Master of Environmental Science, Miami University, 2007, Environmental Sciences

The purpose of this report is to describe the activities and accomplishments of my internship with the Butler Soil and Water Conservation District (Butler SWCD) from February to August 2006. This internship focused on natural resource conservation, primarily through erosion and sediment control, stormwater management, and water quality protection in urban and urbanizing areas of Butler County, Ohio. Applications of natural resource management in an urban setting are fully discussed as well as primary position responsibilities such as stormwater pollution prevention plan reviews and development site inspections to ensure compliance with local and state regulations. Strategies to enhance existing natural resource management, such as the revision of County erosion and sediment control regulations and the creation of a riparian setback ordinance, in addition to the implementation of best management practices (BMPs) of the Butler County Phase II Stormwater Management Plan are explained.

Committee: Mark Boardman (Advisor) Subjects: Environmental Sciences

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2017, Geological Sciences (Arts and Sciences)

Urban runoff can come into contact with a range of pollutants. Metal pollutants can pose an especially significant threat to water quality. This study focused on metals: Cd, Zn, Cu, Pb, Fe and Mn. These metals were chosen after previous studies reported finding them in first flush stormwater collected throughout the Midwestern US. This study tested the effectiveness of SR-HP forms to remove metals from DI water with standard solutions of metals added. Two sizes of SR-HP forms were constructed from sodium percarbonate (Na2CO3·1.5H2O2) salts and resin and release rates were quantified. The smaller size released hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) at a steady average rate of 0.063 mg/min after 6.2 hours. One proof-of-concept treatment test was conducted utilizing smaller SR-HP forms and DI water containing dissolved metals. During the treatment test, SR-HP released H2O2 and alkalinity at the rates ranging from 1.35 mM to 0.135 mM and 0.90 mM to 0.09 mM, respectively. The pH of metal loaded deionized water was raised from 1.74 to 1.87 indicating slight neutralization by added carbonate. This resulted in removal efficacies ranging from 4.17% - 0.65%, 4.52% - +0.76%, 8.59% - 2.92%, 7.44% – 0.29%, 0.52% - +2.24% for Cd, Cu, Fe, Pb and Zn respectively. No consistent treatment was evident for all metals except for iron, which saw a modest removal of 8.6%. This 8.6 removal was most likely due to Fe2+ being used during Fenton's reaction. This result indicates effective removal by SR-HP could be feasible, especially if the pH is more alkaline. Further investigation of SR-HP form performance in a wide range of pHs could be possible.

Committee: Eung Seok Lee (Advisor); Greg Nadon (Committee Member) Subjects: Analytical Chemistry; Aquaculture; Aquatic Sciences; Area Planning and Development; Chemical Engineering; Chemistry; Environmental Geology; Environmental Science; Environmental Studies; Experiments; Geology; Hydrologic Sciences; Hydrology; Organic Chemistry

Master of Science, University of Toledo, 2015, Civil Engineering

Increases in impervious surface, a direct result of urbanization, have resulted in the impairment of the natural water cycle. The transition from pervious vegetated cover to impervious pavement and building cover results in greater surface runoff generation and decreased groundwater recharge. The increase in runoff volumes results in greater pollutant delivery to receiving streams and disrupts the natural stream hydrology. The frequency of high intensity precipitation events is increasing due to global climate change, exacerbating the effects of urban runoff on the water system. The water quantity and quality impairments associated with urban stormwater runoff can be mitigated using bioretention LID controls. The overarching objective of this project was to assist in the development of a cohesive and coordinated plan for implementation of green stormwater strategies in Toledo - Lucas County. In this study, a combination of SWMM5 modeling and GIS analyses were used to identify candidate properties for bioretention, in three urban land use types, throughout Lucas County, Ohio. The GIS analysis using soil, land-use and parcel data identified 7,159 bioretention candidate parcels in vacant residential, multi-family residential and commercial properties. SWMM5 modeling results applied to the identified parcels estimated a potential total volume reduction of over four billion liters per year, generated over 1140 treated urban hectares. The results of the study support current bioretention design standards and note the benefit of the utilization of bioretention in some Hydrologic Soil Group D soils. This work supports future studies utilizing similar methodology to plan and prioritize LID control implementation and to estimate large scale pollutant removal performance.

Committee: Cyndee Gruden Dr. (Advisor); Defne Apul Dr. (Committee Member); Richard Becker Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Civil Engineering; Engineering; Environmental Engineering; Geography; Water Resource Management

MS, Kent State University, 2015, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Earth Sciences

Impervious surfaces in urban environments lead to greater runoff from storm events, overwhelm storm sewer systems, and degrade aquatic ecosystems. Disconnecting impervious surfaces from storm water systems and redirecting the flow to decentralized green infrastructure treatments can lessen the detrimental effects on urban streams. Most research on green infrastructure has focused on the performance of individual elements, whereas this project addressed the question of hydrologic impacts and pollution reduction of street-scale investments using green infrastructure, such as front yard rain gardens, street side bioretention gardens, and rain barrels. The West Creek Watershed is a 36 km2 subwatershed of the Cuyahoga River that contains ~35% impervious surface. Before-after-control-impact design paired two streets with 0.1-0.2 ha. lots and two streets with 0.05-0.075 ha. lots. Flow meters were installed to measure storm sewer discharge pre– and post- green infrastructure implementation. Peak discharge and total storm volume have been reduced with the addition of green infrastructure. Results for centroid lag-to-peak, centroid lag, lag-to-peak, and peak lag-to-peak show that lag times increased on the treatment streets. For peak discharge, total storm volume, and lag time, the presence or absence of underdrains from the design of the green infrastructure appeared to have an effect on the results. Water samples collected at the end of one set of treatment and control streets' storm sewers were analyzed for heavy metal (Fe, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn) concentrations using ICP-OES. The pollution reduction potential of the green infrastructure treatments could not be determined due to the lack of pre-treatment sampling. However, concentrations of trace metals on both the treatment and control street were on the low end for typical urban runoff. Magnetics sampling concluded that anthropogenic inputs were present in both tree lawns and bioretention gardens. A survey of homeowners (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Anne Jefferson Ph.D. (Advisor); David Singer Ph.D. (Committee Member); Reid Coffman Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Environmental Management; Hydrology; Social Research

Master of Environmental Science, Miami University, 2010, Environmental Sciences

This paper describes the projects and duties of the Stormwater Intern at the Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments in Toledo, Ohio. Each year, interns focus on one or several main projects for the Stormwater Coalition, a group of jurisdictions in Northwest Ohio. The internship focus was to assist local jurisdictions with the Pollution Prevention/Good Housekeeping Practices requirements of their stormwater permits. Other major projects of the internship that are covered in this report include creating a Stormwater Management Standards Manual brochure, assisting partnering organizations with projects, and helping fulfill the “Green Infrastructure” requirements of a federal grant.

Committee: Catherine Almquist PhD (Advisor); John Maingi PhD (Advisor); Mark Boardman PhD (Advisor) Subjects: Environmental Science

Master of Environmental Science, Miami University, 2008, Environmental Sciences

The purpose of this report is to demonstrate the duties and achievements of my internshipwith Warren County Soil and Water Conservation District from January 2008 to June 2008. This internship focused on soil and water conservation through sediment and erosion control, stormwater management, public involvement, and Geographic Information Systems mapping. Ohio and Warren County sediment and erosion control regulations are discussed along with the regulation and implementation of best management practices (BMPs) on construction sites. Stormwater management methods such as rain gardens and stormwater basins are described. Public involvement is detailed in outreach and education activities. Applications for using Geographic Information Systems to map stormwater structures and streams are described.

Committee: Dr. Adolph Greenberg (Advisor); Dr. George Esber (Other); Dr. Sandi Woy-Hazleton (Other) Subjects: Environmental Science

Master of Environmental Science, Miami University, 2005, Environmental Sciences

The purpose of this report is to describe the activities of my internship with the Butler Soil and Water Conservation District (Butler SWCD) from May 2004 through February 2005. Since the primary focus of the internship was urban resource conservation, this report summarizes principles of stormwater management, water resource protection and sediment and erosion control specifically related to urban landscapes. Individual and collective applications of management strategies during the internship are fully discussed. Principle responsibilities included drafting new standards for stormwater pollution prevention plans (SWPPP) and reviewing individual site plans against those standards while continuously inspecting compliance with state and local regulations. A significant portion of time was spent developing ordinances and executing best management practices (BMPs) spelled out the Butler County Phase II Stormwater Management Plan, and numerous special projects are described.

Committee: William Renwick (Advisor) Subjects:

Master of Science, University of Akron, 2024, Civil Engineering

Compost blankets have been used as a management practice over highway slopes, especially with disturbed soils, to mitigate runoff and soil erosion. However, it is yet to be employed in Ohio due to lack of research and specifications. This research focused on efficiency of 1”, 1.5” and 2” of Biosolids and Yard-waste compost blanket over 6:1 and 4:1 slope of disturbed soil in a lab-scale rainfall simulation, followed by field study on 1.5” Biosolids and Yard-waste. The assessment of vegetation coverage showed that Biosolids significantly outperformed both Yard-waste and control treatments (p<0.05). Grass density and health were notably better in Biosolids, although increasing compost thickness did not proportionally improve vegetation growth. Both Biosolids and Yard-waste effectively reduced runoff generation, with 2” Biosolids performing the best by reducing runoff volume by 96% to 98%. Compost blankets reduced total suspended solids (TSS) significantly compared to controls (p<0.05), particularly 2” Biosolids, which released the least TSS with almost 99.99% reduction. For Soluble Reactive Phosphorus (SRP), 2” Biosolids were the most effective treatment in reducing losses by 92% to 96% than control cases. Nitrate loss was not significantly reduced by any treatments on the 6:1 slope, but 1.5” Yard-waste (98%-99% reduction) and 2” Biosolids (86%-95% reduction) performed better than other treatments on the 4:1 slope. Both Biosolids and Yard-waste showed reduced Total Nitrogen (TN) and Total Potassium (TK) release compared to controls. With 98% to 100% TN reduction, 1” Yard-waste performed better than other treatments in both slopes. For TK, 1.5” Yard-waste had the highest reduction of 91% in 6:1 slope, but for 4:1 slope it was 1” Yard-waste with 84% reduction. Field tests compared 1.5” Biosolids and 1.5” Yard-waste with vegetated and unvegetated control cases, which demonstrated healthy vegetation growth in Biosolids within six weeks, requiring trimming to adhere to guid (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Teresa Cutright (Advisor); Ala Abbas (Committee Member); David Roke (Committee Member); Nariman Mahabadi (Committee Member) Subjects: Civil Engineering; Engineering; Environmental Engineering; Experiments; Geotechnology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2024, Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Worldwide urbanization and the concurrent increase in impermeable surfaces, such as parking lots, driveways, sidewalks, and other structures, have led to challenges managing runoff in cities. Improperly managed stormwater poses threats to public health, private property, and the environment. Countries worldwide are adopting the use of nature-based approaches known as green infrastructure (GI) to holistically treat environmental stressors resulting from urban development. GI is designed to mimic the natural, pre-development hydrology of the developed area while concurrently improving runoff quality. There are several GI approaches, including permeable pavements (PP), bioretention cells (BRC), and constructed stormwater wetlands (CSW), which can reduce runoff volume, delay and extend runoff timing, improve discharge water quality, and mitigate peak runoff rates from highly impervious catchments. PPs have been used worldwide for decades, but these systems remain infrequently implemented for stormwater management because of ambiguity related to maintaining their long-term hydraulic functionality due to clogging which reduces the PP surface infiltration rate (SIR) and therefore its performance. Measurements of the SIR can inform the extent of clogging, but at present there is a dearth of guidance on how to incorporate SIR data into dynamic PP maintenance plans. In the first chapter of my dissertation, I conducted a review of existing guidance documents to describe the current state of practice for SIR measurement methodologies, PP maintenance guidance, and the use of SIR outcomes to inform PP maintenance plans. Standard and alternative SIR assessment methodologies were described and compared, and modifications and recommendations were provided to clarify testing methods, streamline testing efficiency, and reduce the burden of SIR monitoring. Suggested modifications included requiring regular SIR testing, shortening the duration of SIR tests, and allowing for usage of mo (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Ryan Winston (Advisor); Jay Dorsey (Committee Member); Jon Witter (Committee Member); Jiyoung Lee (Committee Member); Jay Martin (Committee Member) Subjects: Ecology; Environmental Engineering; Environmental Management; Hydrology; Microbiology; Water Resource Management

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2024, Entomology

Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) remain one of the most important arthropod threats to public health because adult females of many species bite humans and occasionally transmit lethal pathogens to them. One of the primary ways to minimize the risk posed by mosquitoes is by reducing aquatic habitats that are suitable for mosquito larval development and thus lowering the overall population of mosquitoes. While complete elimination of standing water in areas with high human population may not be practical, an alternative is to alter characteristics of these sites to make them unfavorable to mosquitoes. However, doing so requires an extensive understanding of how the characteristics or parameters of sites impact the use of these sites for mosquito oviposition and subsequent larval development. The research presented in this dissertation examines several parameters of aquatic larval development sites in two of the most common sources of standing water in urban environments in the United States: stormwater control measures and urban parks. In particular, this research investigates the microbial (bacterial and fungal) communities of these aquatic habitats as a potential factor impacting the suitability for mosquitoes. The microbial communities of these larval habitats were estimated using metabarcoding techniques that amplify the 16S (for bacteria) and ITS (for fungi) regions of DNA and assign taxonomy to the resulting amplicons using reference databases. Microbial communities were assessed from water samples collected from stormwater control measures, mosquito larvae in urban parks, and adult mosquitoes reared in a laboratory setting. The research presented in this dissertation focuses on elucidating the environmental and microbial factors of stormwater control measures that influence mosquito abundance. A chapter is also dedicated to comparing the microbial communities between mosquito species with different geographic range patterns (i.e., endemic vs. widespread Aedes). (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Sarah Short (Advisor); Peter Piermarini (Committee Member); Ellen Klinger (Committee Member); Alison Bennett (Committee Member) Subjects: Entomology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2024, Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering

As catchments become increasingly impervious, urban stormwater pollutant loads, erosional force, and flooding increases. The practice of stormwater management is critical environmental protection that became regulated by the US federal government in the 1970s. With the need to attenuate peak flow rates and reduce the excess stormwater volumes generated from impervious catchments, stormwater control measures (SCMs) were developed such as stormwater detention basins, retention ponds, drainage ditches, and subsurface stormwater detention. Having a variety of SCMs available provides stakeholders with the ability to target specific aspects of stormwater management, including runoff quantity, runoff quality, or other ecosystem services. Regulations have evolved over time to have a greater emphasis on stormwater quality. As such, SCM design has evolved to address pollutant removal in stormwater. Green infrastructure (GI) practices, also called low impact development (LID) SCMs, have gained popularity for stormwater management since the start of the 21st century and incorporate principles of ecological engineering into stormwater management. Examples of GI include a variety of practices that use infiltration through filter media such as rain gardens, bioretention cells (BRCs), and high rate biofiltration (HRBF), permeable pavements, green roofs, and constructed stormwater wetlands (CSWs). The use of GI has benefits in addition to peak flow, volume, and pollutant reduction such as creating habitat for pollinators, cooling urban spaces, and adding attractive green space. Pollutant removal mechanisms vary between GI practices with some systems providing greater sedimentation and treatment of particulates and some providing greater treatment of dissolved pollutants through microbially-mediated transformation, plant uptake, and/or adsorption. Performance of SCMs varies based on design, site characteristics (e.g. topography, soil texture and infiltration capacity, depth to wa (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Ryan Winston (Advisor); Jay Dorsey (Committee Member); James Stagge (Committee Member); Jonathan Witter (Committee Member); Jay Martin (Committee Member) Subjects: Environmental Engineering; Environmental Management; Environmental Science; Hydrology; Water Resource Management

Master of Science in Engineering, Youngstown State University, 2024, Department of Civil/Environmental and Chemical Engineering

The Central Lake Erie Basin has been encountering escalating challenges in stormwater management, marked by shifting precipitation patterns and intensified weather extremes due to climate change. Consequently, conventional drainage systems, entrenched in gray infrastructure, have been exacerbating downstream urban flooding, prompting urgent exploration of alternative solutions. Low Impact Development (LID), particularly Green Infrastructure (GI) emerges as a promising avenue to mitigate flooding and enhance stormwater resilience. Since many sustainable stormwater management projects falter due to numerous factors including insufficient community involvement, inadequate consideration of local conditions, and limited resources for maintenance, this study engaged the community extensively to incorporate community input in decision-making for stormwater management. Out of the seven GIs, stakeholders preferred to explore permeable pavement and rain gardens. This study employed a comprehensive approach to evaluate the effectiveness of rain gardens and permeable pavement in stormwater management within the Town of Willoughby. By integrating climate data from Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) Phases 5 and 6 datasets with hydrological modeling, the research investigated the impacts of evolving precipitation patterns and climate trajectories on stormwater management practices. The developed PCSWMM model encompassed 54 sub-catchments, with permeable pavement applied to 46 of the sub catchments in the parking lots of commercial buildings and public spaces. Additionally, rain gardens were implemented in 35 sub-catchments with one rain garden allocated per residential house. Through rigorous analysis, the research evaluated GI's capacity to address evolving precipitation patterns and climate trajectories, providing nuanced insights into its potential implications for sustainable stormwater management practices. GI measures such as permeable pavements and ra (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Suresh Sharma PhD (Advisor); Sahar Ehsani PhD (Committee Member); Bradley Shellito PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Civil Engineering

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2023, Civil Engineering (Engineering and Technology)

MUREIKO, ANDREW JOSEPH, M.S., December 2023, Civil Engineering Testing Method for Stormwater Chambers with Realistic Loads Director of Thesis: Issam Khoury Water management has become a major challenge with climate change disrupting typical weather patterns, leading to shortages via drought and drop in water table. It has become imperative to manage stormwater runoff in particular, and one system in development is buried stormwater drainage retention crates. These crates are typically rectangular box structures made of thermoplastic components (flat panels and columns) assembled in a modular form. The function of the top panel is to transfer the load to the columns. This load can be due to live load and dead load, backfill, etc. The structural performance of the crates has generally been limited to laboratory experiments consisting of placing a concrete block on top of a panel placed on columns. In the field, the panel will potentially experience local buckling or excessive tension. When employing this type of laboratory testing procedure, the panel will not be subjected to these failure modes. The Ohio Research Institute for Transportation and the Environment (ORITE) has constructed a unique apparatus to test a crate system module with a load that includes a layer of granular material between the module and the concrete weight. This experimental setup more realistically replicates actual field conditions. Important results found in the experiment work are that the testing setup transferred nearly all (96.8%) of the load to the chamber, and the sand transferred pressure to the entire panel while it deformed.

Committee: Issam Khoury Doctor (Advisor); Cory Crawford Doctor (Committee Member); Daniel Che Doctor (Committee Member); Shad Sargand Doctor (Committee Chair) Subjects: Civil Engineering

PHD, Kent State University, 2023, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Earth Sciences

Climate change is threatening urban areas, including by exacerbating impacts from stormwater runoff on urban streams. Understanding the uncertainties associated with climate change impacts and the resilience of current adaptation strategies are challenging, but this understanding is the key for effective urban water management. Green infrastructure is commonly used to mitigate the effects of stormwater runoff, and it is considered an important climate adaptation strategy. The hydrologic impacts of green infrastructure are poorly understood at the watershed scale, because most of the decisions relating to stormwater management are not optimized and made on the parcel or neighborhood scale. Therefore, the main aim of this research is to quantify the impacts of climate change under different uncertainties and optimized green infrastructure on the flow regime of urban streams by using numerical modeling approaches, which in turn will be helpful for informing decisions by stormwater managers and policy makers. In this dissertation, I first quantified climate change impacts and compared multiple sources of uncertainty within and between climate and hydrological models for an urban watershed near Cleveland, Ohio. One hundred years continuous streamflow obtained from a distributed hydrological model was divided into historical, initial, mid, and late 21st century shows that there will be an increase in future streamflows with exceedance probabilities of 0.5%-50%. Flood with all return periods will increase through the 21st century for most climate projections and parameter sets. For this watershed, hydrological model parameter uncertainty was large relative to inter-climate model spread, for near term moderate to high flows and for many flood frequencies. Optimizations of bioretention cells, swales, and permeable pavements at 14%, 42% and 70% treatment levels were completed using the simulation-optimization tool OSTRICH-SWMM in two urban watersheds located in Cleveland (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Anne Jefferson (Committee Co-Chair); David Singer (Committee Co-Chair); Kuldeep Singh (Committee Member); David Costello (Committee Member); Aditi Bhaskar (Committee Member) Subjects: Civil Engineering; Climate Change; Geology; Hydrologic Sciences; Hydrology; Water Resource Management

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2023, Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Urban populations continue to increase with concurrent social and economic development often occurring at the expense of natural resources. Urban areas are characterized by a high density of impervious surfaces (i.e., roads, buildings, etc.) which are central to modern economies but disrupt many functions of the natural ecosystem by limiting stormwater infiltration, increasing habitat fragmentation, and absorbing a higher percentage of solar radiation. A growing number of communities are turning to green infrastructure (GI) to alleviate these stresses by increasing infiltration, evapotranspiration, and storage of stormwater. Commonly installed GI features include bioretention cells (BRCs), green roofs, and permeable pavement (PP). Bioretention cells are depressional retention facilities planted with native plants which infiltrate and filter stormwater using an engineered sandy media. Green roofs are alternatives to traditional roofs made up of layers of constructed membranes, substrates, and vegetation. Permeable pavements are alternatives to asphalt or concrete pavements that allow infiltration of stormwater through the pavement to the substrate below. Recent studies have focused on co-benefits of and ecosystem services provided by GI, including habitat creation, temperature mitigation, and community aesthetics. This dissertation was focused on GI efficacy in both natural and built systems. Broadly, this dissertation can be separated into two sections: 1) performance of BRCs in relation to hydrology and water quality (Ch. 1 and 2), and 2) performance and interactions of GI SCMs within human built systems (Ch. 3 and 4). Simulated runoff testing was conducted on a variety of BRCs to determine the hydrological and water quality performance as a function of their design (Ch. 1). In chapter 2, BRCs were tested for their ability to contain and remove Bacillus anthracis from simulated spore contaminated stormwater. Higher fines contents in the engineered media created (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Ryan Winston (Advisor); Scott Shearer (Committee Member); Ann Christy (Committee Member); Jay Martin (Committee Member) Subjects: Civil Engineering; Ecology; Environmental Engineering; Urban Planning; Water Resource Management

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2022, Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Polluted water is a pressing burden for civilization. Management and treatment of polluted water is a costly but necessary process for the health of the environment and the humans that live in it. Demand for novel, inexpensive, and effective treatment options is constant, and further insight on their use and impacts are as important as ever for our changing world. Two such sources of polluted water are analyzed in this document: acid mine drainage and urban stormwater runoff. Acid mine drainage (AMD), a negative consequence of the mining industry resulting from interaction between water, oxygen, and exposed bedrock, is prevalent worldwide and requires expensive and perpetual treatment. The Wilds, an animal reserve in southeastern Ohio situated on a retired strip mine site, has partnered with OSU to address AMD discharging into streams and ponds on its property. Pervious concrete has shown potential in neutralizing AMD, and this study was developed to determine the effectiveness of pervious concrete at removing heavy metals and neutralizing acid from an AMD source. Using various mix designs of pervious concrete, the individual removal behavior of aluminum, manganese, iron, and copper from natural and synthetic AMD sources was tracked. Pervious concrete cylinders were also used to model the length of a permeable reactive barrier to treat field-scale AMD. Furthermore, acid neutralization ability and durability of six concrete mixes were tested when exposed to a year of acidic conditions. Experimentation revealed the concrete removes >95% of aluminum, iron and copper, and ~30% of manganese in natural AMD over 24 hours. Column testing indicated permeable reactive barriers of 4-8 meters in length are recommended to treat Al, Fe, and Cu. Pervious concrete compressive strength withstood a year of acid attack without significant decline, and results show a promising argument for the use of porous concrete in acid mine drainage treatment at field scale. Lakes and river (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Jay Martin (Committee Member); Lisa Burris (Advisor); Ryan Winston (Advisor) Subjects: Civil Engineering; Environmental Education; Management; Water Resource Management

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2020, Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering

As urban populations continue to increase, new impervious surfaces are constructed that inhibit stormwater infiltration and increase stormwater runoff. Rainfall characteristics such as peak intensity and antecedent dry period also influence the stormwater quantity and quality generated by urban landscapes. Green infrastructure (GI) offers an alternative to traditional urban drainage through stormwater control measures (SCMs) which improve water quality in addition to reducing runoff volumes. The City of Columbus has implemented a multi-pronged sanitary sewer overflow mitigation project (Blueprint Columbus) that included retrofitting GI practices into existing neighborhoods. This presented a unique opportunity to examine the impacts of GI retrofits on sewersheds >10 hectares in size, to build upon the many previous studies which evaluated single SCMs or multiple SCMs treating a relatively small catchment (<5 ha). Two studies were performed: (1) a paired watershed analysis to compare hydrologic indicators at the sewershed-scale pre- and post-GI retrofit, and (2) an analysis of rainfall characteristics which impact runoff hydrology and water quality, and how these factors change following the implementation of sewershed-scale GI. To investigate the sewershed-scale hydrologic impacts imparted by GI SCMs, monitoring of rainfall and stormwater flow in sewershed outfalls began in four sewersheds in 2016. Three sewersheds were retrofitted with GI SCMs while one served as the control with negligible GI implementation. Linear regressions and analysis of covariance were utilized in a paired watershed approach to compare pre-GI and post-GI data. Decreases in peak flow rates (40-58%) and increases in lag-to-peak (6-64%) were observed in the treatment sewersheds post-GI. Decreases in stormwater volumes were initially observed in GI sewersheds. Installation of additional stormwater infrastructure improvement projects (i.e. downspout disconnections, sanitary sewer late (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Ryan Winston Ph.D. (Advisor); Jay Martin Ph.D. (Advisor); Gil Bohrer Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Civil Engineering; Environmental Engineering; Hydrology; Water Resource Management

Bachelor of Arts (BA), Ohio University, 2020, Environmental Studies

Due to increases in impervious areas and the effects of climate change, many cities are coping with increased flooding. Rain gardens have been increasing in popularity as one of the best management practicing (BMP) technique for stormwater management. Many research studies focus on the water quality aspects of rain gardens but tend to neglect the potential water management and infiltration benefits. By evaluating the soil properties, drainage area, and plant benefits, a rain garden could offer a more efficient stormwater BMP. This thesis produced a preliminary procedure to properly create a mass balance of an established rain garden to explore a rain garden's stormwater management properties.

Committee: R. Guy Riefler (Advisor) Subjects: Civil Engineering; Environmental Engineering; Environmental Studies

MS, Kent State University, 2019, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Earth Sciences

Wetlands are complex ecosystems with unique biogeochemical and hydrological characteristics. These aspects can be traced to the following biogeochemically distinct domains: sediments, porewater, and surface water. Sulfur can play a critical role in aquatic ecosystems, with potential to influence the biogeochemical cycles of freshwater nutrients and metals. Inorganic sulfur can occur in the natural environment in multiple oxidation states. In the presence of oxygen, reduced sulfur readily oxidizes to form sulfate. Wetland hydrology controls the redox states of sulfur, as well as governing the fates trace metals, major cations, and anions in the wetland ecosystem. By examining wetland hydrology and characterizing the biogeochemistry of different wetland domains (sediment, porewater, and surface water), the export and forms of inorganic sulfur in the wetland can be characterized. The study site for this project was a constructed wetland at the Cleveland Metroparks' Watershed Stewardship Center in Parma, Ohio. The study site had interior zones of differing depths and a dynamic hydrologic regime, which could cause a variation in nutrient residence times and transformations within the wetland. To understand the wetland's hydrology and its relationship to sulfate biogeochemistry, interior water levels, outflow discharge, precipitation, water chemistry, sediment chemistry, and porewater chemistry were monitored from June 2015 to October 2016. High concentrations of sulfate were found in the interior zones (arithmetic mean: 185.7 mg/L) and outflow (arithmetic mean: 228.4 mg/L), while inflow concentrations were variable (ranges across inflows: 9.417-902.2 mg/L). Sulfate concentrations in surface water were found to be the highest in the interior and outflow following an extensive drydown period in Summer 2016. High concentrations of sulfate could also signal that sulfide was present in the wetland, but sulfide was below detection in porewater. However, wetland sediments c (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Anne Jefferson (Advisor); Lauren Kinsman-Costello (Advisor); Elizabeth Herndon (Committee Member) Subjects: Biogeochemistry; Environmental Geology; Environmental Management; Environmental Science; Freshwater Ecology; Geology; Hydrologic Sciences; Hydrology; Natural Resource Management; Water Resource Management

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2019, Civil Engineering

The availability of adequate clean water in urban areas is rapidly decreasing due to population growth, land modification, and changing weather patterns. Solutions for poor urban water quality have included the implementation of green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) such as rain gardens. The observed benefits from GSI vary due to site-specific conditions including native soils, climate, and quality of construction. It is critically important to select optimal sites for GSI installation, where the desired benefits are achievable. This can be accomplished through water quality modeling coupled with GSI performance modeling prior to installation. In this research, hydrologic/ water quality simulation was used to generate hotspot maps to identify the parts of a watershed that are likely to produce the highest contaminant loads (e.g., suspended solids). The creation of the water quality models requires significant site and contaminant data including imperviousness, native soil type, land use, elevation, infrastructure dimensions, buildup and washoff properties, and local rain data. In this study, hotspot maps were used to visualize problem areas and to target those areas for implementing GSI, which resulted in simulations producing reduced runoff pollution (total suspended solids load). Green stormwater infrastructure is static and unable to adapt to changing conditions. Incorporating active control allows manipulation of a feature (e.g. system inlet or outlet), which could result in improved performance. It was determined in this research that controlling the outlet of a rain garden (RG) (i.e. closing outlet underdrain valve) can be beneficial because it generally causes increased exfiltration and decreased contaminant release to nearby waterways. Exfiltration volume increased for larger RGs (exfiltration increased as area ratio increased). No benefit was observed for larger storms in undersized systems (area ratio < 0.50); as most of the stormwater was lost due to (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Gruden Cyndee (Advisor); Kumar Ashok (Committee Member); Pniewski Michael (Committee Member); Becker Richard (Committee Member); Xu Yanqing (Committee Member) Subjects: Civil Engineering