Browsing by Author "Takala, Tuure"

Urban stormwater systems effectively connect harmful substances from urban areas to more natural waters. The goal of this study was to determine whether stormwater sumps served as purifying elements of urban waters or whether urban stormwater and its harmful substance load passes through the system into nature. In addition, the study examined if significant quantities of harmful heavy metals are deposited in the stormwater sump sediment traps, and if the intensity of land use affects the quality of sediment in these traps. The study analyzed sediment samples from 30 stormwater sump traps in Helsinki, Finland. The stormwater sumps were selected from areas representing different land use intensities. For each sump, a catchment area and the magnitude of built area were determined by using geoinformatic data. From the sediment samples taken from the stormwater sump traps, metal concentrations (Al, P, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Mo, Cd, Pb and U), susceptibility, organic matter as well as dry matter and grain size distribution were analyzed. The study looked at the statistical significance of correlations between different variables. All measured variables were also studied by primary component analysis. The differences in metal concentrations of land use classes were assessed by one-way variance analysis. The harmfulness of the sediments in the stormwater sump traps was assessed based on the regulations of the Ministry of the Environment’s degraded soil and sediment slapping guidelines. The results show that stormwater sump traps had harmful concentrations of heavy metals. Concentrations of nickel, copper, and zinc harmful to water nature were found in the sediment samples. In addition, concentrations of zinc and copper exceeding the soil pollution limits were found. Metal concentrations in sediments were generally highest in the stormwater sump traps in traffic areas. Statistically highly significant correlations were observed with the increase in land use intensity and the concentrations of heavy metals. As land use intensity increased, concentrations of metals referring to human activity increased in stormwater sump traps. However, the metal concentrations in the sediments of the stormwater sump traps were not higher than the metal concentrations in stream sediments studied in the Helsinki region. The minor amount of fine sediment present in the stormwater sump traps also suggests that the particles that move with stormwater do not sediment into the sump traps in large quantities. This study indicates that stormwater sumps in the Helsinki region could have significant amounts of harmful metals. Based on the results of this study, when draining stormwater sumps, sediment treatment should be considered prior to its possible deployment into the watershed or reuse as filling soil or mull. In particular, reusing untreated sediments from stormwater sumps in traffic areas can be detrimental to nature. The fine material sedimentation capacity of stormwater sumps should be improved to minimize the load of harmful substances passing through the stormwater system into nature. More research is needed on the sedimentation processes of stormwater sumps suitable for Finnish conditions.