Abstract
Road runoff is a linear non-point source of pollution with a significant impact on water receiving bodies, but whose importance has been neglected in the past. The pollutants in road runoff can be responsible for both acute and chronicle effects.
Due to the processes involved in its formation, but also due to its intermittent nature, the characterization and prediction of road runoff quality is still a subject with limited scientific knowledge. Since the European Water Framework Directive demands a good ecological status for natural water bodies, there is an urgent need for controlling this source of pollution. The study of the highway runoff pollution load mass, the inter-event distribution and the estimation of event and site mean concentrations could contribute to increase the knowledge of the related phenomena, estimate its impacts and, therefore, contribute for the definition of mitigations measures for water resources protection or the enhancement of their quality.
In Portugal there is still a reduced knowledge on road runoff pollutants and also a lack of established procedures for the control of this source of pollution. A research project “Guidelines for Integrated Road Runoff Pollution Management in Portugal (G-Terra)” is evaluating, at a national level, road runoff pollution loads and distribution, in order to establish guidelines for road runoff assessment and management.
This paper describes the methodology and monitoring procedures of a case study on the A3 highway, at Santo Tirso, in the north of Portugal. At this site the average daily traffic is 43,000 vehicles. A total of 10 runoff events where monitored through discrete samples, taken along the duration of the runoff. The road site characteristics and the pollutants concentration in the different runoff events are presented and discussed.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Hvitved-Jacobsen T, Vollertsen J (2005) Urban Storm Drainage Pollution - Concepts and Engineering, Ph.D. Course: Process Engineering of Urban and Highway Runoff, Aalborg.
Ramisio PJ, Vieira JMP (2007) Heavy metal removal efficiency in a kaolinite-sand media filtration pilot scale installation. In: Highway and Urban Environment. Morrison Rauch (eds.) (ISBN 978-1-4020-6009-0. Springer, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. pp. 319–329.
Sansalone JJ et al. (1996) Fractionation of heavy metals in pavement runoff. Sci Tot Environ 189/190, 371–378.
Farm C (2002) Metal sorption to natural filter substrates for storm water treatment - column studies. Sci Total Environ 298, 17–24.
Bertrand-Krajewski JL, Chebbo G, Saget A (1998) Distribution of pollutant mass vs. volume in stormwater discharges and the first flush phenomenon. Water Res. 32 (8), 2341–2356.
Deletic A (1998) The first flush load of urban surface runoff. Water Res. 32 (8), 2462–2470.
Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, 19th Ed. (1995) American Public Health Association, American Water Works Association, Water Environment Association.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this paper
Cite this paper
Ramísio, P.J., Vieira, J.M.P. (2012). Characterization of road runoff: A case study on the A3 Portuguese Highway. In: Rauch, S., Morrison, G. (eds) Urban Environment. Alliance for Global Sustainability Bookseries, vol 19. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2540-9_26
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2540-9_26
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-2539-3
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-2540-9
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)