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N, P, and COD conveyed by urban runoff: a comparative research between a city and a town in the Taihu Basin, China

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Abstract

Stormwater runoff containing various pollutants exerts adverse effects on receiving water bodies and deteriorates the urban aquatic environment. Although numerous studies have been conducted on runoff pollution, research comparing its characteristics in cities with those in towns is rare in the literature. To close this gap, the present study was conducted. The instantaneous concentrations of ammonia-N, TN, TP, and COD during the rainfall events in the town were higher than those in the city in most conditions. The outfall concentrations increased with the increase of rainfall intensity. EMCs (the average value of EMC) and CV (coefficient of variation) of TN and DTN in the town were higher than those in the city, which may lie in the differences of urban environment planning and management, road cleaning methods, garbage disposal methods, industrial enterprise, etc. On the one hand, EMCs and CV of TP in the city’s industrial areas were lowest among three functional areas, while on the other hand, in the town it was in the commercial areas rather than the industrial areas that EMCs and CV were the lowest, which may be caused by the low level of economic development of small towns in China. The concentrations of COD in the town were generally higher than that in the city. Compared with the city, the correlation among COD and various forms of N was stronger in the town, which may illustrate a stronger similarity of pollutant sources in the town. According to the results, road runoff in the town contributed more to urban aquatic pollution; thus, further research should concentrate on this particular type of runoff.

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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article (and its supplementary information files).

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Acknowledgments

We thank International Science Editing (http://www.internationalscienceediting.com) for editing the manuscript.

Funding

This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (grant nos. 51739002, 51479064, 51979079, and 51879078), excellent scientific and technological innovation team in Jiangsu Province, and the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD).

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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Xiaodong Liu, Peng Wang, Zulin Hua, and Li Zhao. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Li Zhao, and the revision of the manuscript was performed by Li Zhao, Yuan Zhang, and Hongqin Xue. All authors commented on the previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Xiaodong Liu.

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All authors whose names appear on the submission agreed with the content and gave explicit consent to submit, and they obtained consent from the responsible authorities at the institute/organization where the work has been carried out, before the work is submitted.

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We declare that we have no financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that can inappropriately influence our work, and there is no professional or other personal interest of any nature or kind in any product, service, and/or company that could be construed as influencing the position presented in our manuscript.

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Responsible Editor: Xianliang Yi

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Highlight

Instantaneous concentrations of ammonia-N, TN, TP, and COD were generally higher in the town.

The EMCs of TN and DTN in the town were 10–60% higher than those in the city.

In the city, EMCs and CV of TP in the industrial areas were lowest among three functional areas.

In the town, EMCs and CV of TP in the commercial areas were lowest among three functional areas.

COD and various forms of N may share common sources.

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Zhao, L., Liu, X., Wang, P. et al. N, P, and COD conveyed by urban runoff: a comparative research between a city and a town in the Taihu Basin, China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 56686–56695 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14565-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14565-3

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