The paper describes a theoretical analysis and a numerical assessment of pollutant loads discharged from Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) - with or without stormwater tanks – into the environment.
The theoretical approach was based on certain simple assumptions, reasonably valid if the time scale of the problem involved is long enough (month/ year), in that single-event simulation is not interesting at all. Two main parameters related to the rainfall regime were found to be significant: the total volume of water discharged from the structure and the effective mixing factor between sanitary sewage and storm runoff.
A numerical assessment of these two parameters was then made, on an annual basis, by means of a long-term rainfall series recorded in Milan, Italy.
Both the “simple” CSO structure and the CSO coupled with stormwater tanks (on-line or off-line) were considered. The resulting graphs make it possible to evaluate the total annual load discharged from CSOs into the environment and the potential reduction obtained by adding a storage capacity to the overflow.
This estimation could be of interest for persistent pollutants (phosphorus, heavy metals) discharged into low-recirculation bodies (lakes, estuaries, lagoons, closed seas).
