There is growing interest for the installation of green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) to improve stormwater control, increase infiltration of stormwater, and improve receiving water body quality. Planning level tools are needed to inform municipal scale decisions on the type and extent of GSI to apply. Here, a modified methodology is developed for the EPA Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) to create SWMM for Low Impact Technology Evaluation (SWWM-LITE) that enables municipal scale assessment of stormwater control measure (SCM) performance with minimal input data requirements and low processing time. Hydrologic outputs of SWMM-LITE are compared to those for SWMM and the National Stormwater Calculator (SWC) to assess the performance of SWMM-LITE. Three scenarios including the baseline without SCMs and the installation of varying SCMs were investigated. Across the three scenarios, SWMM-LITE estimates of annual average hydrologic performance (runoff, infiltration, and evaporation) were within +/−0.1% of estimates from a rigorously developed SWMM model in the City of Fort Collins, CO, for an evaluation of 30 years of continuous simulation. Analysis conducted for 2 year (y), 10 y, and 100 y storm events showed less than +/−2.5% difference between SWMM and SWMM-LITE hydrologic outputs. SWC provided reasonable estimates of hydrologic parameters for the case study area, but was designed for site level analyses of performance of SCMs rather than on the municipal scale. A sensitivity analysis revealed that the most sensitive parameters were primarily consistent for the SWMM-LITE and the complete SWMM. SWMM-LITE has low input data requirements and processing time and can be applied for assessing the hydrologic performance of SCMs to inform planning level decisions.

Hydrodynamics in biotrickling filters can be strongly influenced by packing material geometry and hydraulic loading rate. While it is generally accepted that increasing wetted area in a biotrickling filter can improve process performance, additional research on synthetic packing materials and parameters that improve hydrodynamics, resulting in increased wetted area, is desirable. For this research, a series of tracer tests was conducted to compare hydrodynamics in bench scale biotrickling filters with three different packing materials under three different flow rates. Results suggest that of the three packing materials, the material with the highest specific surface area resulted in channeling and excessive formation of stagnant zones within the biotrickling filters. Liquid distribution through the biotrickling filters substantially improved at a hydraulic loading rate of 1.9 m∕hr for all packing materials, but based on these experiments, improvements were minimal when the hydraulic loading rate was incre...

The historical division of water management into different sectors, with financially and technologically driven decision processes, makes taking a more holistic approach to finding sustainable solutions for urban water management difficult. Here, a planning framework for Integrated Urban Water Management (IUWM) that evolved during a two-year study evaluating alternative strategies for dual water supply within a local government context is described. The planning framework was developed to overcome the obstacles that surfaced over the course of the study. It provides a structured approach to strategic decision making that integrates triple bottom line (TBL), multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA), uncertainty and sensitivity analyses, and participatory decision making into an exploration of water supply alternatives. TBL assured stakeholders that the decisions considered the financial, social, and environmental performance. MCDA provided visibility into the benefits and trade-offs of the alternatives by providing a quantitative method for comparing alternatives that incorporates incommensurate performance indicators and priorities of multiple stakeholders. Uncertainty and sensitivity analyses addressed concerns regarding decision risk and improved transparency into inputs driving uncertainty in the analysis. Finally, a flexible participatory process helped to circumvent socio-institutional barriers by adapting the methodology and increasing cooperation among stakeholders and multidisciplinary experts. The resulting collaborative, risk-informed, TBL-MCDA (CRTM) planning framework helps to refine the feasible set of alternatives by providing more transparency into the drivers, technologies, and stakeholders influencing the decision. The planning framework increased the number of participants that were involved in the study, increased interaction between participants, changed the structure of the decision problem, increased the number of performance indicators considered, and improved stakeholder cooperation in the decision process.

Waste source separation including separate treatment of graywater and black water (BW) is gaining popularity as a sustainable integrated water management practice. Along that line, feasibility of anaerobic digestion of BW (toilet water only) from a building occupied with laboratory and office space was investigated using a pilot scale (114 L) upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) operated at an average temperature of 28oC. The goal of the reactor was to achieve removal of organics while also generating methane gas for use as a source of energy. Reactor operational OLR varied between 0.21-0.39 kg COD m−3 d−1 and HRT varied from 2.6-4.0 days. Substantial removal of COD (72%), TSS and VSS (95%), and indicator organisms (1.4 log E. coli & 1.1 log fecal coliforms) was achieved over the study period. Methane biogas (61% CH4) produced during digestion provided potential as a source of renewable energy generated through processing the BW.