title: Contamination of stormwater by wastewater: a review of detection methods.
abstract: Even in separate sewer systems, wastewater may find its way into the receiving waters through stormwater sewers. The main reasons for this are cross-connections, illicit connections, overflows and leakages through broken sewers. Such discharges may affect receiving water quality and increase risks to public health and aquatic organisms. Detecting wastewater contamination and locating its points of ingress into storm sewer systems can be a challenging task, which should be addressed using proper methods and indicator parameters. A number of detection methods have already been proposed in this area, yet there is a lack of a general overview of such methods. This literature review summarizes and evaluates the methods used for detecting wastewater in stormwater, including those recently developed. The advantages, weaknesses and limitations of individual methods are discussed. It is concluded that while no single method can as yet produce results in a precise, fast and inexpensive way, the use of human waste specific chemical and microbiological markers, and their innovative sampling, offer the way forward. Guidance for selecting the most effective combinations of detection methods, under specific conditions, is also provided.
authors: Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, 97187 Luleå, Sweden. Electronic address: oleksandr.panasiuk@ltu.se.
authors: Oleksandr
authors: O
authors: Panasiuk
authors: Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, 97187 Luleå, Sweden.
authors: Annelie
authors: A
authors: Hedström
authors: Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, 97187 Luleå, Sweden.
authors: Jiri
authors: J
authors: Marsalek
authors: Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, 97187 Luleå, Sweden.
authors: Richard M
authors: RM
authors: Ashley
authors: Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, 97187 Luleå, Sweden.
authors: Maria
authors: M
authors: Viklander
mesh_terms: D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D011891:Rain; D062065:Wastewater / Q000032:analysis* / Q000382:microbiology; D060753:Water Quality
chemical_list: D062065:Wastewater
keywords: Chemical and microbiological markers; Detection of wastewater; Indicator parameters; Stormwater contamination