Effectiveness of street sweeping in urban runoff pollution control

Abstract

In March 1982, the Illinois State Water Survey completed a three-year study for the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to determine the effects of municipal street sweeping on urban storm runoff quality. The project was part of the Nationwide Urban Runoff Program sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In Champaign, Illinois, four urban drainage basins featuring separate sewers and ranging in size from 16 to 55 acres (6.5−22.3 ha) were instrumented for runoff event monitoring and sampling. Data collection included recording of precipitation and storm runoff and sampling of runoff and atmospheric fallout. A telemetry system was developed and installed to link the remote sampling sites to a minicomputer which automatically controlled the collection and storage of data and the instruction for sampling. During 1980 and 1981, samples were collected and analyzed for total concentrations of solids, metals, and nutrients for 90 events. A street dirt sampling program designed to measure the total loads of material on the streets was conducted over the same period. Determinations were made of the particle size distributions and constituent concentrations in the street loads. Municipal street sweeping at different frequencies was practiced on the basins during the monitoring period. The procedures used in data collection and the results obtained from the sampling programs are presented and discussed. For the conditions monitored, street sweeping is shown to be ineffective as a management practice for urban storm runoff quality control.