A Novel Laboratory-Scale Test Method to Determine the Service Time of Decentralized Plants Treating Street Surface Runoff

Abstract

In a project initiated by the Bavarian Environment Agency (Bayerisches Landesamt für Umwelt, LfU) a laboratoryscale test method was developed to determine the service time and efficiencies to remove dissolved heavy metals in decentralized water treatment systems based on standard procedures proposed by the Deutsches Institut für Bautechnik (DIBt). This method was evaluated in the laboratory using commercial treatment systems, which have already national approvals by the DIBt for treating street surface runoff, and the results are presented for one channel system. The novel method developed during this study enables a standardised and more accurate estimation of service intervals of decentralized treatment systems and therefore provides regulatory authorities, designers and operators with a more objective basis for performance assessment.