In urban areas, stormwater management ponds (SWPs) are built to mitigate polluted runoff. Although these ponds are increasing in numbers, their ecology is not well understood. Physical and chemical characteristics of 17 SWPs in the City of Ottawa were measured to determine the drivers of phytoplankton biomass (Chl. a) and primary production (PP). While total phosphorus was the best predictor of algal biomass in the ponds (as in lakes), the imperviousness of the catchment could also predict Chl. a. Planktonic PP in two ponds measured seasonally was more closely related to water residence time than to nutrient concentrations with rates approaching at times the theoretical maximum for aquatic systems. In one pond, whole ecosystem metabolism, estimated using diel changes in dissolved oxygen and δ18O-O2, suggested that these hypereutrophic systems were net sinks for carbon in the summer but likely sources to the atmosphere at other times of the year.

Utan vatten inget liv. Människor är beroende av rent vatten för sin överlevnad. I många länder orsakar idag bristen på rent vatten sjukdomar och för tidig död. Världens problem med sötvatten i form av brist och svåra föroreningar orsakade av människan kan te sig kolossala. Befolkningsökning och ändrade levnadssätt påverkar. Industrier och jordbruk har stor påverkan men också den enskilda människans vattenanvändning har betydelse.   I Sverige tycks den allmänna inställningen vara att vi inte har ett problem med vårt användande av vatten. Men vid en närmare undersökning av vårt innanhav Östersjöns problem med exempelvis övergödning och syrebrist och utsläppen av näringsämnen ifrån våra enskilda avlopp kan man ställa sig frågande. Även svenskens nyttjande av grundvattenreserver kan te sig olämpligt utifrån ett ekologiskt hållbart perspektiv. Att sedan detta vatten renas till dricksvattenkvalitet för att sedermera användas till att vattna fuktälskande växter som är planterade i gassande sol i en sandig torr jord kan vara förbryllande. Medvetenhet utifrån det lilla perspektivet, till exempel den svenska hemträdgården, kan vara åskådligt. Samtidigt kan det kanske också bidra till en i framtiden miljövänligare politik där målet är att rent sötvattnen skall finnas tillgängligt för alla i ett långt perspektiv.   I denna litteraturstudie, möjligheten till en rationell vattenanvändning i den privata hemträdgården ur ett ekologiskt hållbart perspektiv. Flertalet olika metoder att hushålla med vatten och att tillvarata, rena och använda sig av nederbörd och gråvatten belyses. Resultatet är indelat i två delar; hushållning och rening. I den första redogörs på vilka sätt en effektivisering av vattenanvändandet kan gå till. Lättast och effektivast görs detta genom att dra ner på förbrukningen. Detta går enkelt att göra med några få tekniker. Till exempel att bättra på jordstruktur med organisktmaterial, att placera växter på platser som liknar deras naturliga habitat, minska avdunstning och forma platsen så att nederbörd kan ledas dit den behövs. Att se över hur extrabevattning ska tillämpas på effektivast sätt samt vilken vattenkälla detta vatten kommer ifrån tillhör också detta hushållande stycke. I den andra delen redogörs för olika metoder som kan tillämpas i en trädgård för att rena grå- och dagvatten så att trädgårdens naturliga potential till att vara en del av jordens naturliga kretslopp främjas. Lättast görs detta genom en begränsning av föroreningar redan vid deras källa. Därefter kan infiltrationsytor, infiltrationsplanteringar, biodiken, gröna tak, dammar, konstruerade våtmarker, rotzoner, UV-ljus och aquakulturer vara mer eller mindre användbara metoder som kan tillämpas i hemträdgården.   Vattenfrågan bör klarläggas redan vid planeringen av byggnader och trädgård. Varje tomt måste sättas in i sitt sammanhang då dessa unika med speciella förutsättningar och problem. Hemträdgården är en utmärkt plats för experiment och utvecklingsarbete av ett hållbart vattenanvändande. / Without water there would be no life on earth. People depend of clean water for their survival. Today in many countries the lack of clean water is causing disease and premature death. World problems with fresh water in the form of shortage and severe pollution caused by humans may seem colossal. Industries and agriculture have a major impact but also the individual’s water-use has consequences.   In Sweden the public opinion seems to be that we do not have a problem with our use of water. But with a closer look on facts that is not the case. For example our inland sea, Östersjön, and our contribution to its problems with euthrophication, lack of oxygen with the spillage of nutrients from the sewers and agriculture. Also the Swedish use of ground water may seem inappropriate in an ecological sustainable perspective. What is even more puzzling is that this water gets cleaned to a drinking water quality and then gets used for watering plants in the garden or to wash the car. Consciousness from the small perspective (as the Swedish private garden) can contribute to a future environmentally friendly politic that will lead to a sustainable water-use in a long perspective.     With this paper I would like to demonstrate, in a literature study, the possibility of a rational water-use in the private home garden from an ecological sustainable perspective.  Different methods of economising the water-use, gathering and cleaning stormwater and greywater will be illustrated. The result part will be divided into two parts; economization of water and cleaning of water.   The first part describes the ways in which an efficiency of water-use can be preceded. The easiest way this is done is to cut down the consumption of water. This can easily be done with a few techniques. For example to improve the soil structure with organic material, placing of plants in places that resemble their natural habitat, reduction of evaporation and shaping pf the site so that precipitation can be managed where it is needed. Also to in which way irrigation is applied in the most efficient way and from which source this water is taken is presented in this part. The second part describes different methods of cleaning grey- and stormwater so the home garden’s natural potential to be a part of the earth’s natural rhythm is promoted. Most easily this is done by stopping the pollution at the source. After that infiltration areas, bioswales, green roofs, ponds, constructed wetlands, reed beds, UV light and aquacultures can be more or less potential methods to be applied in the home garden.   Water issues should be clarified already at the design process with homes and gardens. Each plot and garden is unique with its particular conditions and problems. Therefore needs every case to be seen in its particular context in order to obtain the optimal solution for that particular place.The home garden is a suitable place for experimental development of a sustainable water-use.

Dagvatten från vägar innehåller ofta tungmetaller. De vanligaste metallerna i vägdagvatten är bly, koppar, kadmium, nickel och zink. Dessa föroreningar utgör en belastning i recipienter som tar emot dagvattnet. I denna rapport har bly, koppar och zink reducerats från vägdagvatten genom filtrering i kolonner med amorf, granulerad masugnsslagg och sand. Masugnsslagg, som är en biprodukt från framställningen av järn, är en alkalisk produkt med goda sorptionsegenskaper vilket gör den lämplig att använda som filtermaterial för vatten förorenade med metaller. Sanden användes i studien som referensmaterial. Masugnsslaggen som användes i denna studie är hyttsand från Merox, Oxelösund. Reningshalten för hyttsanden i denna studie uppgick till 79 % för bly, 82 % för koppar samt 92 % för zink. Hyttsandens reducerande förmåga har även undersökts i batchförsök. / Stormwater from roads often contain heavy metals. The most common metals in storm water from roads are lead, copper, cadmium, nickel, and zinc. These pollutants constitute a stress for organisms in recipients that receive the stormwater. In this report lead, copper and zinc have been reduced from road storm water through filtration in columns with granulated iron slag and sand. Iron slag is a by-product from the iron making process, with a high sorption capacity, which makes it suitable as a filter material for water polluted with metals. The sand in this study has been used as reference material. The reducing capacity in the stormwater for the iron slag used in this study, “hyttsand”, was 79 % for lead, 82 % for copper and 92 % for zinc. The reducing capacity of the iron slag was also investigated in batch studies.

Partial-infiltration permeable pavement (PP) systems provide environmental benefits by increasing infiltration, attenuating storm flows and improving stormwater quality. This thesis focuses on the performance and operation of partial-infiltration PP systems over low permeability soil in Ontario. Three PP, AquaPave®, Eco-Optiloc® and Hydromedia® Pervious Concrete were monitored over two years and their performance was evaluated relative to an impermeable Asphalt control. Field data was collected from the Kortright PP pilot parking lot in Vaughan, Ontario. Through the use of restrictor valves on underdrains the PP systems were shown to provide substantial hydrologic benefits by eliminating stormwater outflow for rain events less than 7mm, reducing peak flows by 91% and reducing total stormwater volume by 43%. Stormwater quality was analyzed for winter and non-winter seasons. The PP were shown to greatly reduce the concentration and total loading of suspended solids, nutrients, hydrocarbons and most heavy metals. Some water quality data, such as pH, K, or Sr levels, indicate that the quality of PP effluent will change as the system ages. Study of PP sample boxes at the University of Guelph highlighted the role that construction materials have on effluent quality and showed that pollutants introduced by the pavement and aggregate are almost entirely in a dissolved form and decline very rapidly after a season of exposure to rainfall. Benefits to water quality were sustained during winter months. The partial-infiltration PP systems were shown to provide buffering of Na and Cl concentrations. Small and large-scale maintenance practices for PP systems were investigated. Small-sized equipment testing found that vacuum cleaning and pressure-washing have good potential to improve infiltration capacity. Testing of full-sized streetsweeping trucks demonstrated that permeability can be partially restored on PICP by suction-based sweeping. Vacuum-sweeping was beneficial on a PC pavement which had experienced large permeability losses. Results of this study indicate that partial-infiltration PP systems can be effective measures for maintaining or restoring infiltration functions on parking lots and other low volume traffic areas, even in areas with low permeability soils.

In urban areas, stormwater management ponds (SWPs) are built to mitigate polluted runoff. Although these ponds are increasing in numbers, their ecology is not well understood. Physical and chemical characteristics of 17 SWPs in the City of Ottawa were measured to determine the drivers of phytoplankton biomass (Chl. a) and primary production (PP). While total phosphorus was the best predictor of algal biomass in the ponds (as in lakes), the imperviousness of the catchment could also predict Chl. a. Planktonic PP in two ponds measured seasonally was more closely related to water residence time than to nutrient concentrations with rates approaching at times the theoretical maximum for aquatic systems. In one pond, whole ecosystem metabolism, estimated using diel changes in dissolved oxygen and δ18O-O2, suggested that these hypereutrophic systems were net sinks for carbon in the summer but likely sources to the atmosphere at other times of the year.

Centralized infrastructure (CI) is difficult to sustain with limited water and fossil fuel resources because CI withdraws 100% of water demand from the environment as an open-loop system and electricity is consumed to transport and treat water and wastewater while demand is increasing. Hybrid infrastructure (HI) is proposed to combine CI with decentralized alternatives such as low impact development (LID) technologies (i.e., xeriscaping, rain gardens, and rainwater harvesting) or greywater reclamation systems with membrane bioreactors (MBRs). Water, wastewater, and stormwater systems in the City of Atlanta (COA) were regarded as CI. HI was compared to CI using life cycle environmental impacts measured by water reuse index (WRI) and life cycle assessment (LCA) scores. WRI is a ratio of water withdrawal to sustainable water resources of wastewater (i.e., return flow) and stormwater discharge, which presents water stress level (e.g., 0.2 ~ 0.4: medium-high level). LCA score is determined as % of annual world average environmental damage per capita. As stormwater runoff, water demand, greywater generation, rainwater harvesting, etc. vary depending on land use and population density, feasibility of decentralized alternatives was evaluated in eleven residential communities. Five single-family residential communities were designated as between R-1 of 16 people/10 acres and R-5 of 169 people/10 acres and six multi-family residential communities were designated as between RG-1 of 148 people/10 acres and RG-6 of 5,808 people/10 acres. HI with LID technologies reduced WRI of COA that relies on CI from 0.45 to 0.12. HI reduced the LCA scores of CI with combined sewer system (CSS) by between 1% for RG-6 and 68% for R-1 and the LCA scores of CI with separate sewer system (SSS) by between 0% for RG-6 and 18% for R-1. As population density increases for the multi-family residential communities, harvested rainwater decreases and a small amount of water demand is satisfied. Consequently, it has a negligible impact on the LCA scores in RG-6. HI with greywater reclamation system reduced WRI of COA from 0.45 to 0.35. HI resulted in the LCA scores greater as compared to CI in the five single-family communities and RG-1, RG-2, and RG-3 because of the electricity consumption of small-scale MBR. However, the electricity consumption per kgal decreases with increasing MBR treatment capacity and the LCA scores were reduced by 5% for RG-4, 15% for RG-5, and 21% for RG-6. The MBR treatment capacity of RG-4 is 15.6 kgal/day.

Water is precious, particularly in South Australia, the driest State in Australia, with over 80% of its land area receiving less than 250mm of rainfall per year. Security of water supply has always played a critical role in the economic and social development of South Australia, and will continue to do so while dependency on water from the River Murray is so high and there is competition over this from states and for different uses – municipal, irrigation, industry, and the environment. The drive towards sustainable development has evolved to attenuate overconsumption of the world’s natural resources of which water is a key element. Provision of reliable water supplies to regional South Australia has always presented challenges, given the vast distances involved and the limited number of natural water sources. Despite these, a majority of South Australians enjoy the benefit of a reliable and safe water supply, adequate waste disposal system, good community health and high standard of living. A challenge remains to determine the sustainability of current major water pipe transfer systems from remote resources to small communities. There may be scope for managing existing water supplies more effectively and further developing local water harvesting and reuse solutions to minimise the need for more significant infrastructure investment. This study investigates the challenges and opportunities for extending development of non-potable (secondary) water supply schemes in South Australian towns. These schemes will conserve the State’s freshwater resources. The primary focus of this study is harnessing stormwater runoff and treated effluent generated by normal township development to supplement higher quality public water for uses such as irrigation of public areas and sporting fields in country areas. Water harvesting and reuse is not likely to occur due to some technological breakthrough but through application of known technology and the adoption of water conscious ethics by society. However, it is a sensible reality for the South Australian climate, particularly when coupled with appropriate conservation and suitable landscaping practices. Thus, the major theme of this study is information sharing since if people are familiar with and understand the concepts then more communities may be encouraged to develop their resources. Water reuse has proven to be a beneficial strategy for addressing stormwater runoff and wastewater disposal problems and alleviating localised water supply problems for several South Australian towns and communities. The existing projects demonstrate both the strong community-based and innovative approach to water resources management in this state. They are inherently simple in form, and can often be assembled with readily available materials by people with a basic understanding of plumbing and construction skills (locally available). The potential for localised water harvesting and reuse in South Australian towns is generally limited to single purpose communal non-potable systems. Further, it is likely to only be sustainable in rural communities willing to make a commitment to its long term, proper operation and maintenance, or they could endanger public health. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1283773 / Thesis (M.Eng.Sc.) - University of Adelaide, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2007

As California contends with climate change and more extreme cycles of drought and deluge, water management agencies and conservation groups are looking towards solutions to the decreasing reliability of imported water supplies. Stormwater has historically been perceived as a threat to development but when captured properly, it presents a resource that can augment local water supplies. Solutions to water supply issues in California have traditionally employed technical and centrally controlled methods for importing water, but there is a growing understanding that parcel-level capture through vegetated swales presents an opportunity for reducing the impact that development has on California’s hydrology. Vegetated swales mimic nature’s effectiveness in reducing runoff speeds, removing pollutants and increasing groundwater supplies. No less a piece of California’s water infrastructure than canals and dams, these swales bring water infrastructure into the context of the California landscape. My report for the Chino Basin Water Conservation District analyzes the feasibility of installing vegetated swales in the Chino Basin region.

Os sistemas de esgotos urbanos são classificados em separador absoluto, separador parcial e unitário, conforme o grau de separação que existe no recolhimento dos esgotos sanitários e das águas de drenagem pluviais. Embora a diretriz das cidades brasileiras seja a adoção do sistema separador, na prática ocorre uma importante contribuição das águas de chuvas nas vazões afluentes às estações de tratamento de esgotos como produto das interconexões existentes, clandestinas ou não, entre as redes de esgotos sanitários e pluviais. Esta pesquisa investigou os impactos causados pelos choques de carga orgânica e hidráulica provocados pela contribuição das águas pluviais no desempenho de reatores UASB e seu tempo de recuperação depois de sofrer estes choques. Três reatores de acrílico de 17 litros foram construídos no Laboratório de Saneamento Ambiental do IPH. Os reatores trataram esgoto sintético simulando a concentração de DQO de esgotos domésticos a uma temperatura de 30 ± 2 °C. Um dos reatores serviu de controle enquanto os outros dois receberam choques de carga hidráulica (aumento de vazão) e diluição de matéria orgânica, simultaneamente. A operação dos reatores foi dividida em três fases: 1°) aclimatação, 2°) choques individuais de carga hidráulica e diluição de matéria orgânica 3°) simulação de uma temporada de chuva. Os choques tiveram um efeito deletério na qualidade do efluente, ocasionando quedas na eficiência de remoção de DQO total de até quase 600% e de 200% na eficiência de remoção de DQO dissolvida nos choques mais severos. Também constatou-se perda de parte da biomassa presente nos reatores devido ao aumento excessivo na velocidade ascensional do fluxo. Esta perda tornou-se menor com o tempo devido à pressão de seleção exercida pelos sucessivos choques. O pH dentro dos reatores manteve-se sempre perto da faixa neutra, porém apresentou-se um consumo de alcalinidade que se prolongou por até três vezes o tempo de detenção hidráulica após o início dos choques, devido provavelmente ao aumento na concentração de ácidos graxos voláteis no efluente. A produção de biogás também diminuiu como conseqüência da diluição da carga orgânica afluente. Os efeitos e o tempo de recuperação após os choques dependeram da sua duração e magnitude, sendo que os choques mais severos (menor concentração de matéria orgânica afluente e TDH) causaram maior deterioração na qualidade do efluente e requereram maior tempo de recuperação.Já no que diz respeito às características físico-químicas e biológicas do lodo, verificou-se que os choques causaram diminuição no tamanho médio dos grânulos do lodo e na sua velocidade de sedimentação, provavelmente devido ao aumento das forças abrasivas v provocado pelo incremento na velocidade ascensional do fluxo. De igual modo, a atividade metanogênica específica também apresentou quedas devidas, provavelmente, à diluição da carga orgânica afluente e à diminuição do tamanho das partículas do lodo. / Sewerage systems are classified as separate, partially separated, or combined, according to the degree of separation that exists in the collection of municipal wastewater and stormwater runoff. Although the official policy of brazilian cities is for adoption of the separate system, the actual scenario shows that there are significant contributions of stormwater to the flows that are transported to the wastewater treatment plants, partly because of the inappropriate interconnections that exist between the systems. This research investigated the impacts that organic and hydraulic shock loads brought by stormwater contributions have on the efficiency of UASB reactors, as well as the recovery time after the ending of the shocks. Three 17-liters acrylic reactors were built in the Environmental Technology Laboratory at IPH. The reactors were fed with synthetic wastewater prepared to resemble the organic content of wastewater. All reactors were operated at a temperature of 30 ± 2ºC. One of the reactors was used as control while the other two received hydraulic shocks with organic matter dilution, simultaneously. Reactor’s operation was divided in three phases: 1º) star-up, 2º) single organic and hydraulic shocks, and 3º) rain season simulation, with multiple shocks.Shocks have a deleterious effect on the reactor effluent quality. In the most severe cases, drops in removal efficiencies reached up to 200% and 600% for dissolved and total DQO, respectively. Reactor biomass washout occurred due to the increasing upflow velocity. This loss was dampened by the selective pressure exerted by successive shocks. pH in the reactors remained in the neutral range, although alkalinity was consumed for as long as three detention times, probably due to an increase in the concentration of volatile fatty acids in the liquid. Dilution also caused a decrease in biogas production. Recovery time depended on the duration and intensity of the shock, with more severe shocks demanding more time for recovery. The impacts of the shocks on the treatment efficiency depended on duration, organic dilution rate and flowrate increase. Longer shocks, with higher flowrates and dilution rate resulted in the worst conditions for the reactor. Shocks loads caused a decrease in the mean size of the sludge granule, as well as in their sedimentation velocities, probably because of an increase in the abrasive forces acting on the granules brought by the upflow velocity. The specific methanogenic activity also decreased with higher dilution and smaller sized sludge granules.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T20:09:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DissATH.pdf: 18368287 bytes, checksum: b45251643897100029d341df26cf3598 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-08-31 / The current projects of rainwater plumbing systems are extremely simple and present only one exclusive concern: to divert the rainfall from the place where it occurs to the drainage public system. In general, it s possible to verify that they do not attend even the word semantic meaning. The no existence of a coordinated set of action aiming at ampler results makes rainwater plumbing system unconcerned with the surrounding area, not composing harmonically with the urban site in particular, and the environment as a general form. Generally, designers expect only rainwater goes toward out of the site, and that is a good result of a good system. Due the lack of attention to the impact that generates and does harm to society, they ignore its potential as instrument of water building conservation. They do not assess correctly its capacity as a source of supply of so expensive and scarce water, according with its necessities, conveniences or limitations that can exist. Therefore, the goal of this study is to propose a new function for the rainwater plumbing system, in special for Ribeirão Preto municipal school buildings, becoming it from a passive to an active system of environment protection. With a proper and molded conception for this new proposal, the system must contemplate the aspects related to the reduction of the impacts caused by the civil construction activities on urban sites, its preservation and providing environment education for people and also, as an worthy water building management tool. / Os atuais projetos dos sistemas prediais de água pluvial são em sua grande maioria, extremamente simples, apresentando uma única e exclusiva preocupação: a transferência da precipitação do local onde ocorre para o sistema público de drenagem, constituído por sarjetas, galerias e por fim, os córregos e rios. Verifica-se que, em geral, não atendem nem ao sentido semântico da palavra sistema. A inexistência de um conjunto coordenado de ações visando um resultado mais amplo faz com que o sistema predial de água pluvial se dissocie de seu entorno, sem se compor harmônicamente com o meio urbano em particular, e o meio natural de uma forma geral. Na concepção atual de seus projetistas, o simples encaminhamento destas águas para fora da edificação é o resultado esperado de um bom sistema. Alheios ao impacto que gera e que penaliza a socidade, passam ao largo de seu potencial como instrumento de conservação de água nas edificações. Ignoram sua capacidade de suprir as mesmas com tão caro e cada vez mais escasso recurso, de acordo com as necessidades, conveniências ou limitações que possam existir. Portanto, o objetivo deste trabalho consiste na proposição de uma nova função para o sistema predial de água pluvial, em especial nas escolas muncipais de Ribeirão Preto, transformando-o de um sistema passivo de captação e drenagem em um sistema ativo de conservação ambiental. Com uma concepção própria e moldada para esta nova proposta, o sistema deve contemplar os aspectos relacionados à redução dos impactos causados pela ocupação do solo no meio urbano, à preservação e educação ambiental e também, à gestão da oferta de água nas edificações.