title: Methodologies for pre-validation of biofilters and wetlands for stormwater treatment.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) systems are frequently used as part of a stormwater harvesting treatment trains (e.g. biofilters (bio-retentions and rain-gardens) and wetlands). However, validation frameworks for such systems do not exist, limiting their adoption for end-uses such as drinking water. The first stage in the validation framework is pre-validation, which prepares information for further validation monitoring.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  A pre-validation roadmap, consisting of five steps, is suggested in this paper. Detailed methods for investigating target micropollutants in stormwater, and determining challenge conditions for biofilters and wetlands, are provided.
  
  
  METHODS
  A literature review was undertaken to identify and quantify micropollutants in stormwater. MUSIC V5.1 was utilized to simulate the behaviour of the systems based on 30-year rainfall data in three distinct climate zones; outputs were evaluated to identify the threshold of operational variables, including length of dry periods (LDPs) and volume of water treated per event.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The paper highlights that a number of micropollutants were found in stormwater at levels above various worldwide drinking water guidelines (eight pesticides, benzene, benzo(a)pyrene, pentachlorophenol, di-(2-ethylhexyl)-phthalate and a total of polychlorinated biphenyls). The 95th percentile LDPs was exponentially related to system design area while the 5th percentile length of dry periods remained within short durations (i.e. 2-8 hours). 95th percentile volume of water treated per event was exponentially related to system design area as a percentage of an impervious catchment area.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The out-comings of this study show that pre-validation could be completed through a roadmap consisting of a series of steps; this will help in the validation of stormwater treatment systems.
authors.affiliation: Monash Water for Liveability, Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; CRC for Water Sensitive Cities, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Kefeng
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Randelovic
authors.affiliation: Monash Water for Liveability, Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; CRC for Water Sensitive Cities, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Larissa M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Aguiar
authors.affiliation: CSIRO Land and Water Research Flagship, Waite Laboratories, Adelaide SA, Australia.
authors.forename: Declan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Page
authors.affiliation: Monash Water for Liveability, Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; CRC for Water Sensitive Cities, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Environmental and Public Health Microbiology Laboratory, Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: David T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: McCarthy
authors.affiliation: Monash Water for Liveability, Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; CRC for Water Sensitive Cities, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Deletic
mesh_terms: D060766:Drinking Water / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D011891:Rain; D012621:Seasons; D014872:Water Movements; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014887:Weather; D053833:Wetlands
chemical_list: D060766:Drinking Water; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical