The effects of surface pollution on urban river water quality under rainfall events in Wuqing district, Tianjin, China.

A large quantity of pollutants is washed off by stormwater during rainfall events. Polluted storm runoff deteriorates the water quality of receiving water bodies, which is becoming a main threat to urban water environment. In this work, five rainfall events were monitored to clarify the characteristics of land surface pollution in Wuqing district, China. Four pollutant indicators of storm runoff samples, including chemical oxygen demand (COD), total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen (TN) and ammonia nitrogen (NH 3 -N), were analyzed and then used to validate the parameters of a model established by Infoworks integrated catchment modeling (ICM). The land surface pollutant loads of metropolitan area for four different rainfall scenarios and the variations in pollutants concentration in urban rivers were illustrated based on the model. The simulated results showed that the volume of runoff increased from 31.8 × 104 m3 to 139.7 × 104 m3 with the increase in the return period. The EMCs (Event Mean Concentration) of pollutants, however, were negatively correlated with return periods and the maximum drop was approximately 67%. Furthermore, the increased runoff enhanced the dilution effect and reduced the residence time of pollutants in rivers, which were the main reasons for the decrease of the pollutants concentrations. The results suggested that the runoff should be taken into account when considering the effects of surface pollution on urban river water quality. [Display omitted] • Field experiments were conducted to confirm the surface pollution characteristics. • The simulated pollutant concentration decreases when storm return period increases. • The peak of pollutant concentration in rivers is higher for 1-year return period. • Rainfall runoff significantly affects the concentration of pollutant in rivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]