Stormwater Analysis and Water Quality Assessment of Urban Areas

Abstract

4400011482, PIT WO 14Salt is widely used for road deicing purpose in winter, and salt application could raise stream chloride level and leads to deterioration of water quality. This study represents the first steps toward developing a comprehensive understanding of how the streams chloride levels are impacted by the salt operation. Toward this goal, this study developed a procedure for the flow path modeling of urban watersheds and applied it to two sites in Pittsburgh, PA, which are potentially susceptible to road salt application by PennDOT. The procedure was used in identifying areas contributing flows to PennDOT right-of-way, and vice versa. This study further took stream water quality samples during non-winter months for establishing baselines and during the winters of 2017 and 2018. Results show that over the non-winter months, the baseline stream chloride concentration has already exceeded criteria continuous concentration most of the time, but lies below the criteria maximum concentration of the environmental regulation. Test results on winter samples show that stream chloride concentration has risen following salt application after snow events, and has exceeded the criteria maximum concentration. The study also shows how surface model of different detail levels would affect the identified contributing areas related to target watersheds, and the importance of properly incorporating roadway features such as curves and bridges