Predicting Event-Based Sediment and Heavy Metal Loads in Untreated Urban Runoff from Impermeable Surfaces

Type of content
Journal Article
Thesis discipline
Degree name
Publisher
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Language
Date
2020
Authors
Charters, Frances J.
Cochrane, Thomas A.
O'Sullivan, Aisling D.
Abstract

Understanding the amount of pollutants contributed by impermeable urban surfaces during rain events is necessary for developing effective stormwater management. A process-based pollutant load model, named Modelled Estimates of Discharges for Urban Stormwater Assessments (MEDUSA), was further developed (MEDUSA2.0; Christchurch, New Zealand) to include simulations of dissolved metal loadings and improve total suspended solids (TSS) loading estimations. The model uses antecedent dry days, rainfall pH, average event intensity and duration to predict sediment and heavy metal loads generated by individual surfaces. The MEDUSA2.0 improvements provided a moderate to strong degree of fit to observed sediment, copper, and zinc loads for each modelled road and roof surface type. The individual surface-scale modelling performed by MEDUSA2.0 allows for identification of specific source areas of high pollution for targeted surface management within urban catchments

Description
Citation
Charters F, Cochrane T, O'Sullivan A (2020). Predicting Event-Based Sediment and Heavy Metal Loads in Untreated Urban Runoff from Impermeable Surfaces. Water. 12(4).
Keywords
MEDUSA2.0, stormwater quality, total suspended solids, particulate and dissolved metals, rainfall characteristics
Ngā upoko tukutuku/Māori subject headings
ANZSRC fields of research
Field of Research::09 - Engineering::0905 - Civil Engineering::090508 - Water Quality Engineering
Field of Research::09 - Engineering::0905 - Civil Engineering::090509 - Water Resources Engineering
Field of Research::05 - Environmental Sciences::0502 - Environmental Science and Management::050206 - Environmental Monitoring
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© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).