Estimating Pollutant Mass Accumulation on Highways during Dry Periods

For determining the accumulated pollutant mass on highways, two years of monitoring data were used from eight highway sites in southern California. Buildup over antecedent dry days was calculated from mass washed off from the following storm and retained pollutant mass. Mass accumulation rates were determined for total suspended solids (TSS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), oil and grease, total Kjeldahl nitrogen, and total phosphorus, and are reported in g/m^2-day. A revised buildup model is proposed using an alternative modeling approach to describe buildup during dry days between storms. The result shows that, between 1 and 10 antecedent dry days, the pollutant mass buildup rates are determined to be 0.544 g/m^2-day for TSS, 0.114 g/m^2-day for COD, and 0.0113 g/m^2-day for oil and grease. Buildup rates decline in subsequent periods rates decreased by 79% for TSS, 78% for COD, and 61% less for oil and grease in the following 10–70 day period.