scholarly journals Seepage metal concentrations beneath long-term operated bioretention systems

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arne Reck ◽  
Mogens Thalmann ◽  
Eva Paton ◽  
Björn Kluge
Keyword(s):  
Trace Metal ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
Retention Rates ◽  
Trace Metal Concentration ◽  
Retention Performance ◽  
Metal Retention ◽  
Metal Contents

Abstract Bioretention systems maintain the natural water cycle and help to mitigate climatic extremes impact on urban areas by retarding, storing, and evaporating stormwater runoff. Although bioretention systems have been operated for more than 25 years, systematic investigations on the hydrological functionality and pollutant retention performance of older systems are rare. We employed laboratory and field experiments to investigate three long-term operated bioretention systems in Germany with the following objectives: (i) physico-chemical substrate characterisation; (ii) an event-based influent and effluent trace metal concentration monitoring covering 22 months and (iii) the calculation of metal retention rates. Regarding the pollution status, we found significantly increased trace metal contents in the soil substrate mainly as a function of the drainage area type and the inflow regime. Nonetheless, all measured metal seepage concentrations fall below the German legislative trigger values. Our current findings demonstrate no risk of groundwater degradation even for old bioretention systems suggesting bioretention as a powerful and sustainable tool for stormwater management. Further research requires the handling of soil substrates modified by stormwater infiltration showing enhanced trace metal contents and a certain amount of technogenic sediments.

Impact of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) on Vadose Zone Water

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arne Reck ◽  
Eva Paton ◽  
Björn Kluge
Keyword(s):  
Trace Metal ◽  
Vadose Zone ◽  
Natural Water ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
Stormwater Runoff ◽  
Urban Drainage ◽  
Soil Layers ◽  
Term Operation ◽  
Metal Contents

<p>Sustainable Urban Drainage System (SUDS), like bioretention for stormwater runoff infiltration, offer several advantages compared to the traditional centralised sewage drainage. Such approaches maintain the natural water cycle in the urban critical zone and help to mitigate climatic extremes impact on urban areas by retarding, storing and evaporating stormwater runoff. Although SUDS are established since longer time (>25 years for example in Germany) we lack systematic investigations on the hydrological functionality and pollutant retention performance of these systems after long-term operation. We employed laboratory and field experiments coupled with numerical simulations to investigate three long-term operated bioretention systems in Germany with following objectives: (i) a detailed mapping of spatial contamination patterns; (ii) a soil hydrological and -chemical substrate characterisation; (iii) an event-based influent and effluent trace metal concentrations monitoring covering 36 months in total; and (iv) a soil water balance simulation using HYDRUS-1D. Regarding the pollution patterns, we found significantly enhanced trace metal contents in the soil substrate mainly as a function of the drainage area type and kind of inflow regime. Nonetheless, average free metal ion concentrations in the soil seepage water extracted below the upper soil layers (30-45 cm) fall below German trigger values considering the soil-groundwater pathway at all three investigated sites. Compared to influent concentrations, average load reduction of the major pollutants Cu and Zn was 55-95 % within the upper soil layers. With regard to infiltrated runoff volumes, simulated water balances revealed hydraulic load reductions of 10-40 % by evapotranspiration. Our current findings demonstrate no risk of groundwater degradation suggesting bioretention as a powerful tool in terms of maintaining the natural water cycle in the urban vadose zone even after long-term operation. Debatable might be the handling of soil substrates modified by stormwater infiltration showing enhanced trace metal contents and a certain amount of technogenic sediments like tyre wear. On the one hand, a big metal pool is specifically bound meaning it can easily turn into free ions during changing conditions like the application of de-icing agents. On the other hand, these substrates perfectly fulfil pollutant retention and water conductivity requirements as mandatory for an effective stormwater treatment using SUDS approaches.</p>

Evaluation of three tagging methods in the sea urchin Diadema antillarum

2015 ◽  
Vol 95 (6) ◽  
pp. 1255-1260
Author(s):  
Ruber Rodríguez-Barreras ◽  
Alberto M. Sabat
Keyword(s):  
Sea Urchin ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Retention Rate ◽  
Pairwise Comparison ◽  
The Other ◽  
Retention Rates ◽  
Diadema Antillarum ◽  
Pit Tags ◽  
Long Term Studies

Multiple tagging devices have been developed for long-term studies and estimating demographic parameters in sea urchins. In this study, we evaluated the use of passive integrated transponders (PIT-tag), and two types of nylon tags (T-bar and S-tag) in the sea urchin Diadema antillarum by measuring retention rate and apparent survival. The PIT-tags exhibited the highest retention, followed by T-bars, and lastly the S-tags. Differences in recapture were detected among the three types of tags (H = 6.99, P = 0.030). An a posteriori pairwise comparison test found significant differences between PIT-tags and each of the other two types (P < 0.05), whereas T-bar and S-tag did not exhibit significant differences between them (P > 0.05). The semi-captivity experiment exhibited similar results to the field experiment in terms of retention. This experiment also found higher mortality with T-bars. Differences between previous studies conducted under controlled conditions and experiments carried out in the field reflect high variability and the necessity of testing tagging procedures under both settings. The S-tag induced high spine autotomy and low retention; whereas the T-bar demonstrated low retention and low survival. Although the retention rate of PIT-tags was significantly higher than the other two, retention rates were still too low for practical utility in long-term field experiments. In conclusion, the present study does not support the use of any of these tags for long-term studies in D. antillarum.

scholarly journals Long-Term Metal Retention Performance of Media Filter Drains for Stormwater Management

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 3721-3733 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agathe Thomas ◽  
Liv Haselbach ◽  
Cara Poor ◽  
Maxwell Freimund
Keyword(s):  
Stormwater Management ◽  
Retention Performance ◽  
Metal Retention

Long-term hydraulic and pollution retention performance of infiltration systems

2007 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 235-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Le Coustumer ◽  
S. Barraud
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Resistance ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Water Volume ◽  
Retention Performance ◽  
Average Value ◽  
Hydraulic Behaviour ◽  
Site Monitoring ◽  
Monitoring Process ◽  
First Results

Infiltration techniques are now widely used to manage stormwater in urban areas. These techniques are used and recognized around the world for their many advantages, such as decreasing stormwater flow in sewer systems and recharging groundwater. But numerous cases of infiltration devices that failed after a few years of operation are still being reported. This study, which is based on site-monitoring of operational infiltration systems, is part of the Field Observatory for Urban Water Management (OTHU). The main goals of this study are to improve knowledge of long-term hydraulic behaviour, especially as concerns the clogging speed and the quality of the runoff. This article will present the site, the monitoring process and the model that will be used to assess the hydraulic behaviour. First results of the calibration of the model show that the model is able to assess the hydraulic behaviour of the basin when it is clogged (average value of hydraulic resistance 17.1 h) and when it has been scraped (hydraulic resistance less than 3.8 h). However, further data are needed in order to validate the model. We also show that the experimental setup is well designed to assess the water volume and the sediment brought to the basin with low uncertainties.

Implementation of a monitoring system to measure impact of stormwater runoff infiltration

2002 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 203-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Barraud ◽  
J. Gibert ◽  
T. Winiarski ◽  
J.-L. Bertrand Krajewski
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Experimental Site ◽  
Monitoring Process ◽  
The Will ◽  
Stormwater Infiltration ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Term Monitoring

Stormwater infiltration is a drainage mode, which is more and more used in urban areas in France. Given the characteristics of urban surfaces, and especially the loads of various pollutants contained in stormwater, it is important to assess the impact of stormwater infiltration systems on soil and groundwater by carrying out field experiments. The main difficulty is due to the complexity of the system observed and the need of multidisciplinary approaches. Another difficulty is that measurements are carried out in situ, in an uncontrolled environment submitted to quantitatively and qualitatively highly variable interferences. Very long term monitoring is needed to get representative results. In order to contribute to solve these problems, the OTHU project has recently been launched in Lyon (France). One of its key action concerns a long-term (10 years) experiment on an infiltration basin specifically rehabilitated for measurements and operational drainage issues. This paper presents the experimental site, the objectives of the project and the way the monitoring process has been built according to the various disciplines involved (biology, ecology, hydrology, chemistry and soil sciences) and to the will of assessing all the uncertainties in the measurement process.

Management of Water Cycle: An Approach to Urban Ecology

1992 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Ripl
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
Cooling System ◽  
Thermal Power ◽  
Sewage Treatment ◽  
Balance Sheet ◽  
River System ◽  
Soil Restoration ◽  
Environmental Damage

Abstract Densely populated urban areas, which have developed over the last century, depend heavily on centralized water supply, sewage treatment plants, and hydroelectric or thermal power generation with vast demand of cooling water. Considerable areas have been drained or sealed, and the short-circuited water cycle has been distorted. Large rivers have been converted to shipping canals with the permanent risk of accidental pollution. Technical means such as sewage treatment, air filters, emission control and lake and soil restoration measures have contributed to correct the environmental damage. However, a balance sheet for irreversible matter losses (mainly base cation charges) from the urbanized areas and the surrounding landscape into the sea shows ever-increasing trends. These losses are destabilizing the ecosystems. In this paper, management of the water cycle in urban areas, together with the coupled matter cycles, is discussed. Particular reference is given to Metropolitan Berlin, with a network of shipping canals, which move biologically treated waste, containing base cations and nutrients to the surrounding rural areas. This could create manageable productive wetlands and re-establish soil fertility. At the same time, the natural cooling system close to the urban areas will be improved by providing more areas with permanent vegetation. In addition, reduction of the present large oscillations of the groundwater table, resulting from groundwater pumping and its recharge with less polluted surface water, is contemplated. The widely used shoreline infiltration of the Havel River should then be eliminated and the severe damage of the littoral vegetation in large sections of the Havel River system be avoided.

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