Description: Hydrocarbon spills and management in the marine environment are of significant environmental and public health concern and the subject of many research projects. In freshwater environments the treatment and management of hydrocarbons from point and diffuse sources appears less well investigated. For hydrocarbon treatment technologies introduced into the European market, they must be tested and comply with the requirements of the European Standard EN BS858-1-2002. This Standard requires laboratory testing of full-scale models. Testing of several models of a hydrocarbon capture technology was performed in accordance with EN BS858-1:2002 at the HR Wallingford, United Kingdom (UK) and repeated at the University of South Australia (UniSA) laboratories. The results of the laboratory testing demonstrated compliance with the Standard’s Class 1 criteria of less than 5 mg/L of hydrocarbons in the effluent. Field testing of several installations of the hydrocarbon capture device in Australia has also confirmed outlet concentrations conforming to the Class 1 requirement of 〈5 mg/L hydrocarbons.

Description: Field monitoring of a stormwater treatment train has been underway between November 2013 and May 2015 at a townhouse development located at Ormiston, southeast Queensland. The research was undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of a 200 micron mesh pit basket in a 900 square format and an 850 mm high media filtration cartridge system for removing total suspended solids and nutrients from stormwater runoff. The monitoring protocol was developed with Queensland University of Technology (QUT), reflecting the Auckland Regional Council Proprietary Device Evaluation Protocol (PDEP) and United States Urban Stormwater BMP Performance Monitoring Manual with some minor improvements reflecting local conditions. During the 18 month period, more than 30 rain events have occurred, of which nine comply with the protocol. The Efficiency Ratio (ER) observed for the treatment devices are 32% total suspended solids (TSS), 37% for total phosphorus (TP) and 38% total nitrogen (TN) for the pit basket, and an Efficiency Ratio of 87% TSS, 55% TP and 42% TN for the cartridge filter. The performance results on nine events have been observed to be significantly different statistically (p 〈 0.05) for the filters but not the pit baskets. The research has also identified the significant influence of analytical variability on performance results, specifically when influent concentrations are near the limits of detection.

Description: Water, Vol. 10, Pages 1307: Removal of Nutrients, Sediment, and Heavy Metals by a Stormwater Treatment Train; a Medium-Density Residential Case Study in Southeast Queensland Water doi: 10.3390/w10101307 Authors: Darren Drapper Andy Hornbuckle Urban stormwater runoff from a medium-density residential development in southeast Queensland has been monitored in the field since November 2013. A treatment train installed on the site includes rainwater tanks collecting roofwater, 200-micron mesh baskets installed in grated gully pits, and two 850-mm-high media filtration cartridges installed in an underground 4-m3 vault. The site has been monitored over a 4.5-year period. Removal efficiencies were observed at this site for the regulated pollutants; the corresponding values for total suspended solids (TSS), total phosphorus (TP), and total nitrogen (TN) for the pit baskets were 61%, 28%, and 45%, respectively. The cartridge filters removed 78% of TSS, 59% of TP, 42% of TN, 40% of total copper, and 51% of total zinc. As the measured influent TSS and TP concentrations to the cartridge filters were low when compared to industry guidelines, the U.S. field dataset was truncated to anticipated guideline levels, confirming results at 90% for TSS and 76% for TP. The total gross pollutant generation rate from the medium-density residential catchment was observed to be 0.24 m3/Ha/year, with a corresponding air-dried mass of 142.5 kg/Ha/year. Less than 2% of the gross pollutant mass was anthropogenic. This paper concludes that the treatment train, and in particular the media filter, provides good removal of total copper and total zinc as well as TSS, TP, and TN from urban stormwater runoff, with higher inlet concentrations producing better performance. Field test data from 58 months of operation and standard maintenance suggests that breakthrough of TSS and TP has not occurred yet.