Retention Ponds as a Filtering Mechanism for Runoff Water

Kurt LaneDepartment of Biological Sciences, York College of

Pennsylvania

Introduction •Retention ponds are used to collect the large quantities of rain water runoff from the impervious surfaces and gradually releases the water which helps stop erosion.

•Retention basins allow control of high volumes of water, but also collect rainwater sediment and pollutants.

•The runoff water collects pollutants from the roads, driveways, fields, lawns, and other surfaces.

•Ideally, the pollution will settle to the bottom of the pond. while the cleaner water is discharged from the top of the reservoir.

•Beneficial, because the pollutants are contained in the storm water basin, thus keeping pollution out of rivers and lakes

•Keeping the pollution in the ponds and allowing the less polluted water to continue on to the main water ways will protect the aquatic life in these waters.

•Exposure to heavy metals through food and drinking water is a major health concern.

Review of Literature

•Pollutants from sealed surfaces such as parking lots and roadways are found to be quickly exhausted by precipitation events. Storm water management, generally, is a "pulsed" system (that is, during a storm event, the "first flush" of storm water contains the greatest concentration of pollutants) (Krien 2000)

•Concentration of heavy metals from road runoff include Zinc and Lead, the main source of lead if fuel, while the main source of Zinc is hypothesized to be from brake dust or corrosion of metallic guard rails along roadways (Klimaszewska 2007)

•Fish present in the retention storm water ponds contain significantly higher (P < 0.005) concentrations of cadmium, nickel, copper, lead, and zinc than fish from non-storm water treatment ponds (Campbell 1994).

Table 1. The mean heavy metal concentration (mg/kg wet weight) of redear sunfish collected from storm water ponds and control cites, December 1991- March 1992, Orlando Florida.

Objective •This research should provide concluding evidence that retention ponds are working as a filter to keep our main waterways less polluted.

•Analysis of water entering the ponds compared to the ponds discharge will give data needed to prove heavy metals are indeed being contained in the storm water ponds.

• Zebrafish bioassay can provide direct evidence that retention basins are protecting the aquatic life in the main waterways by keeping much of the heavy metal pollutants contained in the basin.

Hypothesis•Retention ponds act as a filtering mechanism for runoff pollution by allowing pollutants to settle out of the water, thus permitting less polluted water to continue to the main source waterways.Research Design

Retention Ponds(n=3)

Influent Water

Effluent Water

Heavy Metal Analysis

Heavy Metal Analysis

Zerbafish Bioassay

Zerbafish Bioassay

Expected Results

Literature Review

Campbell, K.R. 1994. Concentrations of Heavy Metals Associated with Urban Runoff in Fish Living in Stormwater Treatment Ponds. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 27:352-356.

Klimaszewska, K., Polkowska, Z., Namiesnik, J. 2007. Influence of Mobile Sources on Pollution of Runoff Waters from Roads with High Traffic Intensity. Polish J. of Environmental Stud. 16:889-897.

Krein, A., Schorer, M. 2000. Road Runoff Pollution by Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and its Contribution to River Sediments. Water Research 34:4110-4115.

Lee, P., Touray, J., Baillif, P., Ildefonse, J. 1997. Heavy Metal Contamination of Settling Particles in a Retention Pond along the A-71 motorway in Sologne, France. The Science of the Total Environment 201:1-15.

Dan, Li., Cailing, Lu., Ju, Wang., Wei, Hu. 2008. Developmental Mechanisms of Arsenite Toxicity in Zebrafish Embryos. Aquatic Toxicology 91: 229-237.AcknowledgementI would like to thank Dr. Bruce Smith for his advice and guidance throughout my research.

Total Mean Length (mm)

9 days 15 days

Control 4.37 (n=720) 4.75 (n=720)

Influent water 3.8 (n=350) 4.36 (n=225)

Effluent Water 4.11 (n=700) 4.51 (n=676)

Heavy Metal Analysis

Zebrafish Bioassay

Number of Embryos Hatched (n=720)

48 hpf 56 hpf 72 hpf

Control 300 600 720

Influent Water

0 200 350

Effluent water

250 450 700