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The temporal changes in road stormwater runoff quality and the implications to first flush control in Chongqing, China

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Abstract

This study investigates the quality of stormwater runoff from a driveway in the southwest mountainous urban area of Chongqing, China, from 2010 to 2011. The results showed that the mean concentrations of chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) were 4.1, 2.4, and 2.2 times the grade V levels of the national surface water standard of China. The pollutant concentration peak preceded or synchronized with the rainfall intensity peak and occurred 10 min after the runoff started. The significant high pollutant concentration in the initial stage of the rainfall suggested that first flush control is necessary, especially for the most polluted constitutes, such as total suspended solids, COD, and TN. Three potential pollution sources were identified: the atmospheric dry and wet deposition (TN, NO3 −-N, NH4 +-N, and DCu), the road sediment and materials (total suspended solids, COD, and TP), and the vehicle emissions (DPb and DZn). Therefore, this study indicates that reductions in road sediments and material pollution and dry and wet deposition should be the priority factors for pollution control of road stormwater runoff in mountainous urban areas.

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Acknowledgments

The study has been funded by the National Water Pollution Control and Management Technology Major Projects of China (no. 2012ZX07307) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 41030744 and no. 40901265).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, China

    Qianqian Zhang, Xiaoke Wang, Peiqiang Hou, Wuxing Wan, Yufen Ren, Zhiyun Ouyang & Le Yang

  2. Asia-Pacific Institute of Construction Scitech Information, Beijing, 100120, China

    Peiqiang Hou

  3. College of Life Science, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, 050016, China

    Wuxing Wan

Authors
  1. Qianqian Zhang
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  2. Xiaoke Wang
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  3. Peiqiang Hou
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  4. Wuxing Wan
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  6. Zhiyun Ouyang
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  7. Le Yang
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Correspondence to Xiaoke Wang.

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Zhang, Q., Wang, X., Hou, P. et al. The temporal changes in road stormwater runoff quality and the implications to first flush control in Chongqing, China. Environ Monit Assess 185, 9763–9775 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-013-3289-x

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