Area efficient stormwater treatment
While the above described diffuse pollution should be controlled as much as possible by source controls (e.g., substitutions of harmless materials), there are numerous cases where this is not feasible and the only available remedy of eco-toxicological risks is stormwater treatment.
The truly dissolved fraction of pollutants in stormwater is the most hazardous fraction to living organisms. That is, heavy metals have high solubility in the aquatic elements, and can therefore be absorbed by e.g., humans. Therefore, it is necessary to treat heavily metal-contaminated stormwater prior to its discharge to the environment. Chemical processes and membrane technologies (e.g., nano-materials) have been developed for the removal of such pollutants in wastewater. However, since the characteristic of stormwater is totally different from the characteristic of wastewater, those processes are not suited without adaptation for stormwater treatment. LTU has done some preliminary studies on the topic, but in-depth studies are needed, for the development of sustainable products and processes for treatment of e.g., truly dissolved fractions in heavily polluted stormwater.
Heléne Österlund, Annelie Hedström and Inga Herrmann
Contact
Heléne Österlund
- Associate Professor
- 0920-492294
- helene.osterlund@ltu.se
- Heléne Österlund
Updated: