Harmonized assessment of nutrient pollution from urban systems including losses from sewer exfiltration: a case study in Germany
| Autor: | Hong Hanh Nguyen, Markus Venohr |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
Pollution
Environmental remediation Health Toxicology and Mutagenesis media_common.quotation_subject 0208 environmental biotechnology 02 engineering and technology 010501 environmental sciences Urban catchment model Wastewater 01 natural sciences Waste Disposal Fluid Environmental Chemistry Nutrient emission Sanitary sewer Wastewater management Leakage (economics) Cities Groundwater 0105 earth and related environmental sciences media_common Sewage Large scale General Medicine Nutrients Research in Environmental Planning and Management 020801 environmental engineering Water resources Nutrient pollution Public and private sewers Environmental science Water resource management Leakage |
| Zdroj: | Environmental Science and Pollution Research International |
| ISSN: | 1614-7499 0944-1344 |
| Popis: | A growing literature indicates that untreated wastewater from leaky sewers stands among major sources of pollution to water resources of urban systems. Despite that, the quantification and allocation of sewer exfiltration are often restricted to major pipe areas where inspection data are available. In large-scale urban models, the emission from sewer exfiltration is either neglected (particularly from private sewers) or represented by simplified fixed values, and as such its contribution to the overall urban emission remains questionable. This study proposes an extended model framework which incorporates sewer exfiltration pathway in the catchment model for a better justified pollution control and management of urban systems at a nationwide scale. Nutrient emission from urban areas is quantified by means of the Modelling of Nutrient Emissions in River Systems (MONERIS) model. Exfiltration is estimated for public and private sewers of different age groups in Germany using the verified methods at local to city scales, upscaling techniques, and expert knowledge. Results of this study suggest that the average exfiltration rate is likely to be less than 0.01 L/s per km, corresponding to approximately 1 mm/m/year of wastewater discharge to groundwater. Considering the source and age factors, the highest rate of exfiltration is defined in regions with significant proportions of public sewers older than 40 years. In regions where public sewers are mostly built after 1981, the leakage from private sewers can be up two times higher than such from public sewers. Overall, sewer exfiltration accounts for 9.8% and 17.2% of nitrate and phosphate loads from urban systems emitted to the environment, which increases to 11.2% and 19.5% in the case of no remediation scenario of projected defective sewer increases due to ageing effects. Our results provide a first harmonized quantification of potential leakage losses in urban wastewater systems at the nationwide scale and reveal the importance of rehabilitation planning of ageing sewer pipes in public and private sewer systems. The proposed model framework, which incorporates important factors for urban sewer managers, will allow further targeting the important data need for validating the approach at the regional and local scales in order to support better strategies for the long-term nutrient pollution control of large urban wastewater systems. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11356-021-12440-9. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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