Colloidal fractions of persistent organic pollutants in road runoff: sources, generation and innovative treatment techniques
Research Project, 2014 – 2017

One of the major sources of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in urban areas is traffic. Stormwater flushing over road surfaces gathers a variety of metals and organic pollutants. Some of these pollutants easily bind to nanoparticles, e.g. colloids, and consequently become persistent in environment and difficult to remove from the water phase. Techniques used to reduce the amount of pollutants from stormwater include for example stormwater ponds or disc- and sorption filters. Street sweeping and car washing may also be used to reduce the amounts of POPs reaching the environment. However, there is currently not much knowledge on how effective available methods are to remove the colloidal fractions of POPs. The main task of this project is to carry out research to determine, quantify and finally remove colloidal pollutants from road runoff, before they contaminate surface and ground waters. This includes an extensive study of sources, uses and emissions of POPs, generation of colloidal POPs in road environments as well as investigating the effectiveness of existing methods. The research is expected to provide information to propose the best solutions for reducing or removing POPs from traffic and road runoff.

Participants

Ann-Margret Hvitt Strömvall (contact)

Chalmers, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Water Environment Technology

Karin Björklund

Chalmers, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Water Environment Technology

Yuliya Kalmykova

Chalmers, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Water Environment Technology

Anna Markiewicz

Chalmers, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Water Environment Technology

Collaborations

Technical University of Denmark (DTU)

Lyngby, Denmark

University of British Columbia (UBC)

Vancouver, Canada

Funding

Formas

Project ID: 245-2013-1164
Funding Chalmers participation during 2014–2017

Related Areas of Advance and Infrastructure

Sustainable development

Driving Forces

Publications

More information

Project Web Page at Chalmers

http://www.chalmers.se/en/projects/Pages/C...

Latest update

6/8/2015 1