Water Environment Research 

About: Water Environment Research is an academic journal published by Wiley. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Wastewater & Activated sludge. It has an ISSN identifier of 1061-4303. Over the lifetime, 3624 publications have been published receiving 74354 citations. The journal is also known as: WER & Water environment research..

Laboratory study of biological retention for urban stormwater management.

Abstract: Urban stormwater runoff contains a broad range of pollutants that are transported to natural water systems A practice known as biological retention (bioretention) has been suggested to manage stormwater runoff from small, developed areas Bioretention facilities consist of porous soil, a topping layer of hardwood mulch, and a variety of different plant species A detailed study of the characteristics and performance of bioretention systems for the removal of several heavy metals (copper, lead, and zinc) and nutrients (phosphorus, total Kjeldahl nitrogen [TKN], ammonium, and nitrate) from a synthetic urban stormwater runoff was completed using batch and column adsorption studies along with pilot-scale laboratory systems The roles of the soil, mulch, and plants in the removal of heavy metals and nutrients were evaluated to estimate the treatment capacity of laboratory bioretention systems Reductions in concentrations of all metals were excellent (> 90%) with specific metal removals of 15 to 145 mg/m2 per event Moderate reductions of TKN, ammonium, and phosphorus levels were found (60 to 80%) Little nitrate was removed, and nitrate production was noted in several cases The importance of the mulch layer in metal removal was identified Overall results support the use of bioretention as a stormwater best management practice and indicate the need for further research and development

Water Quality Improvement through Bioretention Media: Nitrogen and Phosphorus Removal

Abstract: High nutrient inputs and eutrophication continue to be one of the highest priority water quality problems. Bioretention is a low-impact development technology that has been advocated for use in urban and other developed areas. This work provides an in-depth analysis on removal of nutrients from a synthetic stormwater runoff by bioretention. Results have indicated good removal of phosphorus (70 to 85%) and total Kjeldahl nitrogen (55 to 65%). Nitrate reduction was poor (< 20%) and, in several cases, nitrate production was noted. Variations in flowrate (intensity) and duration had a moderate affect on nutrient removal. Mass balances demonstrate the importance of water attenuation in the facility in reducing mass nutrient loads. Captured nitrogen can be converted to nitrate between storm events and subsequently washed from the system. Analysis on the fate of nutrients in bioretention suggests that accumulation of phosphorus and nitrogen may be controlled by carefully managing growing and harvesting of vegetation.

Urban wet-weather flows

Abstract: This section is composed of three basic subareas: combined sewer overflows (CSOs), sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs), and stormwater discharges. Much of the literature cited came from documents covering noteworthy global conferences (Bathala, 1996; Engineering Foundation, 1996; Hallam et al., 1996; Maxwell et al., 1996; Sieker and Verworn [Eds.], 1996; Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 1996; U.S. EPA 1996a; Water Environment Federation, 1996a,b,c). In addition, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) published guidance documents (U.S. EPA, 1996,c,d,e), which are discussed in more detail in the subsection Regulatory Policies and Financial Aspects.

Determination of bicarbonate and total volatile acid concentration in anaerobic digesters using a simple titration

Abstract: A simple, alkalimetric method is described that can be used to determine bicarbonate and total volatile fatty acid concentrations in anaerobic digesters by a two-stage sequential titration. The new method was evaluated by standard solutions of volatile fatty acids and bicarbonate over a pH 5.5 to 7.65 range. It was also used to determine the total volatile fatty acid and bicarbonate concentrations in effluent samples from five laboratory anaerobic digesters treating different types of waste. The average recovery of volatile fatty acids and bicarbonate by the new method from standard solutions was found to be 96%. The total volatile fatty acid concentration measured by the new method from the digester ceffluent samples coincided well with those measured by a chromatog rapher. Water Environ. Res., 64, 53 (1992).

Urban stormwater toxic pollutants: assessment, sources, and treatability

Abstract: This paper summarizes an investigation to characterize and treat selected stormwater contaminants that are listed as toxic pollutants (termed toxicants in this paper) in the Clean Water Act, Section 307 (Arbuckle et al., 1991). The first project phase investigated typical toxicant concentrations in stormwater, the origins of these toxicants, and storm and land-use factors that influenced these toxicants, and storm and land-use factors that influenced these toxicant concentrations. Of the 87 stormwater source area samples analyzed, 9% were considered extremely toxic (using the Microtox® toxicity-screening procedure). Moderate toxicity was exhibited in 32% of the samples, whereas 59% of the samples had no evidence of toxicity. Only a small fraction of the organic toxicants analyzed were frequently detected organics investigated (present in 23% of the samples). Vehicle service and parking area runoff samples had many of the highest observed concentrations of organic toxicants. All metallic toxicants analyzed were commonly found in all samples analyzed. The second project phase investigated the control of stormwater toxicants using using a variety of bench-scale conventional treatment processes. Toxicity changes were monitored using the Microtox® bioassay test. The most beneficial treatment tests included settling for at least 24 hours (up to 90% reductions), screening and filtering through at least 40-μm screens (up to 70% reductions), and aeration and/or photodegradation for at least 24 hours (up to 80% reductions). Because many samples exhibited uneven toxicity reductions for the different treatment tests, a treatment train approach was selected for the current projet phase. This current phase includes testing of a prototype treatment device that would be useful for controlling runoff from critical source areas (e.g., automobile services facilities)