NDLI: Quantifying Mass Fluxes from Urban Drainage Systems to the Urban Soil-Aquifer System (11 pp)

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Quantifying Mass Fluxes from Urban Drainage Systems to the Urban Soil-Aquifer System (11 pp)

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Wolf, Leif Klinger, Jochen Hoetzl, Heinz Mohrlok, Ulf
Copyright Year	2007
Abstract	The urban soil and aquifer system is subject to contamination not only by event-based accidents and spillages but also by the constant emissions from urban drainage systems. Leaky sewer systems, decentralized stormwater infiltration measures or fertilizer application to gardens are omnipresent in the urban soil-water system. Due to the spatial variability and complexity of the input, only few attempts have been undertaken to balance the mass fluxes to the urban soil-groundwater system by using integrated modeling of urban water supply and drainage systems. However, considering the protective function of the soil for the groundwater system, planning authorities are in need of a decision support system, especially regarding the impact of leaky sewer systems. The European Union funded project AISUWRS (Assessing and Improving the Sustainability of Urban Water Resources and Systems) was completed at the end of the year 2005. The overall scope of the initiative was to assess and improve the sustainability of urban water resources and systems with the help of computer tools. This was achieved by the development of a chain of different models to describe and link urban water supply, urban drainage, including sewer leakage, the unsaturated zone, and urban groundwater systems. The uppermost model applied in the AISUWRS system is the Urban Volume and Quantity model (UVQ), developed by CSIRO, Australia. Its main input parameters are climate records, water consumption characteristics (e.g. water use for laundry or typical contaminant loads through toilets) and urban sealing coefficients. The model calculates water flows and contaminant loads through the wastewater and stormwater systems and assesses direct recharge to groundwater. This information is fed into the specially developed Network Exfiltration and Infiltration Model (NEIMO), which estimates the amount of wastewater exfiltration from or the groundwater infiltration into sewers. The results of the AISUWRS model chain are compared with a Monte Carlo simulation approach which explicitly addresses the uncertainties included in estimations of sewer leakage. A holistic description of the urban water cycle was derived. All major water fluxes were quantified together with loadings of marker substances (e.g. chloride, potassium, boron, sulphate, zinc). Extensive groundwater sampling programs constrained the results of the forward modeling exercises. This paper concentrates on the city of Rastatt (SW-Germany) as one of four case studies in the AISWURS project. Using the AISUWRS model chain, mass fluxes of boron to the soil-aquifer system in the range of 0.44 mg/m²/a were calculated. As the boron mass fluxes predominantly originate from leaky sewer systems, the result corresponds reasonably well to the uncertainty range that was calculated for sewer leakage with the Monte Carlo method for the entire city area which is 0.01 mg/m²/a to 4.26 mg/m²/a, with a median mass flux of 0.36 mg/m²/a. On the other hand, chloride fluxes to the soil-aquifer systems were estimated by the AISUWRS model chain to be 7.5 g/m²/a while the Monte Carlo approach predicted an input of 0.071 g/m²/a from sewers. This reflects the additional inputs to infiltration areas from road salting, fertilizer application and runoff from impermeable surfaces. According to these calculations, in the Rastatt case study sewer leakage is not a major source for chloride input into the soil-aquifer system. The AISUWRS system provides a framework for qualitative comparisons of urban emission scenarios and indicates probable responses to a specific management option. Still, significant effort will also be required in future urban water research to increase the reliability of the quantitative results. As already observed in previous studies, the contaminant loads are a useful first step in assessing the impact of water systems on the environment, but they need to be interpreted in the context of the specific location into which they are discharged (Eiswirth 2001). Due to the large number of sources to be considered (i.e. several thousand sewer leaks), the solutions for the unsaturated zone need to be rather simple. The results presented in this paper only relate to the input fluxes into the soil-aquifer system. Therefore, the protective function of the soil is underestimated and new models for the unsaturated zone await further application and development. -: It is proposed to apply similar scenario modeling tools for cities that currently or in future rely on groundwater supplies. This will facilitate the thinking about total urban water and solute cycles and to demonstrate the linkages between the individual actions to decision makers and stakeholders. The AISUWRS system can be used for sensitivity analysis of the individual parameters and can serve as a guideline for future research directed at the most critical points. For a more reliable risk assessment, additional functions to describe the protective function of the unsaturated zone are needed. It is recommended to combine the models for sewer leakage with vulnerability concepts.
Starting Page	85
Ending Page	95
Page Count	11
File Format	PDF
ISSN	14390108
Journal	Journal of Soils and Sediments
Volume Number	7
Issue Number	2
e-ISSN	16147480
Language	English
Publisher	Ecomed
Publisher Date	2007-02-15
Publisher Place	Landsberg
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Soil Science & Conservation Environment Environmental Physics
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Stratigraphy Earth-Surface Processes

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