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Cistern Performance for Stormwater Management in Camden, NJ - presentation
Citation:
Ahmed, F. AND Mike Borst. Cistern Performance for Stormwater Management in Camden, NJ - presentation. To be Presented at LID conference 2016, Portland, ME, August 29 - 31, 2016.
Impact/Purpose:
The Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority (CCMUA) installed different types of green infrastructure Stormwater Control Measures (SCMs) at locations around the city of Camden, NJ. The installed SCMs include cisterns. Cisterns provide a cost effective approach to reduce stormwater runoff volume and peak discharge. The collected water can be used as a substitute for potable water in some applications. This presentation focuses on five cisterns that were monitored as part of a capture and use system at community gardens.
Description:
The Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority (CCMUA) installed different types of green infrastructure Stormwater Control Measures (SCMs) at locations around the city of Camden, NJ. The installed SCMs include cisterns. Cisterns provide a cost effective approach to reduce stormwater runoff volume and peak discharge. The collected water can be used as a substitute for potable water in some applications. This presentation focuses on five cisterns that were monitored as part of a capture and use system at community gardens. The cisterns capture water from existing rooftops or shade structures installed by CCMUA as part of the project. Cistern volumes varied from 305 gallons to 1100 gallons based on the available roof area. Water level was monitored at 10-minute intervals using pressure transducers and rainfall was recorded using tipping bucket rain gauges. Soil moisture was monitored near the root zone using frequency domain reflectometer buried under selected plants. These data were analyzed to better understand the supply and demand relationship. Cisterns were sampled at 6 to 8 week intervals through the growing season for determination of microorganism, nutrients and metal concentrations. The analyses detected Antimony, Arsenic, Barium, Copper, Lead, Manganese, Nickel, Vanadium and Zinc. Concentration of all these metals were below recommended water quality criteria for irrigation by EPA guideline for water reuse. The total nitrogen and phosphorous concentration varied from 0.23 to 2.26 mg/L and from 0.025 to 1.11 mg/L respectively. Large total coliform concentrations were observed in some samples. The runoff capture ratio of these systems was lower than expected, varying from 17% to 68%. The presentation will summarize the data for first growing season giving the results from the monitoring the water use, and water quality of cisterns.
URLs/Downloads:
HTTP://WWW.LIDCONFERENCE.ORG/UPLOADEDFILES/LID_CONFERENCE/CONTENT_PIECES/FINAL-PROGRAM.PDF