Description

Particulate matter (PM) emissions deteriorate the receiving water body quality in different manners. For instance they may lead to clogging of the hyporheic interstices and the contamination of the water and sediment phase with associated organic and inorganic pollutants. One source of PM and associated pollutants such as Copper and Zinc are urban areas through wet-weather runoff. However the impact assessment of combined sewer overflows (CSO) and separate sewer overflows (SSO) currently neglect the PM emissions. Therefore the goal of our study is to identify PM emissions and the associated loads of e.g. heavy metals from the wastewater system and the impact to the receiving water with a special emphasis on the hyporheic interstices which serve as important habitat.

We conduct a measurement campaign at the Bode River. This river drains a catchment of 3200 km² and is a major tributary of the Saale River in central Germany. We sample two CSOs and one SSO to determine the PM dynamics and load in the city of Stassfurt which is situated in vicinity to the mouth of the Bode River. In the receiving water body we installed sediment traps upstream and downstream of the overflows to capture intruded fines. We further analyze solid-associated inorganic pollutants to allow for fingerprinting of the overflows and the fines captured by the sediment traps. The contribution of the PM emissions from the overflows to the receptor river sediment will then be calculated by applying a mixing model.