Abstract
In human society, there is a demand for sustainable solutions for water preservation and efficient treatment systems. An important water reservoir is road runoff defined as rainwater leaching from roads, loading micropollutants and infiltrating the soil. We aimed to study this poorly understood feature using large-scale metabolomic analysis coupled with analysis of soil physico-chemical properties and molecular chemical similarity enrichment. A total of 2406 micropollutants were assayed to understand their distribution and assess the trapping abilities of a road runoff infiltration system composed of a sedimentation pond and an infiltration pond. Here, we confirm the essential role of the infiltration pond in preventing environmental contamination and propose a model correlating micropollutant abundance and the soil physico-chemical properties. We demonstrate that sand in infiltration ponds is a key player, helping retain 86% of the micropollutant abundance and propose a model that could be easily applied for road runoff management.
Highlights
The preservation of water resources is a pressing concern
Some laboratories worked on larger lists of suspected pollutants or performed research in a non-targeted manner, showing the presence of drugs and pesticides in runoff water or groundwater[21,22], these substances are usually not expected to be present in these matrices and are not searched for
The studied system is composed of a sedimentation pond from which water and sediment were analysed, and an infiltration pond from which soil was sampled at different depths (0–10, −80 and −165 cm)
Summary
The preservation of water resources is a pressing concern. Road runoff is a non-negligible water input originating from the leaching of roads by rainwater. Infiltration experiments have been conducted to estimate the fate of pollutants under laboratory conditions, using reconstituted soil columns and artificial runoff water[14]. Few studies were conducted under real conditions[15] as presented here, but the results were promising: these studies showed a reduction in the environmental impact of roads without endangering road integrity, and an increase in aquifer recharge[16,17]. Some laboratories worked on larger lists of suspected pollutants or performed research in a non-targeted manner, showing the presence of drugs and pesticides in runoff water or groundwater[21,22], these substances are usually not expected to be present in these matrices and are not searched for
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