Managing urban runoff in residential neighborhoods: Nitrogen and phosphorus in lawn irrigation driven runoff

Abstract

Sources and mechanisms of nutrient transport in lawn irrigation driven surface runoff are largely unknown. We investigated the transport of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in lawn irrigation driven surface runoff from a residential neighborhood (28 ha) of 56% impervious and 44% pervious areas. Pervious areas encompassing turfgrass (lawns) in the neighborhood were irrigated with the reclaimed water in common areas during the evening to late night and with the municipal water in homeowner’s lawns during the morning. The stormwater outlet pipe draining the residential neighborhood was instrumented with a flow meter and Hach autosampler. Water samples were collected every 1-h and triple composite samples were obtained at 3-h intervals during an intensive sampling period of 1-week. Mean concentrations, over 56 sampling events, of total N (TN) and total P (TP) in surface runoff at the outlet pipe were 10.9±6.34 and 1.3±1.03 mg L–1, respectively. Of TN, the proportion of nitrate–N was 58% and other–N was 42%, whereas of TP, orthophosphate–P was 75% and other–P was 25%. Flow and nutrient (N and P) concentrations were lowest from 6:00 a.m. to noon, which corresponded with the use of municipal water and highest from 6:00 p.m. to midnight, which corresponded with the use of reclaimed water. This data suggests that N and P originating in lawn irrigation driven surface runoff from residential catchments is an important contributor of nutrients in surface waters.

Biochar and Water Quality

“…The increased impervious areas have reduced infiltration of precipitation water, reduced time of runoff concentration, increased runoff velocity, and thus increased runoff amount leaving urban areas. Urban runoff can carry water pollutants including (i) fertilizers from lawns, parks, and other green urban areas, (ii) road salt application from winter deicing operations, (iii) heavy metals (i.e., paints), and (iv) organic compounds from vehicle oils as well as from herbicides and insecticides applied to lawns and parks, among others (Toor et al, 2017; Mohanty et al, 2018). Urban runoff can be more acidic than runoff from rural areas and could thus increase the mobility of heavy metals and other contaminants (Mohanty et al, 2018).…”

The Impact of Temperature on the Removal of Inorganic Contaminants Typical of Urban Stormwater

“…Ammonium ions represent only part of the nitrogen compounds present in stormwater and their content increases in agricultural areas [8,9,12]. According to Toor et al [65], the contribution of nitrates in total nitrogen in stormwater is about 58%, whereas all other forms, including ammonium ions, contribute to 42%. The maximum permissible concentration of ammonium ions according to the World Health Organization (WHO, Geneva, Switzerland) is 10 mg/L.…”

“…Emission control of this compound is particularly crucial with regard to the oxidation of ammonium ions, resulting in the production of nitrites and nitrates harmful for human health and at the same time extremely difficult to remove in in-situ conditions [7,20]. The usefulness of zeolites in the removal of ammonium ions during ion exchange processes has been widely documented [65,66]. An important property influencing the intensity of these processes is the cation exchangeable capacity (CEC) [66][67][68][69], which was at 118.02 meq/100 g for the zeolite studied.…”

Correlations of Stormwater Runoff and Quality: Urban Pavement and Property Value by Land Use at the Parcel Level in a Small Sized American City

“…This recommends identifying parking lots as priority sites for low impact development in commercial land uses. The nitrogen and phosphorus exports were both highly correlated with others, which could be explained by the fact that although the grass soil had the ability to filter out pollution from the stormwater [60], private urban land parcels with grasses are sometimes significant non-point sources of nitrogen and phosphorus potentially due to the use of fertilizers and the nitrogen and phosphorus generated by the grass surface itself flowing into the stormwater that was originally relatively clear [61]. This indicates that urban grass field is an important component of the urban ecosystem, but the location of the grass field needs to be analyzed to perform effective environmental spatial planning.…”