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URBAN STORMWATER STRESSOR SOURCES, CHARACTERIZATION, AND CONTROL
Citation:
Field*, R. URBAN STORMWATER STRESSOR SOURCES, CHARACTERIZATION, AND CONTROL. Presented at 10th International Conference on Urban Drainage, Copenhagen, DENMARK, August 01, 2005.
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the public.
Description:
The presentation covers the origin and values of the various pollutants or stressors in urban stormwater including flow (shear force), pathogens, suspended solids/sediment, toxicants (organic and metals), nutrients, oxygen demanding substances, and coarse solids. A broad overview of the various conventional best management practices (BMPs) and how they function and the principal pollutants they remove are discussed in detail.
Urbanization increases storm-runoff flow, pollutant washoff, and erosion-sedimentation. Receiving channel instability also results. Construction in the US causes 50% of the urban sediment yield. Urban runoff includes: (1) dry-weather baseflow, (2) stormwater, (3) combined sewer overflow (CSO), and (4) inappropriate sanitary/industrial wastewater entries (elimination of which is a significant BMP). Major urban pollutant source areas are: rooftops, roadways, parking and storage areas, landscaped and undeveloped areas, and vehicle service areas. There is no typical description of urban stormwater characteristics due to variable: rainfall-runoff patterns, geology and typography, land uses, imperviousness, anthropogenic contributions, and seasonal conditions. Some of the more significant urban pollutant contributors are: accumulated debris, construction-site erosion, vehicular residue, and pesticides and fertilizers.