Detection and Removal of Priority Substances and Emerging Pollutants from Stormwater: Case Study of the Kolobrzeska Collector, Gdansk, Poland

Progressive urban development affects environmental balance and disrupts the hydrologic cycle, in which rainfall plays a significant role. Since rainwater is considered a valuable resource of the environment, many technical solutions are implemented that enable effective rainwater management. On the other hand, stormwater runoff from urban areas contains numerous (also toxic) substances, and therefore should be properly treated. In this study, a multistage constructed wetland (MCW) pilot installation was used to remove selected groups of priority substances and emerging pollutants from rainwater discharged from the urbanized catchment of the Kolobrzeska stormwater collector in Gdansk, Poland. The obtained results show that rainwater runoff was characterized by a variable concentrations of heavy metals (Zn, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, Hg), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (benzo(a)pyrene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, phenanthrene, fluoranthene and pyrene) and microplastics. Depending on the hydraulic load of the bed, the reduction efficiency for heavy metals ranged from 26.19 to 100%, and for microplastics from 77.16 to 100%, whereas for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons it was consistently high, and equaled 100%.

Automated summary

Progressive urban development can disrupt the hydrologic cycle and affect environmental balance. This study used a multistage constructed wetland pilot installation to effectively remove heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and microplastics from rainfall runoff in an urbanized area.