Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 16, 2026
08:49
Vegetated Treatment Systems for Removing Contaminants Associated with Surface Water Toxicity in Agriculture and Urban Runoff
Published on: May 15, 2017
Event-based stormwater quality and quantity loadings from elevated urban infrastructure affected by transportation
John J Sansalone1, Jonathan P Hird, Frank K Cartledge
1Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences, University of Florida, Black Hall, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA. johnsansalone@cox.net
Summary
Urban rainfall runoff carries significant pollutants, including particulate matter and chemical oxygen demand, exceeding municipal wastewater levels. Understanding this complex runoff is crucial for effective water management and infrastructure controls.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Water Quality Management
- Urban Hydrology
Background:
- Urban rainfall runoff is a complex mixture of particulate matter and dissolved constituents.
- Transportation infrastructure, like Interstate 10, contributes significantly to this runoff.
- Particulate matter acts as a vector for various constituents, including metal elements.
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize the water quality and hydrology of urban rainfall runoff from a major highway.
- To compare runoff pollutant concentrations with untreated municipal wastewater.
- To understand the factors influencing pollutant transport and partitioning in highway runoff.
Main Methods:
- Monitoring nine rainfall events on Interstate 10 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
- Characterizing particulate matter (total suspended solids) and chemical oxygen demand (COD).
- Analyzing constituent concentrations in relation to hydrograph passage and pavement residence time.
Main Results:
- Event-mean concentrations of total suspended solids (TSS) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) in runoff exceeded those in untreated municipal wastewater.
- Pollutant concentrations were influenced by pH, pavement residence time, and organic content.
- Runoff hydrology primarily drove the mass delivery of TSS and COD, while total dissolved solids (TDS) showed an exponential decline.
Conclusions:
- Highway runoff presents a complex water quality challenge with high pollutant loads.
- Understanding the relationship between runoff hydrology and constituent transport is essential for developing effective management strategies.
- Despite complexity, conductivity and dissolved solids were strongly correlated, offering potential for simplified monitoring.
Related Concept Videos
01:17Design Example: Analyzing Capacity Contours for Flood Risk Assessment
Flood risk assessment involves careful planning and analysis to ensure the safety of communities near water retention structures. Capacity contours are a vital tool in this process, as they illustrate the potential spread of water at specific levels in a given area. In the context of building a bund across a small valley, these contours play a critical role in evaluating the safety of nearby residential areas.In this example, the bund is intended to store stormwater in the valley. The engineers...
01:14Conservation of Mass in Moving, Nondeforming Control Volume
Stormwater detention basins are essential in managing runoff during heavy rainfall, particularly in urban areas where impervious surfaces increase the risk of flooding. Understanding the conservation of mass in these systems allows engineers to optimize basin performance, balancing inflow, outflow, and water storage.
In the context of a detention basin, the conservation of mass states that the total mass of water entering the basin must equal the mass leaving the basin plus any accumulation of...
In the context of a detention basin, the conservation of mass states that the total mass of water entering the basin must equal the mass leaving the basin plus any accumulation of...
01:29Applications of GIS: Disaster Management and Emergency Response
Geographic Information System (GIS) technology is essential for risk identification, action prioritization, and resource optimization in critical situations like flooding and earthquakes. By integrating spatial and demographic data, GIS provides a comprehensive framework for emergency response.GIS integrates data layers, like rainfall intensity, topography, elevation profiles, and river levels, to model high-risk flood zones. These layers assess areas susceptible to flooding based on their...
01:30Microbial Wastewater Treatment
Microbial communities in aquatic ecosystems play a key role in the natural breakdown of contaminants introduced through domestic and industrial effluents. Acting as biological catalysts, these microbes change and mineralize a wide range of organic and inorganic pollutants under different redox conditions.In oxygen-rich surface waters, aerobic heterotrophs lead organic matter breakdown, using oxygen as the terminal electron acceptor to efficiently oxidize substrates to carbon dioxide and water.
03:10Precipitation Reactions
In a precipitation reaction, aqueous solutions of soluble salts react to give an insoluble ionic compound – the precipitate. The reaction occurs when oppositely charged ions in solution overcome their attraction for water and bind to each other, forming a precipitate that separates out from the solution. Since such reactions involve the exchange of ions between ionic compounds in aqueous solution, they are also referred to as double displacement, double replacement, exchange reactions, or...
01:19Design Example: Maintaining Level of an Embankment
Constructing a roadway embankment over uneven terrain requires precise leveling to ensure stability and proper drainage. Surveyors use a leveling instrument and staff to calculate ground elevations and determine the required fill material at each point along the embankment alignment.The process begins by positioning a leveling instrument near a benchmark with a known elevation. A backsight reading establishes the instrument height, which serves as a reference for subsequent measurements. A...