Research
Characterization of Urban Stormwater Quality for Different Land uses in Rajshahi City, Bangladesh
Urbanization results increased fraction of impervious surfaces, which leads to the generation of pollutants through various anthropogenic activities during dry periods and washout these pollutants during rainfall events that finally enter into the receiving water bodies. This further deteriorate the water quality and unbalance the aquatic ecosystem. Hence, characterization of urban stormwater quality is critically important for selecting a suitable treatment system to safeguard the receiving water sources. The paper focused on the analysis of urban stormwater quality parameters (e.g., pH, turbidity, electric conductivity (EC), suspended solids (SS) and bio-chemical oxygen demand (BOD) for three different land uses such as residential, commercial and, industrial. The stormwater samples were collected from three different landuse areas in Rajshahi City. The laboratory test results showed that SS, turbidity, EC were found significant for industrial areas where pH and BOD show higher value in residential and industrial areas, respectively. The study results will provide guidelines to the stormwater management authority for the selection of suitable treatment systems to protect the receiving water quality for different land types in Rajshahi city.
Impact of Land Use on Urban Storm Water Quality in Rajshahi City, Bangladesh
Land use characteristics such as urban form, impervious cover significantly impact the water environments with increased runoff and the degradation of water quality. Hence, storm water management becomes a prime concern to safeguard the receiving water quality of the surrounding environment. The paper primarily concentrated to investigate the impact of land use characteristics on the variability of urban storm water quality in Rajshahi City, Bangladesh. Storm water runoff samples were collected from three different land use areas such as residential (Aloker Mor, New Market), commercial (Zero Point, Shaheb Bazar) and industrial (Bscic, Sapura) in Rajshahi City, Bangladesh. Collected storm water samples were tested in the laboratory to determine the physical (temperature, pH, turbidity, electric conductivity (EC)) and chemical parameters (total suspended solids (SS), biological oxygen demand (BOD)) using standard quality control and test methods specified in APHA 1999. The test result shows that the residential storm water demonstrated the cleanest appearing with the lowest value of turbidity, suspended solids whereas the industrial had recorded the worst storm water quality comparing to others. On the other hand, BOD was found highest in commercial land use area. The study results will guide to storm water management of natural treatment systems for treating the storm water pollutants from specific land use.
