Urban runoff

Based on National Urban Runoff Program Report (37), estimated Willamette Basin impervious drainage area at 518 km (200 mi ) and mean discharge rate of 5.4 ftVs ... 

Table 2 Fate and effects of metals in a stream receiving a point-source of metals (upper part of the table) or diffuse input via urban runoff (lower part of the table). Summary of the expected influence of four different hydrological situations base-flow in a rainy period a flood after a rainy period low-flow after a long period of low rainfall (water scarcity) and a flood produced after this drought. Metal concentration (M) metal retention efficiency (measured on the basis of the nutrient spiraling concept) exposure (dose and duration) bioaccumulation (in fluvial biofilms) and metal sensitivity (of biofihns)...

The second case (Table 2) illustrates a hypothetic urban stream receiving both metals and nutrients mainly via urban runoff. Since urban runoff is directly linked with rainfall episodes, metal inputs and exposure will be variable under base-flow during a rainy period and very low under a situation of water scarcity (low rain and low-flow). In this case, a sudden flow increase after strong rains may cause contrasting effects on water metal transport depending on the previous situation. If previous rains have already washed the metals retained in land and sediments, the... 

Sources of lead in surface water or sediment include deposits of lead-containing dust from the atmosphere, waste water from industries that handle lead (primarily iron and steel industries and lead producers), urban runoff, and mining piles. 

Of the known aquatic releases of lead, the largest ones are from the steel and iron industries and lead production and processing operations (EPA 1982a). Urban runoff and atmospheric deposition are significant indirect sources of lead found in the aquatic environment. Lead reaching surface waters is sorbed to suspended solids and sediments (EPA 1982a). 

The WFD, so far, has identified 33 priority hazardous pollutants (PHS), for which Environmental Quality Standards (EQS) have been set. To some extent, these EQS can be met through the establishment of emission control measures. These PHS may originate from several different sources and activities. The main sources of toxic substances to water bodies in Europe may be categorised as agriculture, sewage treatment plants, urban runoff, industry, contaminated lake/ river sediment, soils and landfills. Input via atmospheric transport and deposition has also been identified as an important source both far from and close to source areas. Many of the PS are today banned in Europe, but due to their persistence they are still present in the environment [30]. 

In marine ecosystems, the high copper levels measured in heavily contaminated coastal areas sometimes approach the incipient lethal concentrations for some organisms (Neff and Anderson 1977). Elevated copper concentrations in marine and estuarine environments may result from atmospheric deposition, industrial and municipal wastes, urban runoff, rivers, and shoreline erosion. Chesapeake Bay, for example, receives more than 1800 kg of copper daily from these sources (Hall et al. 1988). Copper concentrations in abiotic marine materials are generally higher near shore than... 

Hawaiian streams received most of their lead from urban runoff, vehicle sources, and agricultural and residential use of lead arsenate (May and McKinney 1981). 

Campbell, K.R. 1994. Concentrations of heavy metals associated with urban runoff in fish living in stormwater treatment ponds. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 27 352-356. 

Nightingale, H.I. 1987. Organic pollutants in soils of retention and recharge basins receiving urban runoff water. Soil Sci. 144 373-381. 

Hoffman, E.J., G.L. Mills, J.S. Latimer, and J.G. Quinn. 1984. Urban runoff as a source of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to coastal waters. Environ. Sci. Technol. 18 580-587. 

Hexachloroethane is rarely detected in ambient water. Data reported in the STORET database indicate that the chemical was detectable in only 1 of 882 (0.1%) ambient water samples (Staples et al. 1985). The median concentration for all samples was <10 pg/L. Hexachloroethane was detected in Lake Ontario water, but not in Lake Erie (International Joint Commission 1983). The concentration of hexachloroethane in Lake Ontario was reported at 0.02 ng/L (Oliver and Niimi 1983). It was also identified in leachate from a hazardous waste site in Niagara Falls, New York (Hauser and Bromberg 1982). Hexachloroethane was not detected in 86 samples of urban runoff from 15 cities analyzed for the National Urban Runoff Program (Cole et al. 1984). 

Cole RH, Frederick RE, Healy RP, et al. 1984. Preliminary findings of the priority pollutant monitoring project of the nationwide urban runoff program. J Water Pollut Control Fed 56(7)898-908. 

The flows of wastewater originating from the water supply of a community and runoff from precipitation on urban surfaces are typically collected and conveyed for treatment and disposal. The system used for this purpose is called a sewer network or a collection system that consists of individual pipes (sewer lines) and a number of installations, such as inlet structures and pumps, to facilitate collection and transport. The efficient, safe and cost-effective collection and transport of wastewater and urban runoff have been identified as key criteria to be observed. In this context, the word safe means that public health, welfare and environmental protection have high priority. The demand for solutions toward more sustainable water management in the cities is a new challenge. 

Horstmann, M. and McLachlan, M.S., Concentrations of PCDD and PCDF in urban runoff and household wastewaters, Chemosphere 31,1995,2887-2896. 

Latimer JS, Hoffman EJ, Hoffman G, et al. 1990. Sources of petroleum hydrocarbons in urban runoff. Water Air and Soil Pollution 52 1-21. 

Very little recent information on concentrations of endrin in water could be found in the available literature. Unlike DDT, chlordane, aldrin/dieldrin, and a variety of other chlorinated pesticides, endrin was never used extensively in urban areas. This is reflected in the results from EPA s Nationwide Urban Runoff Program, which showed no detections in 86 high-flow water samples from 51 urbanized watersheds from 19 cities (Cole et al. 1984). Analysis of EPA STORET monitoring information from ambient surface water showed a significant percentage of detections for endrin (32% of 8,789 samples), but most were near the detection limits, with a national median concentration of 0.001 ppb (Staples et al. 1985). A similar analysis of STORET data for endrin aldehyde showed that this compound was not found in 770 samples of ambient surface water. More recently, endrin was not detected (detection limit 49 ng/L [0.045 ppb]) in surface water from the Yakima River Basin, Washington (Foster et al. 1993). However, in... 

Marsalek J, Schroeter H. 1988. Annual loadings of toxic contaminants in urban runoff from the Canadian Great Lakes basin. Water Pollution Research Journal of Canada 23(3) 360-378. 

Di-/ -octylphthalatc was detected in 4% of the urban runoff samples collected from a total of 15 cities. Di-ra-octylphthalate was detected at three cities at concentrations of 0.4-1 pg/L (Cole et al. 1984). The compound was found in water samples collected at four locations along the entire length of the Mississippi River at concentrations of 24-310 ng/L (DeLeon et al. 1986). At the Butler Mine Tunnel NPL Site located in Pittston, Pennsylvania, di-n-octylphthalate was detected in on-site oil/groundwater samples at concentrations of 110-792,000 ppb (ATSDR 1989b). Di-n-octylphthalate was detected at a concentration of 1 ppb in a water sample collected from the discharge pond of a phthalate ester plant located on the Chester River in Maryland (Peterson and Freeman 1984). Di-n-octylphthalate was found at 0.001-0.02 ppm in water samples taken from a river that received industrial waste water from a specialty chemical manufacturing plant (Jungclaus et al. 1978). 

Phenol has been detected in surface waters, rainwater, sediments, drinking water, groundwater, industrial effluents, urban runoff, and at hazardous waste sites. Background levels of phenol from relatively pristine sites can be as high as 1 ppb for unpolluted groundwater and have been reported to range from 0.01 to 1 ppb in unpolluted rivers (Thurman 1985). Phenol has been detected in Lake Huron water at 3-24 ppb (Konasewich et al. 1978) and industrial rivers in the United States at 0-5 ppb (Sheldon and... 

Phenol has also been found in the primary and secondary effluent from the Los Angeles City Treatment Plant at concentrations of 32 and <10 ppb, respectively (Young et al. 1983). It was found in 3 of 86 samples of runoff from 2 of 15 cities at 3-10 ppb by the U.S. Nationwide Urban Runoff Program as of July of 1982 (Cole et al. 1984). In the STORET database, 50% of 525 data points for U.S. industrial effluents were positive for the presence of phenol. The mean and range of the reported concentrations were 215 and 1.0-29,000 ppb, respectively (EPA 1988c). 

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