Influence of low impact development construction on pollutant process of road-deposited sediments and associated heavy metals

Abstract Intense Low-Impact Development (LID) construction in China could lead to increasingly severe stormwater and receiving water pollution due to the lack of appropriate regulation for mitigating pollution from LID construction. Samples of road-deposited sediments (RDS) were collected from 50 study sites at seven LID construction stages and four road hierarchies to analyze the pollution process and determine the size of the region influenced by LID construction. Six heavy metals were analyzed, and the RDS index model was adopted to estimate the potential heavy metal load washed off by stormwater runoff. Analysis of variance revealed that the excavation and gravel filling of rain gardens and excavation of porous pavements were critical LID construction stages that contributed the largest masses of RDS per unit area to road surfaces. Although the concentration of heavy metals at LID construction sites was lower than at sites without LID construction, the load of heavy metals washed off from LID construction was much higher. In addition, the sizes of regions influenced by accumulated RDS from LID construction descended in the following order: arterial road (600–775 m) > collector road (150–200 m) > access road (100–150 m) > laneway (20–30 m). According to the characteristics of LID construction at the study sites, the potential total solid loads in stormwater throughout China were estimated to reach 36,694 t by 2020 and 146,777 t by 2030. According to the results of analysis, several recommendations are provided for designing LID construction regulations to mitigate stormwater pollution.