The generation and transport of pollutants in urban systems during a storm event are a multifaceted matter, as it concerns many media, space and time scales. These processes are influenced by a range of factors which do not lend themselves to simple mathematical modeling and the simplistic modeling approaches commonly adopted can lead to gross error. Therefore, the choice of accurate and representative factors is necessary to explain the complexity of the stormwater quality response to a rainfall event or site-to-site differences in stormwater quality. In this context, an in-depth understanding of the relationship between pollutant build-up and wash-off processes and rainfall event characteristics is critically needed. With this aim, two urban catchments, located in Folsom (Sacramento County, California), have been continuously monitored from 2007 to 2010. The rainfall, flow rate, total suspended solid (TSS) concentration, and event mean concentrations/loads of pyrethroid insecticides were used to conduct Principal Component Analysis (PCA), the multivariate statistical analysis used to identify linkages among stormwater quality and rainfall characteristics. This work presents PCA as a useful tool to understand the variables that control the pollutant wash-off process, and how the pesticide concentration and load are related to the dry and wet periods. The analysis highlights the most important transport processes and contributes to future improvements in stormwater quality modeling approaches, particularly as they impact treatment system design.

Influence of rainfall event characteristics on urban pesticide runoff

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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