Trace Metals In Stormwater

Author : Timothy Luke Hopley
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 188 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (112 download)

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Download or read book Heavy Metal Contamination in Stormwater from Industrial Land Use Areas and the Correlation with Rainfall, Antecedent Dry Periods and Total Suspended Solids written by Timothy Luke Hopley and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Heavy metal contamination of the aquatic environment is a concerning issue for environmental mangers in New Zealand and overseas. Stormwater running off impervious surfaces reflecting an array of different land use activities is a large contributor of heavy metals to rivers, estuaries and coastal environments. To better manage for the effects of heavy metals in the environment, an understanding of their provenance and pathway is important . Additional factors varying such losses include land use activities, duration of antecedent dry days before runoff occurs, first flush phenomena and the amount of sediment washed off during rain events. This thesis characterises the nature of stormwater contaminant runoff from industrial land use within New Zealand’s largest urban centre, Auckland. To date, limited research has addressed stormwater contamination from industrial areas. From the analysis of heavy metal content in stormwater runoff from impervious surfaces, time-series of contaminants were invested to determine the effects of antecedent dry periods on heavy metal generation. Differences in heavy metal contributions during different segments of the hydrological flow are also investigated. Two sub-catchments in Auckland of predominant heavy industrial land-use within the Whau River catchment are examined. Flow–weighted sampling was undertaken during a number of rain events, associated with varying length of antecedent dry period and varying rainfall volume, to better characterise variation in stormwater quality from industrial areas of Auckland.The flow-weighted samples were assigned into two different segments: the first flush event; and the remaining bulk segment. Event mean concentrations were calculated for total and dissolved copper, zinc, lead, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, nickel and total suspended solids (TSS), across both first flush and bulk segments. Results showed that stormwater quality for industrial land use varied, albeit total suspended solids, copper, zinc and lead were consistently elevated above ANZECC thresholds for the protection of aquatic biota from toxicity and/or wider sedimentary effects. Correlations were found between total suspended solids and total event mean concentrations of total copper, total lead, dissolved lead, total chromium, dissolved zinc and total nickel. Correlations were also found between antecedent dry periods and total event mean concentrations of dissolved zinc and total nickel at only one of the two main study sites.