Infiltration Pond Design for Highway Runoff Treatment in Semiarid Climates

Highway runoff disposal without concern for its characteristics may be associated with high material and environmental costs. An understanding of stormwater management has enlightened the importance of the impacts that nonpoint pollution may cause to both surface waters and groundwater. Several systems for highway runoff treatment exist, often based on detention and infiltration processes. This paper suggests a method for design and evaluation of the design of infiltration ponds for use in semiarid climates. The design principle is based on capture and infiltration of the most polluted runoff, and considers rainfall and soil hydraulic characteristics for determination of the design volume; seasonal variations in rainfall and evaporation were also taken into account. Soil characteristics, the volume of runoff which is infiltrated, and the infiltration area are used to calculate the movement of the most mobile heavy metal, Zn, in the soil. The method presented was based and applied to highway runoff, but can be used for treatment of stormwater runoff from other sources.

[1]  Barbosa,et al.  Highway runoff and potential for removal of heavy metals in an infiltration pond in Portugal , 1999, The Science of the total environment.

[2]  W. Salomons,et al.  Cd, Cu and Zn solubility in arable and forest soils: Consequences of land use changes for metal mobility and risk assessment , 1998 .

[3]  Thorkild Hvitved-Jacobsen,et al.  Urban Drainage Impacts on Receiving Waters , 1996 .

[4]  Y. A. Yousef,et al.  Treatment systems for urban and highway run-off in Denmark , 1994 .

[5]  R. Scholze,et al.  Efficiency of Best Management Practices for Controlling Priority Pollutants in Runoff , 1993 .

[6]  B. Ferguson.  Urban storm water infiltration Purposes, implementation, results , 1990 .

[7]  B. Ferguson.  Role of the long-term water balance in management of stormwater infiltration , 1990 .

[8]  Y. A. Yousef,et al.  ANALYSIS OF RAINFALL SERIES IN THE DESIGN OF URBAN DRAINAGE CONTROL SYSTEMS , 1988 .

[9]  T. H. Christensen,et al.  Distribution coefficients of Cd, Co, Ni, and Zn in soils , 1988 .

[10]  S. Thorolfsson.  New strategies in stormwater-meltwater management in the City of Bergen, Norway , 1999 .

[11]  Ben R. Urbonas,et al.  Design of a Sand Filter for Stormwater Quality Enhancement , 1999 .

[12]  P. Römkens.  Effects of land use changes on organic matter dynamics and trace metal solubility in soils , 1998 .

[13]  Wade E. Hathhorn,et al.  The assessment of groundwater pollution potential resulting from stormwater infiltration BMP's , 1995 .

[14]  T. Hvitved-Jacobsen.  Design Criteria for Detention Pond Quality , 1990 .

[15]  Y. A. Yousef,et al.  Rainfall Analysis for Efficient Detention Ponds , 1988 .