Assessment of the contribution of sewer deposits to suspended solids loads in combined sewer systems during rain events

Within the French observatories network SOERE “URBIS,” databases of continuous turbidity measurements accumulating hundreds of events and many dry weather days are available for two sites with different features (Clichy in Paris and Ecully in Lyon). These measurements, converted into total suspended solids (TSS) concentration using TSS–turbidity relationships and combined with a model of runoff event mean concentration, enable the assessment of the contribution of sewer deposits to wet weather TSS loads observed at the outlet of the two watersheds. Results show that the contribution of sewer deposits to wet weather suspended solid’s discharges is important but variable (between 20 and 80 % of the mass at the outlet depending on the event), including a site allegedly free of (coarse) sewer deposits. The uncertainties associated to these results are assessed too.