A novel approach for road runoff sampling

Abstract

Conventional methods of road runoff sampling come with various difficulties. Hence, a novel experimental method was tested in and around Budapest, using a passenger car to collect wheel splash samples. Total concentrations of selected heavy metals were compared to the results of an earlier conventional runoff sampling program for verification. Despite the inhomogeneous set of splash samples, the ratio of measured heavy metals was found to be fairly stable throughout the entire data set. Ratios in the new splash samples and the formerly collected gully drain runoff samples were also found to be identical, showing that sample composition is not distorted by the new method. Urban sites generally exhibited higher concentrations than motorway sites, especially for Cu and Pb, the suspected cause of which is the difference in traffic dynamics. Traffic volume dependence is indirectly indicated by the clearly observable differences between weekday and weekend samples collected from urban sites.Keywords diffuse pollution · highway runoff · urban runoff · sampling · storm water Acknowledgement This work is connected to the scientific program of the " Development of quality-oriented and harmonized R+D+I strategy and functional model at BME" project. This project is supported by the New Széchenyi

Development of an autonomous flow-proportional water sampler for the estimation of pollutant loads in urban runoff

“…When taking composite samples, the continuously measured parameters (such as the flow) might be used to adjust the sampling rate (e.g., Kayhanian et al 2007 ; LaBarre et al 2016 ; Sabin et al 2005 ). Sampling methods such as the collection of pollutants from impervious urban surfaces by sweeping or washing (e.g., Budai and Clement 2018 ; Vaze and Chiew 2002 ) and by vessels mounted on moving cars (Budai and Clement 2012 ) can be viewed as special, targeted cases of active sampling.…”

Revisiting Two Robust Techniques for Contaminant Removal from Road Runoff

“…Rainfall runoff originating from paved surfaces, most importantly roads, is characterized by the occurrence of a range of organic and inorganic pollutant materials [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Typical contaminants of environmental concern are mineral oil derived hydrocarbons and various species of heavy metals.…”