Understanding spatiotemporal variability of in-stream water quality in urban environments – A case study of Melbourne, Australia

B Shi; PM Bach; A Lintern; K Zhang; RA Coleman; L Metzeling; DT McCarthy; A Deletic

Journal article

Understanding spatiotemporal variability of in-stream water quality in urban environments – A case study of Melbourne, Australia

B Shi, PM Bach, A Lintern, K Zhang, RA Coleman, L Metzeling, DT McCarthy, A Deletic

Journal of Environmental Management | ACADEMIC PRESS LTD- ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD | Published : 2019

DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.06.006

Abstract

To support sustainable urban planning and the design of water pollution mitigation strategies, the spatial and temporal trends of water quality in urban streams needs to be further understood. This study analyses over ten years of surface water quality data from 53 upstream catchments (20 of them predominated by a single type of land use) and two lowland sites across Greater Melbourne, Australia. We evaluated the impact of various catchment characteristics, especially urban land uses, on spatial and temporal urban water quality trends. Here, we focused on common urban pollutants: total suspended solids (TSS), total phosphorous (TP), total nitrogen (TN), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu) and nickel (Ni)..

View full abstract

University of Melbourne Researchers

Rhys Coleman Author

Grants

Awarded by Environment Protection Authority Victoria

Funding Acknowledgements

This project is funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC), Linkage Project LP160100241, titled "Advancing water pollution emissions modelling in cities of the future", EPA Victoria, Australia, Melbourne Water, Australia and Know City Council, Australia. We also appreciate the help and support from Caroline Carvalho, Danielle Gerente and Johnathan Wright of Knox City Council, Trish Grant of Melbourne Water, Alice Phung of EPA Victoria and Andrew Allan of Manningham City Council.