Nutrients transport in the bare urban redeveloped soil system during runoff process

Stormwater pollution in redeveloped soils mixed with construction wastes imposes a serious impact to receiving waters. The transport and distribution of rainfall water and nutrients in the surface-flow and subsurface-flow (including side-flow and down-flow) of bare redeveloped soil runoff system were determined. Results indicated that the flow patterns and pollutants transport of surface-flow were different from those in subsurface-flow. The flowrate of surface-flow increased at the beginning and reached to a stable state, and then disappeared immediately after the rainfall stopped. While the flow rate of subsurface-flow was persisted and decreased gradually artery the rainfall. Most of the pollutants were carried in the surface-flow, which directly results in polluting the surface-receiving waters. And the pollutants distribution percent in side-flow was higher than that in down-flow. Results obtained in this study will provide information for the management of stormwater pollution in the bare redeveloped soil mixed with construction wastes.     

Laboratory analysis of the outflow and detention processes from modular tray-based blue roofs

ABSTRACT

Novel laboratory experiments were carried out to investigate the outflow process and the detention effects of a tray module of a blue roof (BR) system designed for runoff control from building roofs. The experiments revealed the outflow from the tray to decline during time, due to a number of complex dynamics occurring in proximity of the outlet orifice. The tests also showed the system to provide potential for relevant attenuation of the flow peak during inflow events (i.e. precipitation) of different magnitude. Based on regression analysis, an empirical relationship was developed for the evaluation of the tray outflow as a function of time, thus providing a tool for improved design of BRs. Finally, combination of the identified relationship with a routine for the water balance simulation of the tray was shown to describe reliably the detention process in the BR tray module.     

Effects of urbanisation on the quality of the urban runoff for Delhi watershed

The current paper is the first study to report quality of urban runoff, focusing on the diffuse sources contributing to pollutant loads in the Delhi watershed. The quality of stormwater runoff from the urban watershed of Delhi was evaluated to assess the effects of different land-use practices on pollutant concentrations. Six sites within the Delhi watershed with different land-use characteristics were selected. The microbial quality of the urban runoff from sub-catchments of Delhi watershed is very poor with Faecal Coliform (FC) levels varying between 6 and 7 log orders. There was a good correlation between the chemical and biological quality of urban runoff with land-use characteristics such as impervious land and population density. Except for chemical oxygen demand all other parameters in urban runoff were found to exceed the effluent discharge standards set by the National River Conservation Directorate (NRCD), India. The public health risks associated with exposure to urban runoff via different routes have also been qualitatively estimated.     

Pesticides in rain and roof runoff waters from an urban region

The levels of organonitrogen, organochlorine and organophosphorus pesticides were monitored in rain and roof runoff waters in Gdańsk (Poland) over a period of 6 months (October 2000 – March 2001). Buildings included in the study were of different ages, and covered with a variety of roofing materials. Samples were collected during the precipitation events. Pesticides were determined by gas chromatography combined with NPD and ECD detection. Bromofos, heptachlor epoxide and o,p′-DDE were detected the most often in the samples collected. In general, pesticide concentrations were higher in roof runoff than in rainwater. The type of the roofing material had a significant effect on the pesticide levels in runoff waters. The highest analyte levels were recorded in October and November, when the temperature was the highest.     

Bacterial contamination due to point and nonpoint source pollution in a rapidly growing urban center in an arid region

The distribution of bacterial contaminants (Escherichia coli and total coliforms) and nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) in a rapidly growing metropolitan area, the Las Vegas Valley, were studied to assess the contributions of point and nonpoint pollution sources under dry weather flow (pre rainfall) and wet weather flow (post rainfall) events. Nonpoint sources emanating from urban centers and septic seepage were found to be a primary source of bacterial contamination in the Las Vegas Wash, a mainstream wash channel where the Las Vegas Valley watershed drains. Contribution of point sources (wastewater treatment plants) to E. coli and total coliforms were found to be negligible. However, data in the Tropicana/Flamingo Wash, a tributary of the Las Vegas Wash, showed high bacterial activities in the wet antecedent rainfall condition as compared to the pre-rain dry antecedent condition suggesting that the rainfall increased bacterial activities.     

Treatment of log yard runoff in a couch grass infiltration wetland in Sweden

Sprinkling is often used in Scandinavia to protect round wood stored for industrial use from fungal and insect attack and drying cracks. Log yard runoff can be harmful for the water recipient due to eutrophication and oxygen depletion. A wetland system for treatment of log yard runoff is being evaluated in central Sweden. The purification capacity of a sloping couch grass (Elytrigia repens L.) field was examined when log yard runoff was applied to the field through a sprinkling system. Water samples were taken from groundwater pipes during four summer seasons (May to September, 2002–2005) and analysed for total organic carbon, total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen and distillable phenols to evaluate the purification capacity of the infiltration wetland. Results from 2002 to 2004 were compared with results from 2005 when the irrigation intensity was considerably lower. Overall, the results showed good purification capacity although the concentrations of TP in the groundwater increased during 2005. The reduced hydraulic load did not increase purification.     

Modelling the impacts of climate change on surface runoff in small Mediterranean catchments: empirical evidence from Greece

During the last decades, a major factor that analysts and policy makers take into account in the assessment of the environment is climate change. This global physical process is expected to cause problems in natural and human environment. Thus, modelling climate change impacts may lead to prevention policies to minimize the degradation of life quality because of lack of water resources in the future. This study implicates Geographical Information System (GIS) and hydrological modelling tools to various scenarios of climate change such as the increase of temperature the decrease of rainfall, or even both of them, to estimate the potential impact of climate change on surface runoff in a typical catchment in Andros Island, Greece. Primary results indicate a proportional runoff decrease in the next 50 years because of global climate changes.     

Trends and periodicities in observed temperature,precipitation and runoff in a desert catchment: case study for the Shiyang River Basin in Northwestern China

The Mann–Kendall test, wavelet analysis was used to analyse the long‐term trends and periodicities in temperature, precipitation and streamflow in China's Shiyang River Basin since 1950. The Principal components analysis (PCA) was used to quantify the impacts of climate change and human activities on water resources. The annual mean air temperature has increased, consistent with increasing global temperatures. The annual precipitation fluctuated but has generally increased since the 1990s. The air temperature and precipitation showed changes on periods ranging from 2 to 28 years. The correlation between annual runoff and precipitation variation was 0.61 (P < 0.05), indicating precipitation is the main source of the runoff. Human activities played the dominant role in the lower reaches, accounting for 58.5% of the total effect. The results have important implications for water resources management to support harmonisation of the relationship between humans and nature to combat the effect of climate.     

北京城区阵雨径流水质分析与评价

从有机物含量、营养物质含量等较重要的化学指标进行分析,降雨与各种不同下垫面径流水质污染程度差异较大,天然降雨、绿地径流与屋顶径流水质相对较好;但是雨水径流有明显的初期冲刷作用,污染物集中在初期的数毫米雨量中.