Snowmelt pollutant removal in bioretention areas

Snow accumulating in urban areas and alongside roads can accumulate high pollutant loads and the subsequent snowmelt can produce high pollutant loads in receiving waters. This paper examines the treatment of roadside snowmelt in bioretention with respect to pollutant removal, pollutant pathways, and major sinks. Bioretention was used to treat snowmelt from three types of urban roads in Trondheim, Norway: residential, medium, and roads with high-density traffic. Metal retention in bioretention boxes had a mass reduction in zinc, copper, lead, and cadmium in the range of 89-99%, and a decrease in outflow concentrations in the range 81-99%. Cadmium was only measured in the water samples, while the other three metals were traced through the system to identify the main sinks. The top mulch layer was the largest sink for the retained metals, with up to 74% of the zinc retained in this mulch layer. The plant metal uptakes were only 2-8% of the total metal retention; however, the plants still play an important role with respect to root zone development and regeneration, which fosters infiltration and reduces the outflow load. Dissolved pollutants in snowmelt tend to be removed with the first flush of meltwater, creating an enrichment ratio with respect to the average pollutant concentrations in the snow. The effect of this enrichment ratio was examined through the bioretention system, and found to be less predominant than that typically reported for untreated snowmelt. The enrichment factors were in the range of 0.65-1.51 for the studied metals.     

Swelling of capillary endothelial cells and cardiomyocytes in the ischaemic myocardium of artificially arrested canine hearts

To establish whether coronary perfusion with cardioplegic solutions results in better intraischaemic structural preservation of endothelial cells than of cardiomyocytes, we determined intraischaemic swelling of these two cell types in hearts differently arrested during global ischaemia at 5 degrees C. Cardiac arrest was induced in situ by aortic cross clamping or by additional coronary perfusion with various cardioplegic solutions. Parameters for cellular swelling were determined, i.e. barrier thickness of capillary endothelial cells and sum of the volume fractions (V(V)) of free sarcoplasm and mitochondria (V(VSp) + V(VMi)) in cardiomyocytes. In order to test the intraischaemic relative increase of cellular volume in both cell types, regression analyses were performed. The results show that the relative intraischaemic volume increase was similar in both cell types after perfusion with histidine-tryptophan-ketoglutarate solution, and significantly less pronounced in capillary endothelial cells after perfusion with University of Wisconsin solution. In hearts arrested with St. Thomas' Hospital solution, a significantly higher volume increase was determined in capillary endothelial cells. Thus, capillary endothelium does not generally show a higher structural preservation than cardiomyocytes during ischaemia. Instead, volume regulation in both types of cells depends on the type of cardioplegic solution used. These results should be taken into consideration in human transplantation medicine.     

Stormwater control measure (SCM) maintenance considerations to ensure designed functionality

Great investment is made in the design and installation of stormwater control measures (SCMs). Substantial research investment, too, is made to optimise the performance of SCMs. However, once installed, SCMs often suffer from lack of maintenance or even outright neglect. Key maintenance needs for wet ponds, constructed stormwater wetlands, bioretention, infiltration practices, permeable pavement, swales, and rainwater harvesting systems are reviewed with many tasks, such as the cleaning of pre-treatment areas and the preservation of infiltration surfaces, being common maintenance themes among SCMs. Consequences of lacking maintenance are illustrated (mainly insufficient function or failure). Probable reasons for neglect include insufficient communication, unclear responsibilities, lack of knowledge, financial barriers, and decentralised measures. In future designs and research, maintenance (and lack thereof) should be considered. Assessing the performance of SCMs conservatively and including safety factors may prevent consequences of under-maintenance; and requiring regular inspection may help to enforce sufficient maintenance.     

PPP‐Projekte: Strukturelle Kostenvergleichsuntersuchungen zwischen Eigenrealisierung der öffentlichen Auftraggeber und PPP‐Anbietern

Manufacturing and utilization costs as well as additional factors in private construction versus public construction were compared with the costs of a public private partnership (PPP) provider, based on a review of published studies and own data. The costs were calculated and compared according to the discounted cash‐flow method. At typical rates, PPP providers achieve a price advantage of more than 30% without even taking into account all price disadvantages (construction time, post‐building improvements) of the public construction industry. An expansion of the public private partnership market beyond the currently 5% of public construction activity is necessary not only from an economic perspective, but also in light of the limited budget situation on the communal, state and federal level. Using the same financing, 30% more construction projects can be realized.     

Influence of intermittent wetting and drying conditions on heavy metal removal by stormwater biofilters

Biofiltration is a technology to treat urban stormwater runoff, which conveys pollutants, including heavy metals. However, the variability of metals removal performance in biofiltration systems is as yet unknown. A laboratory study has been conducted with vegetated biofilter mesocosms, partly fitted with a submerged zone at the bottom of the filter combined with a carbon source. The biofilters were dosed with stormwater according to three different dry/wet schemes, to investigate the effect of intermittent wetting and drying conditions on metal removal.Provided that the biofilters received regular stormwater input, metal removal exceeded 95%. The highest metal accumulation occurs in the top layer of the filter media. However, after antecedent drying before a storm event exceeding 3–4 weeks the filters performed significantly worse, although metal removal still remained relatively high. Introducing a submerged zone into the filter improved the performance significantly after extended dry periods. In particular, copper removal in filters equipped with a submerged zone was increased by around 12% (α = 0.05) both during wet and dry periods and for lead the negative effect of drying could completely be eliminated, with consistently low outflow concentrations even after long drying periods.     

Bioaccumulation of heavy metals in two wet retention ponds

Metal accumulation in stormwater ponds may contaminate the inhabiting fauna, thus jeopardizing their ecosystem servicing function. We evaluated bioaccumulation of metals in natural fauna and caged mussel indicator organisms in two wet retention ponds. Mussel cages were distributed throughout the ponds to detect bioaccumulation gradients and obtain a time-integrated measure of metal bioavailability. We further investigated if sediment metal concentrations correlate with those in the fauna and mussels. Metal concentrations in the fauna tended to be higher in the ponds than in a reference lake, but statistical significance was only shown for Cu. Positive correlations were found for some metals in fauna and sediment. Sediment metal concentrations in one pond decreased from inlet to outlet while no gradients were observed in the mussels in either pond. These findings indicate that metal accumulation in the examined ponds currently does not pose a threat to their habitat function.     

Inventory relocation for overlapping disaster settings in humanitarian operations

The number and scale of humanitarian operations has significantly increased during the past decades due to the rising number of humanitarian emergencies and natural disasters worldwide. Therefore, the development of appropriate planning methods for optimization of the respective supply chains is constantly growing in importance. A specific problem in the context of humanitarian operations is the supply of relief items to the affected areas after the occurrence of a sudden change in demand or supply, for example, due to an epidemic or to unexpected shortages, during an ongoing humanitarian action. When such overlapping disasters occur, goods must be relocated to existing depots in a way which enables rapid supply to regions with new and urgent demand. At the same time, ongoing operations have to continue, i.e., the other regions should not suffer from shortages, and possible future emergencies must be taken into account. This is a planning situation under uncertainty as it is not known in advance if and where a disruption—and hence additional demand—will occur. In this paper, an optimization model for such situations is developed based on penalty costs for non-satisfied demand. A rolling horizon approach for solving the model is presented, and it is shown that taking into account the possibility of future disruptions can help to balance inventories and to reduce total non-served demand.