Copper content in lake sediments as a tracer of urban emissions: evaluation through a source-transport-storage model

A coupled source-transport-storage model was developed to determine the origin and path of copper from materials/goods in use in the urban drainage area and the fate of copper in local recipient lakes. The model was applied and tested using five small lakes in Stockholm, Sweden. In the case of the polluted lakes Råcksta Träsk, Trekanten and Långsjön, the source strengths of copper identified by the model were found to be well linked with independently observed copper contents in the lake sediments through the model. The model results also showed that traffic emissions, especially from brake linings, dominated the total load in all five cases. Sequential sedimentation and burial proved to be the most important fate processes of copper in all lakes, except Råcksta Träsk, where outflow dominated. The model indicated that the sediment copper content can be used as a tracer of the urban diffuse copper source strength, but that the response to changes in source strength is fairly slow (decades). Major uncertainties in the source model were related to management of stormwater in the urban area, the rate of wear of brake linings and weathering of copper roofs. The uncertainty of the coupled model is in addition affected mainly by parameters quantifying the sedimentation and bury processes, such as particulate fraction, settling velocity of particles, and sedimentation rate. As a demonstration example, we used the model to predict the response of the sediment copper level to a decrease in the copper load from the urban catchment in one of the case study lakes.