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Related Experiment Video

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Watershed Planning within a Quantitative Scenario Analysis Framework

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Published on: July 24, 2016

Evaluating performance of stormwater sampling approaches using a dynamic watershed model.

Drew Ackerman¹, Eric D Stein, Kerry J Ritter

¹Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, 3535 Harbor Blvd., Suite 110, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, USA.

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment

|November 27, 2010

Summary

Evaluating stormwater sampling methods using watershed modeling, this study found pollutograph sampling to be most accurate but costly. Volume-paced microsampling offers the best balance of accuracy and cost for routine monitoring.

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Area of Science:

Environmental Science
Hydrology
Water Quality Monitoring

Background:

Accurate quantification of stormwater pollutant discharge is crucial for assessing environmental impact.
Existing stormwater sampling methods vary in accuracy and cost, necessitating evaluation.
Watershed models offer a validated approach to simulate diverse storm conditions for method testing.

Purpose of the Study:

To evaluate the accuracy and cost-effectiveness of 78 different stormwater monitoring methodologies.
To compare four general sampling strategies: volume-paced compositing, time-paced compositing, pollutograph sampling, and microsampling.
To identify the most efficient method for routine stormwater monitoring balancing performance and cost.

Main Methods:

Utilized a validated continuous simulation watershed model to generate stormflows and pollutant concentrations for 166 simulated storms.
Performed "virtual samplings" of the simulated data to assess 78 distinct stormwater sampling methodologies.
Evaluated method performance based on accuracy (median relative error), precision (median absolute deviation), and percentage of storms within 10% of true event mean concentration (EMC).

Main Results:

Pollutograph sampling demonstrated superior accuracy and precision but incurred the highest costs.
Time-paced sampling tended to underestimate storm EMCs, while volume-paced sampling overestimated them.
Microsampling performance neared pollutograph sampling levels with significant cost reductions.

Conclusions:

Volume-paced microsampling, with variable pacing, emerged as the most efficient method for routine stormwater monitoring.
Pollutograph sampling is recommended for studies requiring detailed runoff dynamics analysis.
The study provides a framework for selecting cost-effective and accurate stormwater sampling strategies.