Abstract
Uncontrolled urbanization and growing industrialization are major sources of pollutants that affect the urban stormwater quality and, therefore, the receiving aquatic environment. The concentrations of heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb, and Zn), and Pb isotope ratios in surface sediment samples obtained from SMART holding and storage ponds located in Kuala Lumpur were investigated using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The highest metal concentrations were found at the SMART holding pond (SHP), the first recipient of urban stormwater runoff from the SMART system catchment area. As, Cd, Pb, and Zn are the dominant metal contaminants in the sediments of both SMART ponds, with values exceeding the average shale values. According to contamination indices applied to evaluate the environmental risk caused by heavy metals, As had the highest values among the metals examined, denoting moderate contamination. Hence, it can frequently cause harmful effects on the sediment-living species. The Pb isotope ratios (206Pb/207Pb and 208Pb/207Pb) indicated that coal combustion was the foremost source of anthropogenic Pb in the sediments of both SMART ponds. The control of coal combustion and sites undergoing intensive human activities should be given priority in the foreseeable future.
Highlights
Since the stormwater management and road tunnel (SMART) Project began operations in 2007, no studies of heavy metal contamination and tracing of its sources in SMART holding and storage pond sediments have been published. To fill this gap this paper aims to: (i) determine the heavy metal contamination levels in the surface sediment of both ponds to provide preliminary baseline data for SMART ponds contamination control; (ii) assess the environmental risk associated with selected metals using certain contamination indexes such as the enrichment factor (EF), the pollution load index (PLI), the Geoaccumulation index (Igeo), and contamination factor (CF) sediment quality guidelines (SQGs); and (iii) trace the source of these metals released to the SMART ponds using the Pb isotopic fingerprinting technique
The TOM of the sediment samples varies between the ponds
The relatively high TOM value in SMART holding pond (SHP) could be due to the fact that it is the first recipient of stormwater runoff receiving high loads of organic pollutants from industrial and residential areas in its catchment
Summary
Valley which is one of the most densely populated and fastest urbanized catchments in Sustainability 2021, 13, 9020. The treatment of urban stormwater by stormwater ponds is known to be effective for both water quality improvement and storm flow management, and it has become widely implemented over the last two decades [9]. Through three mechanisms, these ponds are capable of eliminating numerous groups of contaminants such as trace metals, pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and nutrients metal pollutants
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