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Jensen DMR, Mutzner L, Wei Y, Mikkelsen PS, Vezzaro L. Temporal variations in micropollutant inlet concentrations matter when planning the design and compliance assessment of stormwater control measures. J Environ Manage 2024; 356:120583. [PMID: 38531132 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.120583] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2023] [Revised: 02/27/2024] [Accepted: 03/09/2024] [Indexed: 03/28/2024]
Abstract
Stormwater Control Measures (SCMs) contribute to reducing micropollutant emissions from separate sewer systems. SCM planning and design are often performed by looking at the hydrological performance. Assessment of pollutant removal and the ability to comply with discharge concentration limits is often simplified due to a lack of data and limited monitoring resources. This study analyses the impact of using different time resolutions of input stormwater concentrations when assessing the compliance of SCMs against water quality standards. The behaviour of three indicator micropollutants (MP - Copper, Diuron, Benzo[a]pyrene) was assessed in four SCM archetypes, which were defined to represent typical SCM removal processes. High resolution MP data were extrapolated by using high resolution (2 min) measurements of TSS over a long period (343 events). The compliance assessment showed that high resolution input concentrations can result in a different level of compliance with water quality standards, especially when discharged concentrations are close to the limit values. This study underlines the importance of considering the high temporal variability of stormwater micropollutants when planning and designing SCMs to identify the most effective solutions for stormwater pollution management and to ensure a thorough consideration of all the environmental implications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ditte Marie Reinholdt Jensen
- Department of Environmental and Resource Engineering (DTU Sustain), Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Bygningstorvet bygn. 115, 2800, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark; State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences (RCEES), Chinese Academy of Sciences(CAS), 18 Shuangqing Road, Beijing, 100085, China; Sino-Danish Center for Education and Research (SDC), Aarhus, Denmark; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China
| | - Lena Mutzner
- Department of Environmental and Resource Engineering (DTU Sustain), Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Bygningstorvet bygn. 115, 2800, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark; Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 8600, Dübendorf, Switzerland
| | - Yuansong Wei
- State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences (RCEES), Chinese Academy of Sciences(CAS), 18 Shuangqing Road, Beijing, 100085, China
| | - Peter Steen Mikkelsen
- Department of Environmental and Resource Engineering (DTU Sustain), Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Bygningstorvet bygn. 115, 2800, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Luca Vezzaro
- Department of Environmental and Resource Engineering (DTU Sustain), Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Bygningstorvet bygn. 115, 2800, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark.
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Brudler S, Arnbjerg-Nielsen K, Hauschild MZ, Ammitsøe C, Hénonin J, Rygaard M. Life cycle assessment of point source emissions and infrastructure impacts of four types of urban stormwater systems. Water Res 2019; 156:383-394. [PMID: 30933696 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2019.03.044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2018] [Revised: 03/20/2019] [Accepted: 03/21/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
The implementation, operation and decommissioning of stormwater management systems causes environmental damage, while at the same time reducing pollutant loads in receiving waters by treating stormwater. The focus in research has been either on assessing impacts caused by stormwater infrastructure, or risks associated with stormwater discharges, but rarely have these two sources of environmental impacts been combined to allow a comprehensive environmental evaluation of stormwater management. We assess the environmental sustainability of four different generic stormwater management systems for a catchment of 260ha by a) modelling the flow of pollutants in stormwater, and resulting point source emissions to freshwater, and b) quantifying emissions and resources for all relevant processes associated with the life cycle of the infrastructure. Using life cycle impact assessment, we quantify the resulting environmental impacts and consequent damage to two areas of protection - ecosystems (expressed in time-integrated species loss) and natural resource availability (expressed in extra costs for future resource extraction). Our assessment shows that combined stormwater management causes the highest damage to both ecosystems (1.4E-03 species.yr/yr) and resource availability (8.8E+03 USD/yr). Separate systems using only green infrastructure were found to avoid damage to resource availability (-3.7 to -5.2 USD/yr) and cause lower ecosystem damage (1.1-1.3E-03 species.yr/yr). Stormwater discharges contribute significantly to the total ecosystem damage of the different systems (36-88%), and the sustainability of separate systems can be further improved by optimizing the removal efficiency of low-tech elements like surface basins and filter soil. The systems are designed according to engineering standards. Choosing different criteria, e.g. identical flood safety levels, would result in substantial changes of the relative performance of the systems. The findings highlight the importance of including point source emissions into the assessment to allow comparative conclusions and minimisation of environmental damage of stormwater management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Brudler
- Urban Water Systems, Department of Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Bygningstorvet, Building 115, 2800, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark; VCS Denmark, Vandværksvej 7, 5000, Odense C, Denmark.
| | - Karsten Arnbjerg-Nielsen
- Urban Water Systems, Department of Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Bygningstorvet, Building 115, 2800, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Michael Zwicky Hauschild
- Quantitative Sustainability Assessment, Department of Management Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Produktionstorvet, Building 424, 2800, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Christian Ammitsøe
- VCS Denmark, Vandværksvej 7, 5000, Odense C, Denmark; HOFOR, Ørestads Boulevard 35, 2300, København S, Denmark
| | | | - Martin Rygaard
- Urban Water Systems, Department of Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Bygningstorvet, Building 115, 2800, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
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Denton GRW, Emborski CA, Habana NC, Starmer JA. Influence of urban runoff, inappropriate waste disposal practices and World War II on the heavy metal status of sediments in the southern half of Saipan Lagoon, Saipan, CNMI. Mar Pollut Bull 2014; 81:276-281. [PMID: 24559738 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.01.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2013] [Revised: 12/23/2013] [Accepted: 01/07/2014] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
Heavy metals were examined in sediments from the southern half of Saipan Lagoon. These waters provided tactical access for US troops during WWII and were heavily shelled at the time. Mercury profiles in sediments were, to some extent, reflective of this event. Samples from the southern end of the lagoon, where an old post-war dumpsite once existed, were found to be substantially enriched with Pb, Cu and Zn. Further north, the lagoon was primarily impacted by urban runoff. Metal enrichment in sediments from this region was generally highest at storm drain outlets and attenuated seawards. Moderate enrichment was rarely exceeded for any element other than Hg beyond the 50 m mark. Sediment quality guidelines used to flag potentially adverse ecological health effects revealed no PEL exceedances. TEL exceedances for Pb and Cu were identified in sediments near the former dumpsite. The public health implications of the data are briefly addressed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gary R W Denton
- Water and Environmental Research Institute, University of Guam, Mangilao, GU 96923, USA.
| | - Carmen A Emborski
- Department of Environmental Toxicology, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA
| | - Nathan C Habana
- Water and Environmental Research Institute, University of Guam, Mangilao, GU 96923, USA
| | - John A Starmer
- Pacific Marine Resources Institute, Garapan, Saipan 96950, USA
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