contamination and take measures to minimize its effect on the sampling. A preliminary regression analysis was done for the rural sites using data collected during water years 1989-93. Loads of suspended solids and total phosphorus in stormflow were regressed against various precipitation-related measures. The results indicate that, for most sites, changes in constituent load on the order of 40 to 50 percent could be detected with a statistical test. For two sites, the change would have to be 60 to 70 percent to be detected. A detailed comparison of snowmelt runoff and rainfall stormflow in urban and rural areas was done using data collected during water years 1985-93. For the rural sites where statistically significant differences were found between constituent loads in snowmelt and storm runoff, the loads of suspended solids and total phosphorus in snowmelt runoff were greater than those in storm runoff. For the urban sites where statistically significant differences were found between snowmelt and storm runoff, the loads of suspended solids and total phosphorus in storm runoff were greater than those in snowmelt runoff. The importance of including snowmelt runoff in designing and analyzing the effects of BMP's on streamwater quality, particularly in rural areas, is emphasized by these results.

Parking lot sealcoat: an unrecognized source of urban polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Barbara J. Mahler; Peter C. Van Metre; Thomas J. Bashara

2005-08-01

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a ubiquitous contaminant in urban environments. Although numerous sources of PAHs to urban runoff have been identified, their relative importance remains uncertain. The authors show that a previously unidentified source of urban PAHs, parking lot sealcoat, may dominate loading of PAHs to urban water bodies in the United States. Particles in runoff from parking lots with coal-tar emulsion sealcoat had mean concentrations of PAHs of 3500 mg/kg, 65 times higher than the mean concentration from unsealed asphalt and cement lots. Diagnostic ratios of individual PAHs indicating sources are similar for particles from coal-tar emulsion sealedmore » lots and suspended sediment from four urban streams. Contaminant yields projected to the watershed scale for the four associated watersheds indicate that runoff from sealed parking lots could account for the majority of stream PAH loads. 35 refs., 6 figs., 2 tabs.« less

APPROACHES FOR DETERMINING SWALE PERFORMANCE FOR STORMWATER RUNOFF

EPA Science Inventory

Swales are “engineered vegetated ditches” that provide stable routing for stormwater runoff and a low-cost drainage option for highways, farms, industrial sites, and commercial areas. It is reported in the literature that swales mitigate runoff-carried pollutants, reduce runoff v...

APPROACHES FOR DETERMINING SWALE PERFORMANCE FOR STORMWATER RUNOFF - Wilmington, NC

EPA Science Inventory

Swales are “engineered vegetated ditches” that provide stable routing for stormwater runoff and a low-cost drainage option for highways, farms, industrial sites, and commercial areas. It is reported in the literature that swales mitigate runoff-carried pollutants, reduce runoff ...

An urban runoff model designed to inform stormwater management decisions.

PubMed

Beck, Nicole G; Conley, Gary; Kanner, Lisa; Mathias, Margaret

2017-05-15

We present an urban runoff model designed for stormwater managers to quantify runoff reduction benefits of mitigation actions that has lower input data and user expertise requirements than most commonly used models. The stormwater tool to estimate load reductions (TELR) employs a semi-distributed approach, where landscape characteristics and process representation are spatially-lumped within urban catchments on the order of 100 acres (40 ha). Hydrologic computations use a set of metrics that describe a 30-year rainfall distribution, combined with well-tested algorithms for rainfall-runoff transformation and routing to generate average annual runoff estimates for each catchment. User inputs include the locations and specifications for a range of structural best management practice (BMP) types. The model was tested in a set of urban catchments within the Lake Tahoe Basin of California, USA, where modeled annual flows matched that of the observed flows within 18% relative error for 5 of the 6 catchments and had good regional performance for a suite of performance metrics. Comparisons with continuous simulation models showed an average of 3% difference from TELR predicted runoff for a range of hypothetical urban catchments. The model usually identified the dominant BMP outflow components within 5% relative error of event-based measured flow data and simulated the correct proportionality between outflow components. TELR has been implemented as a web-based platform for use by municipal stormwater managers to inform prioritization, report program benefits and meet regulatory reporting requirements (www.swtelr.com). Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Particle size distribution variance in untreated urban runoff and its implication on treatment selection.

PubMed

Charters, Frances J; Cochrane, Thomas A; O'Sullivan, Aisling D

2015-11-15

Understanding the particle size distribution (PSD) of sediment in urban runoff assists in the selection of appropriate treatment systems for sediment removal as systems vary in their ability to remove sediment across different particle size fractions. Variation in PSD in runoff from individual urban surfaces both during and across multiple rain events is not well understood and it may lead to performance uncertainty in treatment systems. Runoff PSDs in international literature were compiled to provide a comparative summary of PSDs from different urban surfaces. To further assess both intra-event and inter-event PSD variation, untreated runoff was collected from road, concrete roof, copper roof, and galvanized roof surfaces within an urban catchment exposed to the same rainfall conditions and analysed for PSD and total suspended solids (TSS). Road runoff had the highest TSS concentrations, while copper roofs had high initial TSS that reduced to very low levels under steady state conditions. Despite variation in TSS concentrations, the median particle diameter of the TSS was comparable across the surfaces. Intra-event variation was generally not significant, but substantial inter-event variation was observed, particularly for coarser road and concrete roof surfaces. PSD variation for each surface contributed to a wide range in predicted treatment performance and suggests that short-retention treatment devices carry a high performance risk of not being able to achieve adequate TSS removal across all rain events. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Seasonal variation of nitrogen-concentration in the surface water and its relationship with land use in a catchment of northern China.

PubMed

Chen, Li-ding; Peng, Hong-jia; Fu, Bo-Jie; Qiu, Jun; Zhang, Shu-rong

2005-01-01

Surface waters can be contaminated by human activities in two ways: (1) by point sources, such as sewage treatment discharge and storm-water runoff; and (2) by non-point sources, such as runoff from urban and agricultural areas. With point-source pollution effectively controlled, non-point source pollution has become the most important environmental concern in the world. The formation of non-point source pollution is related to both the sources such as soil nutrient, the amount of fertilizer and pesticide applied, the amount of refuse, and the spatial complex combination of land uses within a heterogeneous landscape. Land-use change, dominated by human activities, has a significant impact on water resources and quality. In this study, fifteen surface water monitoring points in the Yuqiao Reservoir Basin, Zunhua, Hebei Province, northern China, were chosen to study the seasonal variation of nitrogen concentration in the surface water. Water samples were collected in low-flow period (June), high-flow period (July) and mean-flow period (October) from 1999 to 2000. The results indicated that the seasonal variation of nitrogen concentration in the surface water among the fifteen monitoring points in the rainfall-rich year is more complex than that in the rainfall-deficit year. It was found that the land use, the characteristics of the surface river system, rainfall, and human activities play an important role in the seasonal variation of N-concentration in surface water.

Simulation of quantity and quality of storm runoff for urban catchments in Fresno, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Guay, J.R.; Smith, P.E.

1988-01-01

Rainfall-runoff models were developed for a multiple-dwelling residential catchment (2 applications), a single-dwelling residential catchment, and a commercial catchment in Fresno, California, using the U.S. Geological Survey Distributed Routing Rainfall-Runoff Model (DR3M-II). A runoff-quality model also was developed at the commercial catchment using the Survey 's Multiple-Event Urban Runoff Quality model (DR3M-qual). The purpose of this study was: (1) to demonstrate the capabilites of the two models for use in designing storm drains, estimating the frequency of storm runoff loads, and evaluating the effectiveness of street sweeping on an urban drainage catchment; and (2) to determine the simulation accuracies of these models. Simulation errors of the two models were summarized as the median absolute deviation in percent (mad) between measured and simulated values. Calibration and verification mad errors for runoff volumes and peak discharges ranged from 14 to 20%. The estimated annual storm-runoff loads, in pounds/acre of effective impervious area, that could occur once every hundred years at the commercial catchment was 95 for dissolved solids, 1.6 for the dissolved nitrite plus nitrate, 0.31 for total recoverable lead, and 120 for suspended sediment. Calibration and verification mad errors for the above constituents ranged from 11 to 54%. (USGS)

Coastal pollution hazards in southern California observed by SAR imagery: stormwater plumes, wastewater plumes, and natural hydrocarbon seeps

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Digiacomo, Paul M.; Washburn, Libe; Holt, Benjamin; Jones, Burton H.

2004-01-01

Stormwater runoff plumes, municipal wastewater plumes, and natural hydrocarbon seeps are important pollution hazards for the heavily populated Southern California Bight (SCB). Due to their small size, dynamic and episodic nature, these hazards are difficult to sample adequately using traditional in situ oceanographic methods. Complex coastal circulation and persistent cloud cover can further complicate detection and monitoring of these hazards. We use imagery from space-borne synthetic aperture radar (SAR), complemented by field measurements, to examine these hazards in the SCB. The hazards are detectable in SAR imagery because they deposit surfactants on the sea surface, smoothing capillary and small gravity waves to produce areas of reduced backscatter compared with the surrounding ocean. We suggest that high-resolution SAR, which obtains useful data regardless of darkness or cloud cover, could be an important observational tool for assessment and monitoring of coastal marine pollution hazards in the SCB and other urbanized coastal regions.

Urban RoGeR: Merging process-based high-resolution flash flood model for urban areas with long-term water balance predictions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weiler, M.

2016-12-01

Heavy rain induced flash floods are still a serious hazard and generate high damages in urban areas. In particular in the spatially complex urban areas, the temporal and spatial pattern of runoff generation processes at a wide spatial range during extreme rainfall events need to be predicted including the specific effects of green infrastructure and urban forests. In addition, the initial conditions (soil moisture pattern, water storage of green infrastructure) and the effect of lateral redistribution of water (run-on effects and re-infiltration) have to be included in order realistically predict flash flood generation. We further developed the distributed, process-based model RoGeR (Runoff Generation Research) to include the relevant features and processes in urban areas in order to test the effects of different settings, initial conditions and the lateral redistribution of water on the predicted flood response. The uncalibrated model RoGeR runs at a spatial resolution of 1*1m² (LiDAR, degree of sealing, landuse), soil properties and geology (1:50.000). In addition, different green infrastructures are included into the model as well as the effect of trees on interception and transpiration. A hydraulic model was included into RoGeR to predict surface runoff, water redistribution, and re-infiltration. During rainfall events, RoGeR predicts at 5 min temporal resolution, but the model also simulates evapotranspiration and groundwater recharge during rain-free periods at a longer time step. The model framework was applied to several case studies in Germany where intense rainfall events produced flash floods causing high damage in urban areas and to a long-term research catchment in an urban setting (Vauban, Freiburg), where a variety of green infrastructures dominates the hydrology. Urban-RoGeR allowed us to study the effects of different green infrastructures on reducing the flood peak, but also its effect on the water balance (evapotranspiration and groundwater recharge). We could also show that infiltration of surface runoff from areas with a low infiltration (lateral redistribution) reduce the flood peaks by over 90% in certain areas and situations. Finally, we also evaluated the model to long-term runoff observations (surface runoff, ET, roof runoff) and to flood marks in the selected case studies.

Design and hydraulic characteristics of a field-scale bi-phasic bioretention rain garden system for storm water management.

PubMed

Yang, H; Florence, D C; McCoy, E L; Dick, W A; Grewal, P S

2009-01-01

A field-scale bioretention rain garden system was constructed using a novel bi-phasic (i.e. sequence of anaerobic to aerobic) concept for improving retention and removal of storm water runoff pollutants. Hydraulic tests with bromide tracer and simulated runoff pollutants (nitrate-N, phosphate-P, Cu, Pb, and Zn) were performed in the system under a simulated continuous rainfall. The objectives of the tests were (1) to determine hydraulic characteristics of the system, and (2) to evaluate the movement of runoff pollutants through the system. For the 180 mm/24 h rainfall, the bi-phasic bioretention system effectively reduced both peak flow (approximately 70%) and runoff volume (approximately 42%). The breakthrough curves (BTCs) of bromide tracer suggest that the transport pattern of the system is similar to dispersed plug flow under this large runoff event. The BTCs of bromide showed mean 10% and 90% breakthrough times of 5.7 h and 12.5 h, respectively. Under the continuous rainfall, a significantly different transport pattern was found between each runoff pollutant. Nitrate-N was easily transported through the system with potential leaching risk from the initial soil medium, whereas phosphate-P and metals were significantly retained indicating sorption-mediated transport. These findings support the importance of hydraulics, in combination with the soil medium, when creating bioretention systems for bioremediation that are effective for various rainfall sizes and intervals.

MICROORGANISMS DIE-OFF RATES IN URBAN STORMWATER RUNOFF

EPA Science Inventory

Urban stormwater runoff, a leading cause of water quality impairment related to human activities in lakes and reservoirs, can have significant negative effects on receiving water quality. It can also create human health concerns when these waters are used for drinking water reso...

MICROORGANISMS DIE-OFF RATES IN URBAN STORMWATER RUNOFF - 2005 VERSION

EPA Science Inventory

Urban stormwater runoff is a leading cause of water quality impairment in lakes and reservoirs. Stormwater discharges, with latent bacterial loads, can negatively impact receiving water quality and create human health concerns when these waters are used for drinking water resourc...

STORMWATER TREATMENT AT CRITICAL AREAS: EVALUATION OF FILTRATION MEDIA

EPA Science Inventory

Past research has identified urban runoff as a major contributor to the degradation of urban streams and rivers. Filtration, especially "slow" filtration, is of interest for stormwater runoff treatment because filters will work on intermittent flows without significant loss of ca...

Rainfall and runoff quantity and quality data collected at four urban land-use catchments in Fresno, California, October 1981-April 1983

USGS Publications Warehouse

Oltmann, R.N.; Guay, J.R.; Shay, J.M.

1987-01-01

Data were collected as part of the National Urban Runoff Program to characterize urban runoff in Fresno, California. Rainfall-runoff quantity and quality data are included along with atmospheric dry-deposition and street-surface particulate quality data. The data are presented in figures and tables that reflect four land uses: industrial, single-dwelling residential, multiple-dwelling residential, and commercial. A total of 255 storms were monitored for rainfall and runoff quantity. Runoff samples from 112 of these storms were analyzed for physical, organic, inorganic, and biological constituents. The majority of the remaining storms have pH and specific conductance data only. Ninety-two composite rain samples were collected. Of these, 63 were analyzed for physical, inorganic, and (or) organic constituents. The remaining rainfall samples have pH and specific conductance data only. Nineteen atmospheric deposition and 21 street-particulate samples were collected and analyzed for inorganic and organic constituents. The report also details equipment utilization and operation, and discusses data collection methods. (USGS)

Green roof hydrologic performance and modeling: a review.

PubMed

Li, Yanling; Babcock, Roger W

2014-01-01

Green roofs reduce runoff from impervious surfaces in urban development. This paper reviews the technical literature on green roof hydrology. Laboratory experiments and field measurements have shown that green roofs can reduce stormwater runoff volume by 30 to 86%, reduce peak flow rate by 22 to 93% and delay the peak flow by 0 to 30 min and thereby decrease pollution, flooding and erosion during precipitation events. However, the effectiveness can vary substantially due to design characteristics making performance predictions difficult. Evaluation of the most recently published study findings indicates that the major factors affecting green roof hydrology are precipitation volume, precipitation dynamics, antecedent conditions, growth medium, plant species, and roof slope. This paper also evaluates the computer models commonly used to simulate hydrologic processes for green roofs, including stormwater management model, soil water atmosphere and plant, SWMS-2D, HYDRUS, and other models that are shown to be effective for predicting precipitation response and economic benefits. The review findings indicate that green roofs are effective for reduction of runoff volume and peak flow, and delay of peak flow, however, no tool or model is available to predict expected performance for any given anticipated system based on design parameters that directly affect green roof hydrology.

Effects of cattle manure on erosion rates and runoff water pollution by faecal coliforms.

PubMed

Ramos, M C; Quinton, J N; Tyrrel, S F

2006-01-01

The large quantities of slurry and manure that are produced annually in many areas in which cattle are raised could be an important source of organic matter and nutrients for agriculture. However, the benefits of waste recycling may be partially offset by the risk of water pollution associated with runoff from the fields to which slurry or manure has been applied. In this paper, the effects of cattle manure application on soil erosion rates and runoff and on surface water pollution by faecal coliforms are analysed. Rainfall simulations at a rate of 70 mm h(-1) were conducted in a sandy loam soil packed into soil flumes (2.5m long x 1m wide) at a bulk density of 1400 kg m(-3), with and without cattle slurry manure applied on the surface. For each simulation, sediment and runoff rates were analysed and in those simulations with applied slurry, presumptive faecal coliform (PFC) concentrations in the runoff were evaluated. The application of slurry on the soil surface appeared to have a protective effect on the soils, reducing soil detachment by up to 70% but increasing runoff volume by up to 30%. This practice implies an important source of pollution for surface waters especially if rainfall takes place within a short period after application. The concentrations of micro-organisms (presumptive faecal coliforms (PFCs)) found in water runoff ranged from 1.9 x 10(4) to 1.1 x 10(6) PFC 100mL(-1), depending on the initial concentration in the slurry, and they were particularly high during the first phases of the rainfall event. The result indicates a strong relationship between the faecal coliforms transported by runoff and the organic matter in the sediment.

Focusing on the big picture: urban vegetation and eco ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Trees and vegetation can be key components of urban green infrastructure and green spaces such as parks and residential yards. Large trees, characterized by broad canopies, and high leaf and stem volumes, can intercept a substantial amount of stormwater while promoting evapotranspiration and reducing stormwater runoff and pollutant loads. Urban vegetation cover, height, and volume are likely to be affected not only by local climatic characteristics, but also by complex socio-economic dynamics resulting from management practices and resident’s preferences. We examine the benefits provided by private greenspace and present preliminary findings related to the climatic and socio-economic drivers correlated with structural complexity of residential urban vegetation. We use laser (LiDAR) and multispectral remotely-sensed data collected throughout 1400+ neighborhoods and 1.2+ million residential yards across 8 US cities to carry out this analysis. We discuss principles and opportunities to enhance stormwater management using residential greenspace, as well as the larger implications for decentralized stormwater management at city-wide scale. We discuss principles and opportunities to enhance stormwater management using residential greenspace, as well as the larger implications for decentralized stormwater management at city-wide scale.

New insights into the source of decadal increase in chemical oxygen demand associated with dissolved organic carbon in Dianchi Lake.

PubMed

Guo, Wei; Yang, Feng; Li, Yanping; Wang, Shengrui

2017-12-15

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) can be used an alternative index of water quality instead of chemical oxygen demand (COD) to reflect the organic pollution in water. The monitoring data of water quality in a long-term (1990-2013) from Dianchi Lake confirmed the increase trend of COD concentration in the lake since 2007. The similarities and differences in the DOC components between the lake and its sources and the contribution from allochthonous and autochthonous DOC to the total DOC in this lake were determined to elucidate the reason of COD increase based on C/N atomic ratios, stable isotope abundance of carbon and nitrogen, UV-visible spectroscopy, three-dimensional excitation-emission matrix (3DEEM) fluorescence spectroscopy. The terrigenous organic matter showed humic-like fluorescence, and the autochthonous organic matter showed tryptophan-like components. Agricultural runoff (9.5%), leaf litter (7.5%) and urban runoff (13.2%) were the main sources of DOC in the lake. Sewage tail was a major source of organic materials, 3DEEM for the indicates that sewage tail DOC composition did not change markedly over the biodegradation period, indicating that sewage tail contains a high load of DOC that is resistant to further biodegradation and subsequently accumulates in the lake. The change of land use in the catchment and the increase of sewage tail load into the lake are the key factors for the increase in COD concentration in Dianchi Lake. Thus, the lake should be protected by controlling the pollution from the urban nonpoint sources and refractory composition in point sources. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Experimental study and simulation of phosphorus purification effects of bioretention systems on urban surface runoff

PubMed Central

Liang, Zheng; Li, Yajiao; Li, Peng; Jiang, Chunbo

2018-01-01

Excessive phosphorus (P) contributes to eutrophication by degrading water quality and limiting human use of water resources. Identifying economic and convenient methods to control soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) pollution in urban runoff is the key point of rainwater management strategies. Through three series of different tests involving influencing factors, continuous operation and intermittent operation, this study explored the purification effects of bioretention tanks under different experimental conditions, it included nine intermittent tests, single field continuous test with three groups of different fillers (Fly ash mixed with sand, Blast furnace slag, and Soil), and eight intermittent tests with single filler (Blast furnace slag mixed with sand). Among the three filler combinations studied, the filler with fly ash mixed with sand achieved the best pollution reduction efficiency. The setting of the submerged zone exerted minimal influence on the P removal of the three filler combinations. An extension of the dry period slightly promoted the P purification effect. The combination of fly ash mixed with sand demonstrated a positive purification effect on SRP during short- or long-term simulated rainfall duration. Blast furnace slag also presented a positive purification effect in the short term, although its continuous purification effect on SRP was poor in the long term. The purification abilities of soil in the short and long terms were weak. Under intermittent operations across different seasons, SRP removal was unstable, and effluent concentration processes were different. The purification effect of the bioretention system on SRP was predicted through partial least squares regression (PLS) modeling analysis. The event mean concentration removal of SRP was positively related to the adsorption capacity of filler and rainfall interval time and negatively related to submerged zones, influent concentration and volume. PMID:29742120

Roofing as a source of nonpoint water pollution.

PubMed

Chang, Mingteh; McBroom, Matthew W; Scott Beasley, R

2004-12-01

Sixteen wooden structures with two roofs each were installed to study runoff quality for four commonly used roofing materials (wood shingle, composition shingle, painted aluminum, and galvanized iron) at Nacogdoches, Texas. Each roof, either facing NW or SE, was 1.22 m wide x 3.66 m long with a 25.8% roof slope. Thus, there were 32 alternatively arranged roofs, consisting of four roof types x two aspects x four replicates, in the study. Runoff from the roofs was collected through galvanized gutters, downspouts, and splitters. The roof runoff was compared to rainwater collected by a wet/dry acid rain collector for the concentrations of eight water quality variables, i.e. Cu(2+), Mn(2+), Pb(2+), Zn(2+), Mg(2+), Al(3+), EC and pH. Based on 31 storms collected between October 1997 and December 1998, the results showed: (1) concentrations of pH, Cu, and Zn in rainwater already exceed the EPA freshwater quality standards even without pollutant inputs from roofs, (2) Zn and Cu, the two most serious pollutants in roof runoff, exceeded the EPA national freshwater water quality standards in virtually 100% and more than 60% of the samples, respectively, (3) pH, EC, and Zn were the only three variables significantly affected by roofing materials, (4) differences in Zn concentrations were significant among all roof types and between all roof runoff and rainwater samples, (5) although there were no differences in Cu concentrations among all roof types and between roof runoff and rainwater, all means and medians of runoff and rainwater exceeded the national water quality standards, (6) water quality from wood shingles was the worst among the roof types studied, and (7) although SE is the most frequent and NW the least frequent direction for incoming storms, only EC, Mg, Mn, and Zn in wood shingle runoff from the SE were significantly higher than those from the NW; the two aspects affected no other elements in runoff from the other three roof types. Also, Zn concentrations from new wood-shingle roofs were significantly higher than those from aged roofs of a previous study. The study demonstrated that roofs could be a serious source of nonpoint water pollution. Since Zn is the most serious water pollutant and wood shingle is the worst of the four roof types, using less compounds and materials associated with Zn along with good care and maintenance of roofs are critical in reducing Zn pollution in roof runoff.

NASA's Potential Contributions for Remediation of Retention Ponds Using Solar Ultraviolet Radiation and Photocatalysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Underwood, Lauren W.; Ryan, Robert E.

2007-01-01

This Candidate Solution uses NASA Earth science research on atmospheric ozone and aerosols data (1) to help improve the prediction capabilities of water runoff models that are used to estimate runoff pollution from retention ponds, and (2) to understand the pollutant removal contribution and potential of photocatalytically coated materials that could be used in these ponds. Models (the EPA's SWMM and the USGS SLAMM) exist that estimate the release of pollutants into the environment from storm-water-related retention pond runoff. UV irradiance data acquired from the satellite mission Aura and from the OMI Surface UV algorithm will be incorporated into these models to enhance their capabilities, not only by increasing the general understanding of retention pond function (both the efficacy and efficiency) but additionally by adding photocatalytic materials to these retention ponds, augmenting their performance. State and local officials who run pollution protection programs could then develop and implement photocatalytic technologies for water pollution control in retention ponds and use them in conjunction with existing runoff models. More effective decisions about water pollution protection programs could be made, the persistence and toxicity of waste generated could be minimized, and subsequently our natural water resources would be improved. This Candidate Solution is in alignment with the Water Management and Public Health National Applications.

Urban flood simulation and prioritization of critical urban sub-catchments using SWMM model and PROMETHEE II approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Babaei, Sahar; Ghazavi, Reza; Erfanian, Mahdi

2018-06-01

Urban runoff increased due to augment of impervious surfaces. In order to flood mitigation during rainy season, determination of critical urban sub-catchments is very important for urban planners. Due to lack of information, adopting a simulation approach is one of the practical ways to identify the surcharged junctions and critical sub-catchments. Occurrence of destructive floods in the rainy seasons indicates the inappropriateness of the urban drainage system in Urmia. The main aims of this study were to estimate the surface runoff of urban sub-catchments using SWMM, to evaluate the accuracy of the drainage system of the study urban area and to prioritize sub-catchments using PROMETHEE II approach and SWMM. In the present study, the occurrence of rainfall event of the Urmia city (West Azerbaijan province, Iran) used for estimation of runoff depth. The study area was divided into 22 sub-catchments. For calibration and validation of model parameters, 3 rainfall events and their related runoff were measured. According to sensitivity analysis CN was the most sensitive parameter for model calibration. Amount of surcharged conduits and junctions indicates that the drainage system of the study area has not enough capacity for converting of the runoff and. For 10 year return period, depth of channels should increase by 20% for prevention of flooding in these sub-catchments. Sub-catchments were prioritized using PROMETHEE II approach and its results were compared with SWMM simulation outcomes. Based on SWMM simulation, S11, S7, S18, S16 and S1 sub-catchments are more critical sub-catchments respectively, while according to PROMETHEE method, S1, S11, S16, S14 and S18 are determined as the critical areas.

Characterization of heavy metal desorption from road-deposited sediment under acid rain scenarios.

PubMed

Zhao, Bo; Liu, An; Wu, Guangxue; Li, Dunzhu; Guan, Yuntao

2017-01-01

Road-deposited sediments (RDS) on urban impervious surfaces are important carriers of heavy metals. Dissolved heavy metals that come from RDS influenced by acid rain, are more harmful to urban receiving water than particulate parts. RDS and its associated heavy metals were investigated at typical functional areas, including industrial, commercial and residential sites, in Guangdong, Southern China, which was an acid rain sensitive area. Total and dissolved heavy metals in five particle size fractions were analyzed using a shaking method under acid rain scenarios. Investigated heavy metals showed no difference in the proportion of dissolved fraction in the solution under different acid rain pHs above 3.0, regardless of land use. Dissolved loading of heavy metals related to organic carbon content were different in runoff from main traffic roads of three land use types. Coarse particles (>150μm) that could be efficiently removed by conventional street sweepers, accounted for 55.1%-47.1% of the total dissolved metal loading in runoff with pH3.0-5.6. The obtained findings provided a significant scientific basis to understand heavy metal release and influence of RDS grain-size distribution and land use in dissolved heavy metal pollution affected by acid rain. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Effects of increased urbanization from 1970's to 1990's on storm-runoff characteristics in Perris Valley, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Guay, J.R.

1996-01-01

Urban areas in Perris Valley, California, have more than tripled during the last 20 years. To quantify the effects of increased urbanization on storm runoff volumes and peak discharges, rainfall-runoff models of the basin were developed to simulate runoff for 1970-75 and 1990-93 conditions. Hourly rainfall data for 1949-93 were used with the rainfall-runoff models to simulate a long-term record of storm runoff. The hydrologic effects of increased urbanization from 1970-75 to 1990-93 were analyzed by comparing the simulated annual peak discharges and volumes, and storm runoff peaks, frequency of annual peak discharges and runoff volumes, and duration of storm peak discharges for each study period. A Log-Pearson Type-III frequency analysis was calculated using the simulated annual peaks to estimate the 2-, 5-, 10-, 25-, 50-, and 100-year recurrence intervals. The estimated 2-year discharge at the outlet of the basin was 646 cubic feet per second for the 1970-75 conditions and 1,328 cubic feet per second for the 1990-93 conditions. The 100-year discharge at the outlet of the basin was about 14,000 cubic feet per second for the 1970-75 and 1990-93 conditions. The station duration analysis used 925 model-simulated storm peaks from each basin to estimate the percent chance a peak discharge is exceeded. At the outlet of the basin, the chances of exceeding 100 cubic feet per second were about 33 percent under 1970-75 conditions and about 59 percent under 1990-93 conditions. The chance of exceeding 2,500 cubic feet per second at the outlet of the basin was less than 1 percent higher under the 1990-93 conditions than under the 1970-75 conditions. The increase in urbanization from the early 1970's to the early 1990's more than doubled the peak discharges with a 2-year return period. However, peak discharges with return periods greater than 50 years were not significantly affected by the change in urbanization.

Rome's urban history inferred from Pb-contaminated waters trapped in its ancient harbor basins.

PubMed

Delile, Hugo; Keenan-Jones, Duncan; Blichert-Toft, Janne; Goiran, Jean-Philippe; Arnaud-Godet, Florent; Albarède, Francis

2017-09-19

Heavy metals from urban runoff preserved in sedimentary deposits record long-term economic and industrial development via the expansion and contraction of a city's infrastructure. Lead concentrations and isotopic compositions measured in the sediments of the harbor of Ostia-Rome's first harbor-show that lead pipes used in the water supply networks of Rome and Ostia were the only source of radiogenic Pb, which, in geologically young central Italy, is the hallmark of urban pollution. High-resolution geochemical, isotopic, and 14 C analyses of a sedimentary core from Ostia harbor have allowed us to date the commissioning of Rome's lead pipe water distribution system to around the second century BC, considerably later than Rome's first aqueduct built in the late fourth century BC. Even more significantly, the isotopic record of Pb pollution proves to be an unparalleled proxy for tracking the urban development of ancient Rome over more than a millennium, providing a semiquantitative record of the water system's initial expansion, its later neglect, probably during the civil wars of the first century BC, and its peaking in extent during the relative stability of the early high Imperial period. This core record fills the gap in the system's history before the appearance of more detailed literary and inscriptional evidence from the late first century BC onward. It also preserves evidence of the changes in the dynamics of the Tiber River that accompanied the construction of Rome's artificial port, Portus , during the first and second centuries AD.

MICROORGANISMS DIE-OFF RATES IN URBAN STORMWATER RUNOFF, 2006

EPA Science Inventory

Urban stormwater runoff is a leading cause of water quality impairment related to human activities in lakes and reservoirs. It can have significant negative effects on receiving water quality and can create human health concerns when these waters are used for drinking water resou...

EFFECTS OF LAND USE AND SEASON ON MICROORGANISM CONCENTRATIONS IN URBAN STORMWATER RUNOFF

EPA Science Inventory

This study investigated differences in pathogen and indicator organism concentrations in stormwater runoff between different urban land uses and seasons. Stormwater samples collected from storm sewers draining small municipal separate storm sewer systems shown to be free of cros...

Calibration and verification of a rainfall-runoff model and a runoff-quality model for several urban basins in the Denver metropolitan area, Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lindner-Lunsford, J. B.; Ellis, S.R.

1984-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey 's Distributed Routing Rainfall-Runoff Model--Version II was calibrated and verified for five urban basins in the Denver metropolitan area. Land-use types in the basins were light commerical, multifamily housing, single-family housing, and a shopping center. The overall accuracy of model predictions of peak flows and runoff volumes was about 15 percent for storms with rainfall intensities of less than 1 inch per hour and runoff volume of greater than 0.01 inch. Predictions generally were unsatisfactory for storm having a rainfall intensity of more than 1 inch per hour, or runoff of 0.01 inch or less. The Distributed Routing Rainfall-Runoff Model-Quality, a multievent runoff-quality model developed by the U.S. Geological Survey, was calibrated and verified on four basins. The model was found to be most useful in the prediction of seasonal loads of constituents in the runoff resulting from rainfall. The model was not very accurate in the prediction of runoff loads of individual constituents. (USGS)

Urban growth and the water regimen

USGS Publications Warehouse

Savini, John; Kammerer, J.C.

1961-01-01

The continuing growth and concentration of population and industry in urban and suburban areas in recent decades has caused a complex merging of social, economic, and physical problems, The interrelationships of man and his use and development of the land and water resources is a particularly significant aspect of urbanization, but there has been relatively little study to date of the effect of urban man upon natural hydrologic conditions. As urban man changes an area from one of field and forest to one of buildings and streets, he covers land where water once entered the soil, and thus creates or aggravates problems of drainage, including storm-water runoff. As he requires increasing amounts of water for home and factory, he drills deeper wells, and builds longer aqueducts and larger dams and reservoirs. As he disposes of un- wanted waste materials, he either treats them by using water or pollutes the receiving body of water. As he dredges and deepens coastal streams carrying salt water, and he pumps greater quantities of water from wells in coastal areas, he increases the likelihood of salt-water contamination. These and many other urban effects upon hydrology deserve increasing study if we are to provide for the best use of the water and land resources available to the Nation's urban centers.

Water quality and quantity investigation of green roofs in a dry climate.

PubMed

Beecham, S; Razzaghmanesh, M

2015-03-01

Low-energy pollutant removal strategies are now being sought for water sensitive urban design. This paper describes investigations into the water quality and quantity of sixteen, low-maintenance and unfertilized intensive and extensive green roof beds. The factors of Slope (1° and 25°), Depth (100 mm and 300 mm), Growing media (type A, type B and type C) and Species (P1, P2 and P3) were randomized according to a split-split plot design. This consisted of twelve vegetated green roof beds and four non-vegetated beds as controls. Stormwater runoff was collected from drainage points that were installed in each area. Samples of run-off were collected for five rainfall events and analysed for water retention capacity and the water quality parameters of NO₂, NO₃, NH₄, PO₄, pH, EC, TDS, Turbidity, Na, Ca, Mg and K. The results indicated significant differences in terms of stormwater water quality and quantity between the outflows of vegetated and non-vegetated systems. The water retention was between 51% and 96% and this range was attributed to the green roof configurations in the experiment. Comparing the quality of rainfall as inflow, and the quality of runoff from the systems showed that green roofs generally acted as a source of pollutants in this study. In the vegetated beds, the intensive green roofs performed better than the extensive beds with regard to outflow quality while in the non-vegetated beds, the extensive beds performed better than intensive systems. This highlights the importance of vegetation in improving water retention capacity as well as the role of vegetation in enhancing pollutant removal in green roof systems. In addition growing media with less organic matter had better water quality performance. Comparison of these results with national and international standards for water reuse confirmed that the green roof outflow was suitable for non-potable uses such as landscape irrigation and toilet flushing. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Characteristics and transport of organochlorine pesticides in urban environment: air, dust, rain, canopy throughfall, and runoff.

PubMed

Zhang, Wei; Ye, Youbin; Hu, Dan; Ou, Langbo; Wang, Xuejun

2010-11-01

Characteristics and transport of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in urban multiple environments, including air, dust, rain, canopy throughfall, and runoff water, are explored in this study. Hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs) dominated in both air and rain water, and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) related substances showed a higher affinity to dust. Relatively high concentrations of DDT and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) in air, rain and dust imply that technical DDT in the environment has been degrading, and there may be unknown local or regional emission sources that contain DDTs in the study area. Source identification showed that DDTs in Beijing urban environments with a fresh signature may originate from the atmospheric transport from remote areas. The ratio of α-/γ-HCH in dust, rain, canopy throughfall and runoff were close to 1, indicating the possible use of lindane. OCPs in runoff were transported from various sources including rain, dust, and canopy throughfall. In runoff, DDTs and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) were mainly transported from dust, and HCHs were mainly from rain and canopy throughfall.

Understanding Coral's Short-term Adaptive Ability to Changing Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tisthammer, K.; Richmond, R. H.

2016-02-01

Corals in Maunalua Bay, Hawaii are under chronic pressures from sedimentation and terrestrial runoffs containing multiple pollutants as a result of large scale urbanization that has taken place in the last 100 years. However, some individual corals thrive despite the prolonged exposure to these environmental stressors, which suggests that these individuals may have adapted to withstand such stressors. A recent survey showed that the lobe coral Porites lobata from the `high-stress' nearshore site had an elevated level of stress ixnduced proteins, compared to those from the `low-stress,' less polluted offshore site. To understand the genetic basis for the observed differential stress responses between the nearshore and offshore P. lobata populations, an analysis of the lineage-scale population genetic structure, as well as a reciprocal transplant experiment were conducted. The result of the genetic analysis revealed a clear genetic differentiation between P. lobata from the nearshore site and the offshore site. Following the 30- day reciprocal transplant experiment, protein expression profiles and other stress-related physiological characteristics were compared between the two populations. The experimental results suggest that the nearshore genotype can cope better with sedimentation/pollutants than the offshore genotype. This indicates that the observed genetic differentiation is due to selection for tolerance to these environmental stressors. Understanding the little-known, linage-scale genetic variation in corals offers a critical insight into their short-term adaptive ability, which is indispensable for protecting corals from impending environmental and climate change. The results of this study also offer a valuable tool for resource managers to make effective decisions on coral reef conservation, such as designing marine protected areas that incorporate and maintain such genetic diversity, and establishing acceptable pollution run-off levels.

The urban stormwater farm.

PubMed

Liebman, M B; Jonasson, O J; Wiese, R N

2011-01-01

Currently more than 3 billion people live in urban areas. The urban population is predicted to increase by a further 3 billion by 2050. Rising oil prices, unreliable rainfall and natural disasters have all contributed to a rise in global food prices. Food security is becoming an increasingly important issue for many nations. There is also a growing awareness of both 'food miles' and 'virtual water'. Food miles and virtual water are concepts that describe the amount of embodied energy and water that is inherent in the food and other goods we consume. Growing urban agglomerations have been widely shown to consume vast quantities of energy and water whilst emitting harmful quantities of wastewater and stormwater runoff through the creation of massive impervious areas. In this paper it is proposed that there is an efficient way of simultaneously addressing the problems of food security, carbon emissions and stormwater pollution. Through a case study we demonstrate how it is possible to harvest and store stormwater from densely populated urban areas and use it to produce food at relatively low costs. This reduces food miles (carbon emissions) and virtual water consumption and serves to highlight the need for more sustainable land-use planning.

Identifying strategic sites for Green-Infrastructures (GI) to manage stormwater in a miscellaneous use urban African watershed

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Selker, J. S.; Kahsai, S. K.

2017-12-01

Green Infrastructure (GI) or Low impact development (LID), is a land use planning and design approach with the objective of mitigating land development impacts to the environment, and is ever more looked to as a way to lessen runoff and pollutant loading to receiving water bodies. Broad-scale approaches for siting GI/LID have been developed for agricultural watersheds, but are rare for urban watersheds, largely due to greater land use complexity. And it is even more challenging when it comes to Urban Africa due to the combination of poor data quality, rapid and unplanned development, and civic institutions unable to reliably carry out regular maintenance. We present a spacio-temporal simulation-based approach to identify an optimal prioritization of sites for GI/LID based on DEM, land use and land cover. Optimization used is a multi-objective optimization tool along with an urban storm water management model (SWMM) to identify the most cost-effective combination of LID/GI. This was applied to an urban watershed in NW Kampala, Lubigi Catchment (notorious for being heavily flooded every year), with a miscellaneous use watershed in Uganda, as a case-study to demonstrate the approach.

Monitoring and modeling of runoff from a natural and an urbanized part of a small stream catchment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kalicz, P.; Kucsara, M.; Gribovszki, Z.; Erős, M.; Csáfordi, P.

2012-04-01

Runoff processes in natural catchments are significantly different compared to urbanized areas. Human impacts are manifested in high amount of paved surfaces like roofs, roads, parking plots and the compacted soils of quasi natural areas like public gardens and parks. Decay of permeability and storage capacity both induce higher amount of runoff. The common practice to treat the increased volume of runoff is to collect in pipes and drain to a stream as soon as possible. These interventions induce flash floods with smaller time of concentration and higher flood peaks as normal food waves therefore strongly load discharge capacity of stream channel. Streams in urban areas are strongly modified and regulated. Sometimes the stream channel are dredged out to increase the discharge capacity. In worst case some smaller brooks are crowded with lid to increase urbanized habitat. Many climate change scenarios predict higher probability of heavy storm events, therefore increasing volume of runoff induces higher demands of strongly modified and enormous concrete channels. This study presents one year monitoring of a small stream comparing runoff from natural, rural and urban sections. In this paper we also introduce the process of a model setup and an evaluation to investigate the weak points of a stream section in urbanized areas. The pilot area of this research is the Rák Brook which is the second largest stream of city Sopron (western Hungary). The natural headwater catchment is long-term research area of Hidegvíz Valley Project, therefore we had a good basis to extend the research catchment monitoring in the direction of urbanized lower part of the stream. Seven monitoring points are established along the longitudinal section of the stream. In each point the water stage is recorded continuously beside several other water quality parameters. These data sets help the later validation of the hydrodynamic model.

Off site transport of fungicides with snowmelt and rainfall runoff from golf course fairway turf

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Pesticides associated with the turfgrass industry have been detected in storm runoff and surface waters of urban watersheds; inferring contaminant contributions from residential, urban, and recreational sources. Golf course turf often requires multiple applications of pesticides at rates that exceed...

PROSPECTS FOR ENHANCED GROUNDWATER RECHARGE VIA INFILTRATION OF URBAN STORMWATER RUNOFF: A CASE STUDY

EPA Science Inventory

The rain garden is an urban storm water best management practice that is used to infiltrate runoff close to its source, thereby disconnecting impervious area while providing an avenue for groundwater recharge. Groundwater recharge may provide additional benefits to aquatic ecosys...

Gastrointestinal symptoms among swimmers following rain events at a beach impacted by urban runoff

EPA Science Inventory

Gastrointestinal symptoms among swimmers following rain events at a beach impacted by urban runoff Timothy J. Wade, Reagan R. Converse, Elizabeth A. Sams, Ann H. Williams, Edward Hudgens, Alfred P. Dufour Gastrointestinal symptoms among swimmers have been associated with fecal ...

Evaluating the Capability of Grass Swale for the Rainfall Runoff Reduction from an Urban Parking Lot, Seoul, Korea

PubMed Central

Shafique, Muhammad; Kim, Reeho; Kyung-Ho, Kwon

2018-01-01

This field study elaborates the role of grass swale in the management of stormwater in an urban parking lot. Grass swale was constructed by using different vegetations and local soil media in the parking lot of Mapu-gu Seoul, Korea. In this study, rainfall runoff was first retained in soil and the vegetation layers of the grass swale, and then infiltrated rainwater was collected with the help of underground perforated pipe, and passed to an underground storage trench. In this way, grass swale detained a large amount of rainwater for a longer period of time and delayed peak discharge. In this field study, various real storm events were monitored and the research results were analyzed to evaluate the performance of grass swale for managing rainfall runoff in an urban area. From the analysis of field experiments, grass swale showed the significant rainfall runoff retention in different rain events. Grass swale markedly reduced total rainfall runoff volume and peak flow during the small storm events of intensity about 30 mm/h. From the analysis, on average rainfall runoff retention from the grass swale was found around 40 to 75% during the various small rain events. From the results, we can say that grass swale is a stormwater mitigation practice which can help avoid flash flooding problems in urban areas. PMID:29547567

Evaluating the Capability of Grass Swale for the Rainfall Runoff Reduction from an Urban Parking Lot, Seoul, Korea.

PubMed

Shafique, Muhammad; Kim, Reeho; Kyung-Ho, Kwon

2018-03-16

This field study elaborates the role of grass swale in the management of stormwater in an urban parking lot. Grass swale was constructed by using different vegetations and local soil media in the parking lot of Mapu-gu Seoul, Korea. In this study, rainfall runoff was first retained in soil and the vegetation layers of the grass swale, and then infiltrated rainwater was collected with the help of underground perforated pipe, and passed to an underground storage trench. In this way, grass swale detained a large amount of rainwater for a longer period of time and delayed peak discharge. In this field study, various real storm events were monitored and the research results were analyzed to evaluate the performance of grass swale for managing rainfall runoff in an urban area. From the analysis of field experiments, grass swale showed the significant rainfall runoff retention in different rain events. Grass swale markedly reduced total rainfall runoff volume and peak flow during the small storm events of intensity about 30 mm/h. From the analysis, on average rainfall runoff retention from the grass swale was found around 40 to 75% during the various small rain events. From the results, we can say that grass swale is a stormwater mitigation practice which can help avoid flash flooding problems in urban areas.

Sources and mechanisms of nitrate and orthophosphate transport in urban stormwater runoff from residential catchments.

PubMed

Yang, Yun-Ya; Toor, Gurpal S

2017-04-01

Nutrients export from residential catchments contributes to water quality impairment in urban water bodies. We investigated the concentrations, transport mechanisms, and sources of nitrate-nitrogen (NO 3 -N) and orthophosphate-phosphorus (PO 4 -P) in urban stormwater runoff generated in residential catchments in Tampa Bay, Florida, United States. Street runoff samples, collected over 21 storm events, were supplemented with rainfall and roof runoff samples from six representative residential catchments. Samples were analyzed for N and P forms, N and oxygen (O) isotopes of nitrate (δ 18 O-NO 3 - and δ 15 N-NO 3 - ), and δ 18 O and hydrogen (δD) isotopes of water (H 2 O). We found that the main NO 3 -N source in street runoff was atmospheric deposition (range: 35-64%), followed by chemical N fertilizers (range: 1-39%), and soil and organic N (range: 7-33%), whereas PO 4 -P in the street runoff likely originated from erosion of soil particles and mineralization from organic materials (leaves, grass clippings). The variability in the sources and concentrations of NO 3 -N and PO 4 -P across catchments is attributed to different development designs and patterns, use of various fill materials during land development, and landscaping practices. This data can be useful to develop strategies to offset the impacts of urban development (e.g., designs and patterns resulting in variable impervious areas) and management (e.g., fertilizer use, landscaping practices) on NO 3 -N and PO 4 -P transport in urban residential catchments. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Influence factors and prediction of stormwater runoff of urban green space in Tianjin, China: laboratory experiment and quantitative theory model.

PubMed

Yang, Xu; You, Xue-Yi; Ji, Min; Nima, Ciren

2013-01-01

The effects of limiting factors such as rainfall intensity, rainfall duration, grass type and vegetation coverage on the stormwater runoff of urban green space was investigated in Tianjin. The prediction equation of stormwater runoff was established by the quantitative theory with the lab experimental data of soil columns. It was validated by three field experiments and the relative errors between predicted and measured stormwater runoff are 1.41, 1.52 and 7.35%, respectively. The results implied that the prediction equation could be used to forecast the stormwater runoff of urban green space. The results of range and variance analysis indicated the sequence order of limiting factors is rainfall intensity > grass type > rainfall duration > vegetation coverage. The least runoff of green land in the present study is the combination of rainfall intensity 60.0 mm/h, duration 60.0 min, grass Festuca arundinacea and vegetation coverage 90.0%. When the intensity and duration of rainfall are 60.0 mm/h and 90.0 min, the predicted volumetric runoff coefficient is 0.23 with Festuca arundinacea of 90.0% vegetation coverage. The present approach indicated that green space is an effective method to reduce stormwater runoff and the conclusions are mainly applicable to Tianjin and the semi-arid areas with main summer precipitation and long-time interval rainfalls.

Terrestrially derived glomalin-related soil protein quality as a potential ecological indicator in a peri-urban watershed.

PubMed

Sui, Xueyan; Wu, Zhipeng; Lin, Chen; Zhou, Shenglu

2017-07-01

Glomalin, which sequesters substantial amounts of carbon, plays a critical role in sustaining terrestrial biome functions and contributes to the fate of many pollutants from terrestrial to aquatic ecosystems. Despite having focused on the amount of glomalin produced, very few attempts have been made to understand how landscapes and environmental conditions influence glomalin composition and characteristics. This study focused on glomalin-related soil protein (GRSP) exported as storm runoff including eroded sediment and water that was collected before flowing to surface waters in a peri-urban watershed. GRSP characteristics were assessed by Bradford protein analysis, fluorescence spectroscopy combined with parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC), and the determination of aromaticity based on the specific ultraviolet absorption value (280 nm) and molecular weight. General linear models (GLMs) was established by integrating microbial activity, land cover, water temperature, precipitation, and other solution chemical properties to explain the variations in GRSP characteristics. Results showed that a higher GRSP concentration in agricultural reference sites was produced in the form of specific materials with low molecular weight and aromaticity, as well as high percentage of C1 and C5 components which indicate microbial-processed sources, relative to urbanized and forested sites. Compared with forested land, urbanized land clearly produced runoff GRSP with low molecular weight and aromaticity, as well as more degradation of humic-like materials (C3 component). The highest GLM explaining 89% of the variables, including significant variables (p < 0.05) such as microbial activity, water temperature, and water conductivity, was observed for GRSP characteristics. Therefore, changes in eroded soil GRSP quality can serve as an indicator for improving watershed management and thus protecting aquatic ecosystems.

Evaluation of the AnnAGNPS model for predicting runoff and sediment yield in a small Mediterranean agricultural watershed in Navarre (Spain)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

AnnAGNPS (Annualized Agricultural Non-Point Source Pollution Model) is a system of computer models developed to predict non-point source pollutant loadings within agricultural watersheds. It contains a daily time step distributed parameter continuous simulation surface runoff model designed to assis...

Water in urban planning, Salt Creek Basin, Illinois water management as related to alternative land-use practices

USGS Publications Warehouse

Spieker, Andrew Maute

1970-01-01

Water management can be an integral part of urban comprehensive planning in a large metropolitan area. Water both imposes constraints on land use and offers opportunities for coordinated land and water management. Salt Creek basin in Cook and Du Page Counties of the Chicago metropolitan area is typical of rapidly developing suburban areas and has been selected to illustrate some of these constraints and opportunities and to suggest the effects of alternative solutions. The present study concentrates on the related problems of ground-water recharge, water quality, management of flood plains, and flood-control measures. Salt Creek basin has a drainage area of 150 square miles. It is in flat to. gently rolling terrain, underlain by glacial drift as much as 200 feet thick which covers a dolomite aquifer. In 1964, the population of the basin was about 400,000, and 40 percent of the land was in urban development. The population is expected to number 550,000 to 650,000 by 1990, and most of the land will be taken by urban development. Salt Creek is a sluggish stream, typical of small drainage channels in the headwaters area of northeastern Illinois. Low flows of 15 to 25 cubic feet per second in the lower part of the basin consist largely of sewage effluent. Nearly all the public water supplies in the basin depend on ground water. Of the total pumpage of 27.5 million gallons per day, 17.5 million gallons per day is pumped from the deep (Cambrian-Ordovician) aquifers and 10 million gallons per day is pumped from the shallow (Silurian dolomite and glacial drift) aquifers. The potential yield of the shallow aquifers, particularly glacial drift in the northern part of the basin, far exceeds present use. The largest concentration of pumpage from the shallow ,aquifers is in the Hinsdale-La Grange area. Salt Creek serves as an important source of recharge to these supplies, particularly just east of Hinsdale. The entire reach of Salt Creek south and east of Elmhurst can be regarded as an area of potential recharge to the shallow aquifers. Preservation of the effectiveness of these potential recharge areas should be considered in land-use planning. Salt Creek is polluted in times of both low and high flow. Most communities in the basin in Du Page County discharge their treated sewage into the creek, whereas those in Cook County transfer their sewage to plants of the Metropolitan Sanitary District outside the basin. During periods of high runoff, combined storm runoff and overflow from sanitary sewers enter the creek. Such polluted water detracts from the stream's esthetic and recreational potential and poses a threat to ground-water supplies owing to induced recharge of polluted water to shallow aquifers. Alternative approaches .to the pollution problem include improvement of the degree of sewage treatment, detention and treatment of storm runoff, dilution of sewage through flow augmentation, or transfer of sewage from the basin to a central treatment plant. To result in an enhanced environment, the streambed would have to be cleansed of accumulated sludge deposits. The overbank flooding in Salt Creek basin every 2 to 3 years presents problems because of encroachments and developments on the flood plains. Flood plains in an urban area can be managed by identifying them, by recognizing that either their natural storage capacity or equivalent artificial capacity is needed to accommodate floods, and by planning land use accordingly. Examples of effective floodplain management include (1) preservation of greenbelts or regional parks along stream courses, (2) use of flood plains for recreation, parking lots. or other low-intensity uses, (3) use of flood-proofed commercial buildings, and (4) provision for compensatory storage to replace natural storage capacity. Results of poor flood-plain management include uncontrolled residential development and encroachment by fill into natural storage areas where no compensatory storage has been

Effects of urban development on stormwater runoff characteristics for the Houston, Texas, metropolitan area

USGS Publications Warehouse

Liscum, Fred

2001-01-01

A study was done to estimate the effects of urban development in the Houston, Texas, metropolitan area on nine stormwater runoff characteristics. Three of the nine characteristics define the magnitude of stormwater runoff, and the remaining six characteristics describe the shape and duration of a storm hydrograph. Multiple linear regression was used to develop equations to estimate the nine stormwater runoff characteristics from basin and rainfall characteristics. Five basin characteristics and five rainfall characteristics were tested in the regressions to determine which basin and rainfall characteristics significantly affect stormwater runoff characteristics. Basin development factor was found to be significant in equations for eight of the nine stormwater runoff characteristics. Two sets of equations were developed, one for each of two regions based on soil type, from a database containing 1,089 storm discharge hydrographs for 42 sites compiled during 1964–89.The effects of urban development on the eight stormwater runoff characteristics were quantified by varying basin development factor in the equations and recomputing the stormwater runoff characteristics. The largest observed increase in basin development factor for region 1 (north of Buffalo Bayou) during the study resulted in corresponding increases in the characteristics that define magnitude of stormwater runoff ranging from about 40 percent (for direct runoff) to 235 percent (for peak yield); and corresponding decreases in the characteristics that describe hydrograph shape and duration ranging from about 22 percent (for direct runoff duration) to about 58 percent (for basin lag). The largest observed increase in basin development factor for region 2 (south of Buffalo Bayou) during the study resulted in corresponding increases in the characteristics that define magnitude of stormwater runoff ranging from about 33 percent (for direct runoff) to about 210 percent (for both peak flow and peak yield); and corresponding decreases in the characteristics that describe hydrograph shape and duration ranging from about 38 percent (for direct runoff duration) to about 64 percent (for basin lag). 

Impacts of using rainwater tanks on stormwater harvesting and runoff quality.

PubMed

Khastagir, A; Jayasuriya, L N N

2010-01-01

The popularity of rainwater use in Australia depends completely on the individual householder's preference. The quality of reticulated water supplies in major cities of Australia is far superior to water stored in rainwater tanks. However, due to persistent drought and the implementation of stringent water restrictions, cities such as Melbourne have encouraged the use of rainwater harvesting within the property. The benefits of trapping stormwater within a property and using it effectively also reduce polluted runoff excess reaching receiving water. The study reported herein focuses on the effectiveness of rainwater tanks as a potential water sensitive urban design element used to manage stormwater using the MUSIC model. The study shows that the installation of a 3 kL tank reduces hydraulic loading by 75%, Total Suspended Solids by 97%, Total Phosphorous by 90% and Total Nitrogen by 81% if the rainwater stored in the tank is used to meet the indoor demand (toilet flushing and laundry use) as well as the outdoor demand (garden watering).

A Laboratory Simulation of Urban Runoff and the Potential for Hydrograph Prediction with Curve Numbers

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Urban drainages are mosaics of pervious and impervious surfaces, and prediction of runoff hydrology with a lumped modeling approach using the NRCS curve number may be appropriate. However, the prognostic capability of such a lumped approach is complicated by routing and connectivity amongst infiltra...

Passive stormwater samplers for sampling highway runoff from BMPS : feasibility studies.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-12-01

Pollution from highway stormwater runoff has been a concern within the environmental field. To reduce contamination within highway runoff, many structural Best Management Practices (BMPs) have been implemented. One challenge for BMPs is monitoring th...

A step towards considering the spatial heterogeneity of urban key features in urban hydrology flood modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leandro, J.; Schumann, A.; Pfister, A.

2016-04-01

Some of the major challenges in modelling rainfall-runoff in urbanised areas are the complex interaction between the sewer system and the overland surface, and the spatial heterogeneity of the urban key features. The former requires the sewer network and the system of surface flow paths to be solved simultaneously. The latter is still an unresolved issue because the heterogeneity of runoff formation requires high detailed information and includes a large variety of feature specific rainfall-runoff dynamics. This paper discloses a methodology for considering the variability of building types and the spatial heterogeneity of land surfaces. The former is achieved by developing a specific conceptual rainfall-runoff model and the latter by defining a fully distributed approach for infiltration processes in urban areas with limited storage capacity dependent on OpenStreetMaps (OSM). The model complexity is increased stepwise by adding components to an existing 2D overland flow model. The different steps are defined as modelling levels. The methodology is applied in a German case study. Results highlight that: (a) spatial heterogeneity of urban features has a medium to high impact on the estimated overland flood-depths, (b) the addition of multiple urban features have a higher cumulative effect due to the dynamic effects simulated by the model, (c) connecting the runoff from buildings to the sewer contributes to the non-linear effects observed on the overland flood-depths, and (d) OSM data is useful in identifying pounding areas (for which infiltration plays a decisive role) and permeable natural surface flow paths (which delay the flood propagation).

A Fuzzy Control System for Reducing Urban Runoff by a Stormwater Storage Tank

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, P.; Cai, Y.; Wang, J.

2017-12-01

Stormwater storage tank (SST) is a popular low impact development technology for reducing stormwater runoff in the construction of sponge city. Most researches on SST were mainly the design, pollutants removal effect, and operation assessment. While there were few researches on the automatic control of SST for reducing peak flow. In this paper, fuzzy control was introduced into the peak control of SST to improve the efficiency of reducing stormawter runoff. Firstly, the design of SST was investigated. A catchment area and return period were assumed, a SST model was manufactured, and then the storage capacity of the SST was verified. Secondly, the control parameters of the SST based on reducing stormwater runoff was analyzed, and a schematic diagram of real-time control (RTC) system based on peak control SST was established. Finally, fuzzy control system of a double input (flow and water level) and double output (inlet and outlet valve) was designed. The results showed that 1) under the different return periods (one year, three years, five years), the SST had the effect of delayed peak control and storage by increasing the detention time, 2) rainfall, pipeline flow, the influent time and the water level in the SST could be used as RTC parameters, and 3) the response curves of flow velocity and water level fluctuated very little and reached equilibrium in a short time. The combination of online monitoring and fuzzy control was feasible to control the SST automatically. This paper provides a theoretical reference for reducing stormwater runoff and improving the operation efficiency of SST.

Development of a Tool for Siting Low Impact Development in Urban Watersheds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martin-Mikle, C.; de Beurs, K.; Julian, J.

2013-12-01

Low impact development (LID) -- a comprehensive land use planning and design approach with the goal of mitigating development impacts on hydrologic/nutrient cycles and ecosystems -- is increasingly being touted as an effective approach to lessen overland runoff and pollutant loadings. Examples of LIDs include riparian buffers, grassed swales, detention/retention ponds, rain gardens, green roofs and rain barrels. Broad-scale decision support tools for siting LIDs have been developed for agricultural watersheds, but are rare for urban watersheds, largely due to greater land use complexity and lack of necessary high-resolution geospatial data. Here, we develop a framework to assist city planners and water quality managers in siting LIDs in urban watersheds. One key component of this research is a framework accessible to those interested in using it. Hence, development of the framework has centered around 1) determining optimal data requirements for siting LID in an urban watershed and 2) developing a tool compatible with both open-source and commercial GIS software. We employ a wide variety of landscape metrics to evaluate the tool. A case study of the Lake Thunderbird Watershed, an urbanized watershed southeast of Oklahoma City, illustrates the effectiveness of a tool that is capable of siting LID in an urban watershed.

Design and construction of an experimental pervious paved parking area to harvest reusable rainwater.

PubMed

Gomez-Ullate, E; Novo, A V; Bayon, J R; Hernandez, Jorge R; Castro-Fresno, Daniel

2011-01-01

Pervious pavements are sustainable urban drainage systems already known as rainwater infiltration techniques which reduce runoff formation and diffuse pollution in cities. The present research is focused on the design and construction of an experimental parking area, composed of 45 pervious pavement parking bays. Every pervious pavement was experimentally designed to store rainwater and measure the levels of the stored water and its quality over time. Six different pervious surfaces are combined with four different geotextiles in order to test which materials respond better to the good quality of rainwater storage over time and under the specific weather conditions of the north of Spain. The aim of this research was to obtain a good performance of pervious pavements that offered simultaneously a positive urban service and helped to harvest rainwater with a good quality to be used for non potable demands.

Quantifying the benefits of urban forest systems as a component of the green infrastructure stormwater treatment network

Treesearch

Eric Kuehler; Jon Hathaway; Andrew Tirpak

2017-01-01

The use of green infrastructure for reducing stormwater runoff is increasingly common. One under‐studied component of the green infrastructure network is the urban forest system. Trees can play an important role as the “first line of defense” for restoring more natural hydrologic regimes in urban watersheds by intercepting rainfall, delaying runoff, infiltrating, and...