Decentralized Groundwater Recharge Systems Using Roofwater and Stormwater Runoff1

Stephens, Daniel B., Mark Miller, Stephanie J. Moore, Todd Umstot, and Deborah J. Salvato, 2011. Decentralized Groundwater Recharge Systems Using Roofwater and Stormwater Runoff. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 48(1): 134‐144. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2011.00600.x Abstract: Stormwater capture for groundwater recharge in urban areas is usually conducted at the regional level by water agencies. Field and modeling studies in New Mexico indicate that stormwater diverted to retention basins may recharge about 50% of precipitation that falls on the developed area, even in dry climates. Comparable volumes of recharge may be expected at homes, subdivisions, or commercial properties with low‐impact development (LID) technologies for stormwater control that promote recharge over evapotranspiration. Groundwater quality has not been significantly impacted at sites that have been recharging stormwater to aquifers for decades. Distributed recharge systems may be a good alternative to centralized regional facilities where there is limited land for constructing spreading basins or little funding for new infrastructure. LID technologies borrowed from stormwater managers are important tools for groundwater managers to consider to enhance recharge.     

模拟装置研究绿地系统在暴雨径流污染控制中的作用

采用城市绿地和降雨系统模拟装置,研究绿地系统对实际暴雨径流污染的削减作用.历时60 min,降雨重现期为1 a、3 a、5 a时,绿地系统可以削减雨水径流量.1 a一遇时,绿地系统对雨水径流中COD、氮和磷总量的去除率分别为60.2%,49.2%和61.5%.以无植被裸土为对照,模拟绿地系统对径流雨水中COD、NH+4N及TP去除率较对照组分别提高7.1%,6.2%和4.4%.降雨期间污染物的去除主要依靠土壤和植物根系的截留、吸附和吸收作用;降雨后微生物开始降解吸附于土壤颗粒表面和植物根系上的污染物,降雨后第5～8 d,土壤中微生物数量达到最大值,第14～17 d微生物完成对吸附有机物等的降解,数量恢复到降雨前水平.研究表明, 模拟绿地对降雨地表径流量的削减、径流污染物浓度的削减和污染物总量的控制有较好作用.     

Avoiding the presumptive policy errors of intergovernmental environmental planning programmes: a case analysis of urban stormwater management planning

This social research aims to identify and examine the implementation presumptions of intergovernmental environmental planning programmes and how to improve their effectiveness in future practice. It contrasts and explains the organisational dynamics and implementation responses of municipalities that succeeded and failed in realising the objective of such a programme. The research involved a qualitative multiple-case comparison between four high- and four low-performing municipalities implementing a stormwater programme within metropolitan Sydney, Australia. These two organisational types substantially differed in corporate expertise, environmental leadership, extended relational activity, and overall disposition to learning and ownership of local environmental issues. The paper identified five presumptions underpinning the programme design which privileged the high-performing organisations, but did little to garner commitment and develop capacity among the low-performing group. These implementation insights not only provide guideposts for intergovernmental programme design, but also reveal how policy design can undermine policy intent if empathy to local organisational dynamics is lacking.     

Characterizing Rainwater Harvesting Performance and Demonstrating Stormwater Management Benefits in the Humid Southeast USA

Rainwater harvesting (RWH) has traditionally been implemented in areas with (semi) arid climates or limited access to potable water supplies; however, recent droughts in the humid southeastern United States have led to increased implementation of RWH systems. The objectives of this study were twofold: (1) present usage characteristics and performance results for four RWH systems installed in humid North Carolina (NC) as compared with systems located in arid/semiarid regions and (2) identify system benefits and modifications that could help improve the performance of RWH systems installed in humid regions of the world. For this study four RWH systems were installed in NC. Their usage was monitored for at least one year and compared with similar studies. Results revealed that dedicated water uses and usage characteristics for RWH systems in NC differed from those previously reported in the literature. Two of the systems studied met 100 and 61% of the potable water demand with designated uses of animal kennel flushing and greenhouse irrigation, respectively. The designated uses yielding the greatest potable water replacement were often seasonal or periodic, thus necessitating the need for identifying and implementing secondary objectives for these systems, namely, stormwater management. Otherwise, the expense and effort required to implement RWH systems in humid areas will most likely preclude their use.     

城市雨水径流中溶解性有机物的分子化学多样性

雨水径流中溶解性有机物(dissolved organic matter,DOM)是影响城市水生态环境安全的重要因素.为了揭示城市不透水路面雨水径流(pavement runoff,PR)和绿地雨水径流(greenland runoff,GR)中DOM组分特征及其来源上的区别,应用具有超高分辨率的傅里叶变换离子回旋共振质谱(fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer,FT-ICR-MS)对两者的DOM分子化学多样性进行表征,并从DOM分子化学多样性与环境因子之间的斯皮尔曼(Spearman)相关性的角度进行分析.结果表明:①在分子累计到达饱和状态下,PR-DOM的分子累计数量(12498种)远大于GR-DOM(7015种),其分子分布(150～750)比GR-DOM(150～850)更为集中,且相对分子质量普遍小于GR-DOM;②根据分子组成及其相关性分析,PR-DOM和GR-DOM的组分及来源存在明显差异.PR-DOM组成受人为活动影响较大,其主要成分(CHOS)中含有大量可能来源于人为使用的表面活性剂的磺酸类物质,且显著存在的脂肪族成分的主要来源应为交通污染.而GR-DOM组成受人为活动影响较小,其主要成分(CHO)以NOM为主,且大部分高度不饱和酚类化合物主要来源于降雨对土壤表层植物残体降解所形成的腐殖质的冲刷.     

Integral stormwater management master plan and design in an ecological community

Urban stormwater runoff nearly discharges directly into bodies of water through gray infrastructure in China, such as sewers, impermeable ditches, and pump stations. As urban flooding, water shortage, and other environment problems become serious, integrated water environment management is becoming increasingly complex and challenging. At more than 200 ha, the Oriental Sun City community is a large retirement community located in the eastern side of Beijing. During the beginning of its construction, the project faced a series of serious water environment crises such as eutrophication, flood risk, water shortage, and high maintenance costs. To address these issues, an integral storrnwater management master plan was developed based on the concept of low impact development （LID）. A large number of LID and green stormwater infrastructure （GSI） approaches were designed and applied in the community to replace traditional stormwater drainage systems completely. These approaches mainly included bioretention （which captured nearly 85th percentile volume of the annual runoff in the site, nearly 5.4 x 10^5 m3 annually）, swales （which functioned as a substitute for traditional stormwater pipes）, waterscapes, and stormwater wetlands. Finally, a stormwater system plan was proposed by integrating with the gray water system, landscape planning, an architectural master plan, and related consultations that supported the entire construction period. After more than 10 years of planning, designing, construction, and operation, Oriental Sun City has become one of the earliest modem large-scale LID communities in China. Moreover, the project not only addressed the crisis efficiently and effectively, but also yielded economic and ecological benefits.     

Is Denser Greener? An Evaluation of Higher Density Development as an Urban Stormwater‐Quality Best Management Practice1

Abstract: A simple spreadsheet model was used to evaluate potential water quality benefits of high‐density development. The question was whether the reduced land consumed by higher density development (vs. standard suburban developments) would offset the worse water quality generated by a greater amount of impervious surface in the smaller area. Total runoff volume and per acre loadings of total phosphorous, total nitrogen, and total suspended solids increased with density as expected, but per capita loadings and runoff decreased markedly with density. For a constant or given population, then, higher density can result in dramatically lower total loadings than more diffuse suburban densities. The model showed that a simple doubling of standard suburban densities [to 8 dwelling units per acre (DUA) from about 3 to 5 DUA] in most cases could do more to reduce contaminant loadings associated with urban growth than many traditional stormwater best management practices (BMPs), and that higher densities such as those associated with transit‐oriented development could outperform almost all traditional BMPs, in terms of reduced loadings per a constant population. Because higher density is associated with vibrant urban life, building a better city may be the best BMP to mitigate the water quality damage that will accompany the massive urban growth expected for the next several decades.     

Impact of Residential Soil Disturbance on Infiltration Rate and Stormwater Runoff1

Woltemade, Christopher J., 2010. Impact of Residential Soil Disturbance on Infiltration Rate and Stormwater Runoff. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 46(4): 700-711. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-1688.2010.00442.x Abstract: Soil disturbances such as excavation and compaction in residential developments affect lawn infiltration rates and stormwater runoff. These effects were investigated via measuring saturated infiltration rates at 108 residential sites and 18 agricultural sites near Shippensburg, south-central Pennsylvania, using a double-ring infiltrometer. Residential sites included four neighborhoods distributed across three soil series classified as hydrologic soil group (HSG) B. Additional parcel data included date of house construction, percentage impervious area, lawn condition, and woody vegetation condition. Measured infiltration rates ranged from 0 to >40 cm/hour. Analysis of variance indicated significantly different mean infiltration rates (p < 0.001) for lots constructed pre-2000 (9.0 cm/hour) and those constructed post-2000 (2.8 cm/hour). Test results were used to determine a “field-tested” HSG for each site, representing disturbed soil conditions. Stormwater runoff was estimated from residential lots for a range of 24-hour design storms using the TR-55 model and several alternative methods of determining curve numbers, including five different representations of soil conditions. Curve numbers and stormwater runoff were substantially higher when based on field-tested HSGs for lots constructed post-2000 compared with lots built pre-2000 and when based on the HSG for undisturbed soils, documenting the magnitude of possible error in stormwater runoff models that neglect soil disturbance.     

PCN BASED METAL PARTITIONING IN URBAN SNOWMELT,RAINFALL/RUNOFF,AND RIVER FLOW SYSTEMS1

ABSTRACT: Drawing an analogy between the popular Soil Conservation Service curve number (SCS‐CN) method based infiltration and metal sorption processes, a new partitioning curve number (PCN) approach is suggested for partitioning of heavy metals into dissolved and particulate bound forms in urban snowmelt, rainfall/runoff, and river flow environments. The parameters, the potential maximum desorption, ψ, and the PCN analogous to the SCS‐CN parameters S and CN, respectively, are introduced. Under the condition of snowmelt, PCN (or ψ) is found to generally rely on temperature, relative humidity, pH, and chloride content; during a rainstorm, ψ is found to depend on the alkalinity and the pH of the rainwater; and in the river flow situation, PCN is found to generally depend on the temperature, pH, and chloride content. The advantage of using PCN instead of the widely used partitioning parameter, K_d, is found to lie in the PCN's efficacy to distinguish the adsorption (or sorption) behavior of metals in the above snowmelt, rainfall/runoff, and river flow situations, analogous to the hydrological behavior of watersheds.     

HYDRAULIC AND ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF DOWNSPOUT DWERSION1

ABSTRACT: A downspout diversion program in an urban area is evaluated to assess the impacts on sanitary sewer flow volumes and cost effectiveness. Sanitary sewer flows and wastewater treatment cost data are compared for the five years before and 1.25 years after the downspout diversion was completed. In order to establish a cause and effect relationship between flow volumes and downspout diversion, measurements of precipitation, consumption patterns, and system loss (maintenance, fire flows, main ruptures) for the before and after time periods were obtained. The results indicate the downspout diversion contributed to a reduction of over 25 percent in the mean flow volumes within the sanitary sewer collection network during all rainfall events, with flow reductions ranging from 25 percent to 62 percent for rainfall depths between 6 mm (0.25 inches) and 25.4 mm (1.0 inches). Costs incurred for wastewater treatment were also reduced significantly, as overtime for overflow maintenance was eliminated. Downspout diversion is a viable nonstructural alternative for sthrmwater flow reduction in highly urbanized communities which may lack available space for large scale detention facilities.