Comparison of pollutant emission control strategies for cadmium and mercury in urban water systems using substance flow analysis.

The European Union (EU) Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires Member States to protect inland surface and groundwater bodies but does not directly stipulate how the associated environmental quality standards should be achieved. This paper develops and assesses the performance of a series of urban emission control strategies (ECS) with an emphasis on the scientific and technological benefits which can be achieved. Data from the literature, in combination with expert judgement, have been used to develop two different semi-hypothetical case cities (SHCC), which represent virtual platforms for the evaluation of ECS using substance flow analysis (SFA). The results indicate that the full implementation of existing EU legislation is capable of reducing the total emissions of cadmium (Cd) and mercury (Hg) by between 11% and 20%. The ability to apply voluntary reduction practices is shown to be particularly effective for Cd with the potential to further lower the overall emissions by between 16% and 27%. The most efficient protection of the receiving surface water environment is strongly influenced by the city characteristics with the introduction of stormwater treatment practices being particularly effective for one city (59% reduction of Hg; 39% reduction of Cd) and the other city being most influenced by the presence of efficient advanced wastewater treatment processes (63% reduction of Hg; 43% reduction of Cd). These reductions in receiving water loads are necessarily accompanied by either increases in stormwater sediment loadings (2.6-14.9 kg/year or 0.6-2.4 kg/year for Hg) or wastewater sludge loadings (45.8-57.2 kg/year or 42.0-57.4 kg/year for Cd).

The management of urban surface water flood risks: SUDS performance in flood reduction from extreme events.

The need to improve the urban drainage network to meet recent urban growth and the redevelopment of old industrial and commercial areas provides an opportunity for managing urban surface water infrastructure in a more sustainable way. The use of sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS) can reduce urban surface water flooding as well as the pollution impact of urban discharges on receiving waters. However, these techniques are not yet well known by many stakeholders involved in the decision-making process, or at least the evidence of their performance effectiveness may be doubted compared with more traditional engineering solutions often promoted by existing 1D/2D drainage models. The use of geographic information systems (GIS) in facilitating the inter-related risk analysis of sewer surface water overflows and urban flooding as well as in better communication with stakeholders is demonstrated in this paper. An innovative coupled 1D/2D urban sewer/overland flow model has been developed and tested in conjunction with a SUDS selection and location tool (SUDSLOC) to enable a robust management approach to surface water flood risks and to improve the resilience of the urban drainage infrastructure. The paper demonstrates the numerical and modelling basis of the integrated 1D/2D and SUDSLOC approach and the working assumptions and flexibility of the application together with some limitations and uncertainties. The role of the SUDSLOC modelling component in quantifying flow, and surcharge reduction benefits arising from the strategic selection and location of differing SUDS controls are also demonstrated for an extreme storm event scenario.

Agriculture and groundwater nitrate contamination in the Seine basin. The STICS-MODCOU modelling chain.

A software package is presented here to predict the fate of nitrogen fertilizers and the transport of nitrate from the rooting zone of agricultural areas to surface water and groundwater in the Seine basin, taking into account the long residence times of water and nitrate in the unsaturated and aquifer systems. Information on pedological characteristics, land use and farming practices is used to determine the spatial units to be considered. These data are converted into input data for the crop model STICS which simulates the water and nitrogen balances in the soil-plant system with a daily time-step. A spatial application of STICS has been derived at the catchment scale which computes the water and nitrate fluxes at the bottom of the rooting zone. These fluxes are integrated into a surface and groundwater coupled model MODCOU which calculates the daily water balance in the hydrological system, the flow in the rivers and the piezometric variations in the aquifers, using standard climatic data (rainfall, PET). The transport of nitrate and the evolution of nitrate contamination in groundwater and to rivers is computed by the model NEWSAM. This modelling chain is a valuable tool to predict the evolution of crop productivity and nitrate contamination according to various scenarios modifying farming practices and/or climatic changes. Data for the period 1970-2000 are used to simulate the past evolution of nitrogen contamination. The method has been validated using available data bases of nitrate concentrations in the three main aquifers of the Paris basin (Oligocene, Eocene and chalk). The approach has then been used to predict the future evolution of nitrogen contamination up to 2015. A statistical approach allowed estimating the probability of transgression of different concentration thresholds in various areas in the basin. The model is also used to evaluate the cost of the damage resulting of the treatment of drinking water at the scale of a groundwater management unit in the Seine river basin.