Performance and Modelling of a Highway Wet Detention Pond Designed for Cold Climate

Abstract

A wet detention pond in Norway has been monitored for 12 months. The pond receives runoff from a highway with a traffic load of 42,000 average daily traffic. Hydraulic conditions in terms of inflow, outflow, and pond water level were recorded every minute. Water quality was monitored by volume proportional inlet and outlet samples. During most of the year, excellent pollutant removal was achieved; however, during two snowmelt events the pollutant removal was poor or even negative. The two snowmelt events accounted for one third of the annual water load and for a substantial part of the annual pollutant discharge. The performance of the pond was analyzed using a dynamic model and pollutant removal was simulated by first-order kinetics. Good agreement between measurement and simulation could be achieved only when choosing different first-order rate constants for different parts of the year. However, no relation between the rate constants obtained and the time of year could be identified, and neither did the rate constants for different pollutants correlate. The study indicates that even detailed measurements of pollutant input and output allow only average performance to be simulated and are insufficient for simulating event-based variability in pond performance.

Performance of a ‘Transitioned’ Infiltration BasinPart 1: TSS, Metals, and Chloride Removals

“…The reduced performance efficiency is attributed to the minimal treatment in the presence of ice-cover on the surface of the infiltration basin. Poor performance of stormwater detention ponds during winter compared to other seasons has been reported in other studies also (Semadeni-Davies, 2006;Vollertsen et al, 2009).…”

Relationship between Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Sediments and Invertebrates of Natural and Artificial Stormwater Retention Ponds

“…These are quite high concentrations compared to other studies; Tromp et al [47] found PAH levels in Dutch runoff from highways to be 2.4 µg•L −1 . Similarly, Vollertsen et al [25] found total PAH concentrations (flow weighted average over one full year of monitoring) in Norwegian runoff to be 1.8 µg•L −1 . Part of the explanation for the differences could be the regulation of PAH in tires sold on the European market from January 2010 (restriction number 50 in Annex XVII of REACH limits).…”