Melanie Jette Sønderup

Crushed Concrete as a Phosphate Binding Material: A Potential New Management Tool

To avoid eutrophication of receiving waters, effective methods to remove P in urban and agricultural runoff are needed. Crushed concrete may be an effective filter material to remove dissolved and particulate P. Five types of crushed concrete were tested in the laboratory to evaluate the retention capacity of dissolved P. All types removed P very effectively (5.1-19.6 g P kg(-1) concrete), while the possible release of bound P varied between 0.4 and 4.6%. The retention rate was positively related to a decreasing concrete grain size due to an increasing surface area for binding. The P retention was also related to a marked increase in pH (up to pH 12), and the highest retention was observed when pH was high. Under these circumstances, column experiments showed outlet P concentrations <0.0075 mg P L(-1). Furthermore, experiments revealed that release of heavy metals is of no importance for the treated water. We demonstrate that crushed concrete can be an effective tool to remove P in urban and agricultural runoff as filter material in sedimentation/infiltration ponds provided that pH in the treated water is neutralized or the water is diluted before outlet to avoid undesired effects caused by the high pH.

Heavy metal composition in stormwater and retention in ponds dependent on pond age, design and catchment type

Heavy metals have toxic effects on flora and fauna in the aquatic environments and are of great concern in stormwater. Heavy metal runoff was studied in 37 stormwater ponds in Denmark with varying heavy metal load, catchment type and pond design. The studied metals were Cu, Cr, Cd, Pb, Ni and Zn. The concentrations varied considerably depending on the catchment type, with the highest concentrations coming from industrial areas and the lowest from uncultivated and rural areas. Ponds can effectively remove heavy metals in particulate forms through sedimentation processes, but the dissolved forms are more difficult to retain. The removal efficiency in the ponds varied considerably, with the highest retention of Pb, Ni and Zn due to higher particulate fraction. The retention increased with increased pond volume-to-reduced catchment area ratio. In addition, the pond age affected the efficiency; whereas ponds less than 1–2 years efficiently removed all metals, 30–40-year-old ponds only removed Pb, Ni and Zn, but steeply decreasing over the years. Physical parameters such as pond size, age and sedimentation patterns were found to play a more significant role in the removal compared with chemical parameters such as pH, oxygen and organic matter. Input of metals to the ponds was reflected in the sediment content, but not significantly for all heavy metals probably due to low or varying retention caused by mineralization and re-suspension. The heavy metal concentration in the outlets was reduced to non-toxic levels, except for Cu and Cr at a few study sites.