Effects of Deicing Salts on the Clogging of Stormwater Filter Media and on the Media Chemistry
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 141, Issue 9
Abstract
Stormwater filter media (SFMs) play a vital role in decreasing flooding and preventing urban contaminants from polluting surface and ground waters. The infiltration rate of a SFM is a governing factor in the hydrological and environmental performance of the stormwater management systems. This paper describes the effect of a common deicing salt (sodium chloride) in reducing the infiltration capacity of two types of SFMs, which were prepared using a clayey silty sand, one with compost and another without compost. This paper also describes the effect of sodium chloride application in the release of zinc, calcium, nitrogen, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, and sulfur from the SFM, and whether their release was accelerated or reduced from the SFM with compost. Laboratory constant-head infiltration tests were conducted using sodium chloride (as the deicing salt) at concentrations of 150 and . After conducting the tests for comparable cumulative pore volumes of infiltration, soil only SFM experienced significantly smaller reduction () in flow rate than the soil with compost SFM. However, salt concentration did not result in significantly higher reduction () of flow rate compared with the salt concentration. At salt application, a significant increase () of the sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) was observed due to salt application, compost addition, and the interaction of salt and compost. In general, sodium adsorption resulted in the reduction of cation exchange capacity, increased SAR, and leaching of organic matter, nutrients, other cations, and zinc, with these losses being greater for compost-amended media. These results suggest that piling snowmelt laden with deicing salts close to stormwater management systems may result in their poor performance or premature failure. Further research is needed to understand the effect of various salt concentrations, pore structure differences, and temperature on the infiltration rate.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the Graduate Research Council of Penn State Harrisburg for supporting this research, and the undergraduate students (Michael Fletchko and Vladimir Grinevich) for their untiring efforts. The authors would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on the manuscript.
References
Ahlman, S., Malm, A., Kant, H., Svensson, G., and Karlsson, P. (2005). “Modeling non-structural best management practices—Focus on reductions in stormwater pollution.” Water Sci. Technol., 52(5), 9–16.
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.
ATTAINS (Assessment Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Tracking and Implementation System). (2014). “Watershed assessment, tracking & environment results (WATERS).” 〈http://ofmpub.epa.gov/waters10/attains_index.control#total_assessed_waters〉 (Feb. 13, 2015).
Clark, S. E. (2000). “Urban stormwater filtration: Optimization of design parameters and a pilot-scale evaluation.” Ph.D. dissertation, Univ. of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL.
Clark, S. E., Baker, K. H., Treese, D. P., Mikula, J. B., Siu, C. Y. S., and Burkhardt, C. S. (2009). “Sustainable stormwater management: Infiltration versus surface treatment strategies.”, Water Environment Research Foundation, Alexandria, VA.
Davis, J. G., Waskom, R. M., and Bauder, T. A. (2013). “Managing sodic soils.”, Colorado State Univ., 〈http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/crops/00504.html〉 (Feb. 13, 2015).
Denich, C., Bradford, A., and Drake, J. (2013). “Bioretention: Assessing effects of winter salt and aggregate application on plant health, media clogging and effluent quality.” Water Qual. Res. J. Can., 48(4), 387–399.
Dimambro, M. E., Lillywhite, R. D., and Rahn, C. R. (2007). “The physical, chemical and microbial characteristics of biodegradable municipal waste derived composts.” Compost Sci. Util., 15(4), 243–252.
Field, R., and Turkeltaub, R. (1981). “Urban runoff receiving water impacts: Program overview.” J. Environ. Eng., 107(1), 83–100.
Fitch, G. M., Bartelt-Hunt, S., and Smith, J. A. (2005). “Characterization and environmental management of storm water runoff from road salt storage facilities.”, 125–132.
Gelman, A. (2005). “Analysis of variance—Why it is more important than ever.” Ann. Stat., 33(1), 1–53.
Liu, Y., Che, W., and Li, J. (2005). “Monitor-based evaluation of pollutant load from urban stormwater runoff in Beijing.” Water Sci. Technol., 52(9), 191–197.
Mitchell, J. K., and Soga, K. (2005). Fundamentals of soil behavior, Wiley, Hoboken, NJ.
Nelson, S., Yonge, D., Barber, M., Beutel, M., and Al-Houri, Z. (2006). “Performance evaluation of cold weather flow control and runoff treatment BMPs.” Curr. Pract. Cold Reg. Eng., 1–14.
Nelson, S. S., Yonge, D. R., and Barber, M. E. (2009). “Effects of road salts on heavy metal mobility in two eastern Washington soils.” J. Environ. Eng., 505–510.
NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology. (2012). e-Handbook of statistical methods, SEMATECH, 〈http://www.itl.nist.gov/div898/handbook〉 (Jul. 16, 2014).
Novotny, E. V., Sander, A. R., Mohseni, O., and Heinz, G. S. (2009). “Chloride ion transport and mass balance in a metropolitan area using road salt.” Water Resour. Res., 45(12), 1–13.
Novotny, V. (1995). Non point pollution and urban stormwater management, Vol. IX, 1st Ed., Technomic Publishing Company, Lancaster, PA.
Novotny, V., Muehring, D., Zitomer, D. H., Smith, D. W., and Facey, R. (1998). “Cyanide and metal pollution by urban snowmelt: Impact of deicing compounds.” Water Sci. Technol., 38(10), 223–230.
NYSDEC (New York State Department of Environmental Conservation). (2008). “Stormwater management design manual.” Albany, NY, 〈http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/29072.html〉 (Jul. 14, 2014).
NYSDEC (New York State Department of Environmental Conservation). (2010). “Stormwater management design manual.” Albany, NY, 〈http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/29072.html〉 (Jul. 14, 2014).
Paus, K. H., Morgan, J., Gulliver, J. S., Leiknes, T., and Hozalski, R. M. (2014). “Assessment of the hydraulic and toxic metal removal capacities of bioretention cells after 2–8 years of service.” Water Air Soil Pollut., 225(1), 1–12.
Peltier, E., Saadi, J., Chen, X., and Young, C. B. (2010). “Metal sequestration and remobilization in bioretention media.” Challenges of Change 2010: ASCE World Environmental and Water Resources Congress, ASCE, Reston, VA, 3028–3037.
PennDEP (Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection). (2006). “Pennsylvania stormwater best management practices manual.” Harrisburg, PA, 〈http://www.elibrary.dep.state.pa.us/dsweb/View/Collection-8305〉 (Jul. 14, 2014).
Pitt, R., and Bissonnette, P. (1984). “Bellevue urban runoff program, summary report.”, Water Planning Div., U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Storm and Surface Water Utility, Bellevue, WA.
Pitt, R., Clark, S., and Parmer, K. (1994). “Protection of groundwater from intentional and nonintentional stormwater infiltration.”, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Storm and Combined Sewer Program, Cincinnati.
Ramakrishna, D. M., and Viraraghavan, T. (2005). “Environmental impact of chemical deicers—A review.” Water Air Soil Pollut., 166(1–4), 49–63.
SigmaPlot 12.0 [Computer software]. San Jose, CA, SigmaSTAT.
Suarez, D. L., Wood, J. D., and Lesch, S. M. (2006). “Effect of SAR on water infiltration under a sequential rain-irrigation management system.” Agric. Water Manage., 86(1–2), 150–164.
Suarez, D. L., Wood, J. D., and Lesch, S. M. (2008). “Infiltration into cropped soils: Effect of rain and sodium adsorption ratio—Impacted irrigation water.” J. Environ. Qual., 37(5_Supplement), S169–S179.
Thompson, A. M., Paul, A. C., and Balster, N. J. (2008). “Physical and hydraulic properties of engineered soil media for bioretention basins.” Trans. ASABE, 51(2), 499–514.
USEPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). (2000). “Bioretention applications.”, Office of Water, Washington, DC.
Yi, Q., Yu, J., and Kim, Y. (2010). “Removal patterns of particulate and dissolved forms of pollutants in a stormwater wetland.” Water Sci. Technol., 61(8), 2083–2096.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 141 • Issue 9 • September 2015
Copyright
© 2015 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 25, 2013
Accepted: Nov 20, 2014
Published online: Feb 26, 2015
Discussion open until: Jul 26, 2015
Published in print: Sep 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.