Temporal Variability of Heavy Metals in Suburban Road Runoff in a Rainy Cold Climate
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 141, Issue 3
Abstract
Road runoff contains toxic heavy metals that can threaten the water quality of urban water systems. This paper characterizes the time variability of heavy metal pollution in road runoff in a 9 ha, steep (12% slope), suburban, rainy (235 rainy days; 1,120 mm per annum), cold climate catchment. Twenty-three water samples, collected during six discrete runoff events spanning 1 year, were analyzed for total and dissolved heavy metal concentrations. The most abundant pollutants were Zn (), Cu (), and Cr and Ni (2.3–2.5). Zn, As and Cd were predominantly dissolved (), Ni was primarily bound to particulates (68%), and Cu and Cr were equally divided between phases. Elevated dissolved and total concentrations were measured during snowmelt in correlation with high electrical conductance reflecting the use of road salt as a deicing agent. Event mean concentrations were positively correlated to wind speed and negatively correlated to rainfall depth in the two antecedent weeks. A mild first flush of dissolved metals was observed in most events, with 40–50% of pollution mass being discharged in the first 30% of runoff volume. Particulate-bound heavy metals, however, only exhibited first flush during intensive snowmelt. A strong linear correlation was observed between particulate-bound heavy metals and total suspended solids (TSS) (), corresponding to 0.45, 0.22, 0.05, and TSS slope for Zn, Cu, Cr, and Ni, respectively. Overall, the pollution levels were moderate compared with residential catchments in northern Europe and North America, which may constrain runoff treatment efficiency.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
This work was funded by the Orkuveita Reykjavikur Environment and Energy Research Fund and the University of Iceland Research Fund. The authors would like to thank Hildur Ingvarsdottir, Sigurdur Skarphedinsson, Jon Otto Gunnarsson, Gunnar Sigurdsson, and Arndis Osk Olafsdottir and for their helpful input on this project.
References
Amrhein, C., Strong, J. E., and Mosher, P. A. (1992). “Effect of deicing salts on metal and organic-matter mobilization in roadside soils.” Environ. Sci. Technol., 26(4), 703–709.
Brezonik, P. L., and Stadelmann, T. H. (2002). “Analysis and predictive models of stormwater runoff volumes, loads and pollutant concentrations from watersheds in the Twin Cities metropolitan area, Minnesota, USA.” Water Res., 36(7), 1743–1757.
Brown, N. J., and Peake, B. M. (2006). “Sources of heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in urban stormwater runoff.” Sci. Total Environ., 359(1–3), 145–155.
Deletic, A. (1998). “The first flush load of urban surface runoff.” Water Res., 32(8), 2462–2470.
Durin, B., Béchet, B., Legret, M., and Le Cloirec, P. (2007). “Role of colloids in heavy metal transfer through a retention-infiltration basin.” Water Sci. Technol., 56(11), 91–99.
European Commission. (2011). “Eurostat 2012: Energy, transport and environment indicators.” Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 〈http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/〉 (Jan. 10, 2013).
Farm, C. (2002). “Evaluation of the accumulation of sediment and heavy metals in a storm-water detention pond.” Water Sci. Technol., 45(7), 105–112.
Fatta-Kassinos, D., Bester, K., and Kümmerer, K., eds. (2009). Xenobiotics in the urban water cycle: Mass flows, environmental processes, mitigation and treatment strategies, Springer, New York.
Gislason, S. R., Gudmundsson, B. Th., and Eiriksdottir, E. S. (1998). “Efnasamsetning Elliðaánna 1997–1998 [Chemical composition of river Elliðaár 1997–1998].”, Univ. of Iceland Science Institute, Reykjavik, Iceland.
Glenn, D. W., and Sansalone, J. J. (2002). “Accretion and partitioning of heavy metals associated with snow exposed to urban traffic and winter storm maintenance activities II.” J. Environ. Eng., 167–185.
Gunnarsson, J. O., and Sigurdsson, G. (2007). “Styrkur mengunarefna í ofanvatni og virkni settjarnar við Vikurveg vatnsarid 2005/2006 [Runoff pollutant strength and wet detention pond efficiency at Vikurveg water year 2005/2006].”, Orkuveita Reykjavikur, Reykjavik, Iceland.
Hallberg, M., Renman, G., and Lundbom, T. (2007). “Seasonal variations of ten metals in highway runoff and their partition between dissolved and particulate matter.” Water Air Soil Pollut., 181(1–4), 183–191.
Han, Y., Lau, S. L., Kayhanian, M., and Stenstrom, M. K. (2006). “Correlation analysis among highway stormwater pollutants and characteristics.” Water Sci. Technol., 53(2), 235–243.
Hvitved-Jacobsen, T., Vollersen, J., and Nielsen, A. H. (2010). Urban and highway stormwater pollution, CRC, Boca Raton, FL.
Icelandic Meteorological Office. (2011). “Heavy metals in precipitation measured in Reykjavík (station IS0090 R) under the EMEP collaboration program.” Reykjavik, Iceland, 〈http://nilu.no/projects/ccc/emepdata.html〉 (Feb. 2011).
Icelandic Regulation. (1999). “Icelandic Regulation no. 796/1999 on measures against water pollution [I: Reglugerð um varnir gegn mengun vatns nr. 796/1999].” Ministry for the Environment and Natural Resources, Reykjavik, Iceland.
Kayhanian, M., and Stenstrom, M. K. (2005). “Mass loading of first flush pollutants with treatment strategy simulations.” Transportation Research Record 1904, Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC, 133–143.
Lau, S. L., Han, Y., Kang, J. H., and Stenstrom, M. K. (2009). “Characteristics of highway stormwater runoff in Los Angeles: Metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.” Water Environ. Res., 81(3), 308–318.
Lee, H., Lau, S. L., Kayhanian, M., and Stenstrom, M. K. (2004). “Seasonal first flush phenomenon of urban stormwater discharges.” Water Res., 38(19), 4153–4163.
Lee, H., Swamikannub, X., Radulescub, D., Kim, S.-J., and Stenstrom, M. K. (2007). “Design of stormwater monitoring programs.” Water Res., 41(18), 4186–4196.
MATLAB 8.2.0.701 [Computer software]. Natick, MA, MathWorks.
Marsalek, J., Oberts, G., Exall, K., and Viklander, M. (2003). “Review of operation of urban drainage systems in cold weather: Water quality considerations.” Water Sci. Technol., 48(9), 11–20.
Mayer, T., et al. (2011a). “Environmental characterization of surface runoff from three highway sites in southern Ontario, Canada: 1. Chemistry.” Water Qual. Res. J. Can., 46(2), 110–120.
Mayer, T., et al. (2011b). “Environmental characterization of surface runoff from three highway sites in southern Ontario, Canada: 2. Toxicology.” Water Qual. Res. J. Can., 46(2), 121–136.
Pitt, R., Maestre, A., and Morquecho, R. (2004). “The national stormwater quality database (NSQD, version 1.1).” Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL.
Reinosdotter, K., and Viklander, M. (2007). “Road salt influence on pollutant releases from melting urban snow.” Water Qual. Res. J. Can., 42(3), 153–161.
Rochfort, Q., et al. (2009). “Street sweeping as a method of source control for urban stormwater pollution.” Water Qual. Res. J. Can., 44(1), 48–58.
Sansalone, J. J., and Buchberger, S. G. (1997). “Partitioning and first flush of metals in urban roadway storm water.” J. Environ. Eng., 134–143.
Sansalone, J. J., and Cristina, C. M. (2004). “First flush concepts for suspended and dissolved solids in small impervious watersheds.” J. Environ. Eng., 1301–1314.
Sansalone, J. J., and Glenn, D. W. (2002). “Accretion of pollutants in snow exposed to urban traffic and winter storm maintenance activities. I.” J. Environ. Eng., 151–166.
Sheng, Y., Ying, G., and Sansalone, J. (2008). “Differentiation of transport for particulate and dissolved water chemistry load indices in rainfall-runoff from urban source area watersheds.” J. Hydrol., 361(1–2), 144–158.
Shinya, M., Tsuruho, K., Konishi, T., and Ishikawa, M. (2003). “Evaluation of factors influencing diffusion of pollutant loads in urban highway runoff.” Water Sci. Technol., 47(7–8), 227–232.
Statistics Iceland. (2011). “Registered motor vehicles 1950–2011.” Reykjavik, Iceland, 〈http://www.statice.is〉 (Jan. 10, 2013).
Thordarson, T. (2003). “Úlfarsá. Flokkun vatna á Kjósarsvæði [River Úlfarsá, Classification of water in the area of Kjos].” Haskolasetrid i Hveragerdi, Hveragerdi, Iceland.
Vista Engineering. (2009). “Meteorological data at eather station Ulfarsa 2008–2009, collected on behalf of the City of Reykjavík.” Reykjavik, Iceland, 〈http://vista.is〉 (May 30, 2009).
Vollertsen, J., Astebol, S. O., Coward, J. E., Fageraas, T., Nielsen, A. H., and Hvitved-Jacobsen, T. (2009). “Performance and modelling of a highway wet detention pond designed for cold climate.” Water Qual. Res. J. Can., 44(3), 253–262.
Westerlund, C., Viklander, M., and Backstrom, M. (2003). “Seasonal variations in road runoff quality in Lulea Sweden.” Water Sci. Technol., 48(9), 93–101.
Wium-Andersen, T., Nielsen, A. H., Hvitved-Jakobsen, T., and Vollersten, J. (2011). “Heavy metals, PAHs and toxicity in stormwater wet detention ponds.” Water Sci. Technol., 64(2), 503–511.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 141 • Issue 3 • March 2015
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 25, 2013
Accepted: Aug 1, 2014
Published online: Sep 24, 2014
Discussion open until: Feb 24, 2015
Published in print: Mar 1, 2015
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.