Browsing by Author "Erickson, Andrew J."

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Assessment of Stormwater Best Management Practices
(University of Minnesota, 2008-04) Anderson, James L.; Asleson, Brooke C.; Baker, Lawrence A.; Erickson, Andrew J.; Gulliver, John S.; Hozalski, Raymond M.; Mohseni, Omid; Nieber, John L.; Riter, Trent; Weiss, Peter; Wilson, Bruce N.; Wilson, Matt A.; Gulliver, John S.; Anderson, James L.
Biofiltration Media Optimization – Phase I Final Report
(2021-01) Erickson, Andrew J.; Kozarek, Jessica L.; Kramarczuk, Kathryn A.; Lewis, Laura
Climate Change Adaptation of Urban Stormwater Infrastructure
(Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2023-06) Erickson, Andrew J.; Herb, William R.; Gallagher, Noah D.; Weiss, Peter T.; Wilson, Bruce N.; Gulliver, John S.
The final analysis of historical (TP-40), current (Atlas 14), and future predicted storm events for three watersheds in Minnesota (Duluth, Minneapolis, Rochester) has shown that current design philosophy is not sufficient to prevent flooding from 10-year and larger design storm events and that flood depth and duration will increase given current climate projections. Several stormwater infrastructure adaptation strategies were assessed for reducing flood depth and duration: Baseline (existing conditions), adding rain gardens (aka, Infiltration Basins), adding new wet ponds, retrofitting existing stormwater ponds to be ?Smart Ponds, adding new Smart Ponds while also converting existing ponds into Smart Ponds, or upsizing of stormwater pipes to convey more water. In watersheds that are mixed urban, suburban, and rural like Rochester?s Kings Run or Duluth?s Miller Creek sub-watersheds, the most cost-effective climate change adaptation strategy was to build new stormwater wet ponds (Extra Ponds strategy) to treat the impervious surfaces not currently treated by existing wet ponds and other stormwater BMPs. In the fully developed urban 1NE watershed in Minneapolis, the most cost-effective (excluding land costs) climate change adaptation strategy was building wet ponds (Extra Ponds). Securing property for building new stormwater infrastructure in fully developed urban watersheds like 1NE may be a substantial cost compared to other watersheds. Smart Ponds do not require additional land for implementation and thus represent a relatively low-cost alternative that will be more beneficial in watersheds with numerous existing wet ponds.
Compost use in Post-Construction Stormwater Practices: A Systematic Review & Results from Listening Sessions
(St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, 2023-11-01) Erickson, Andrew J.; Weiss, Peter T.; Wang, Zihang; Arnold, William A.; Kocher, Megan; Lafferty, Meghan
The Compost Research and Education Foundation (CREF) and the University of Minnesota (U of M) embarked on research to better understand the best uses of compost in stormwater bioretention media and identify compost characteristics that are most impactful to the success of these systems. It is critical for manufacturers, specifiers, end users, and regulators to understand these best uses so users can understand what performs well, suppliers can make a high-quality compost product, and designers can specify and receive a product best suited for the application. This will improve bioretention performance and confidence from specifiers and end-users, minimize pollution potential, and ultimately increase acceptance and use of compost in critical green infrastructure stormwater best management practices.
The Cost and Effectiveness of Stormwater Management Practices
(2005-06-01) Weiss, Peter; Gulliver, John S.; Erickson, Andrew J.
Stormwater management practices for treating urban rainwater runoff were evaluated for cost and effectiveness in removing suspended sediments and phosphorus. Construction and annual operating and maintenance cost data was collected and analyzed for dry detention basins, wet basins, sand filters, constructed wetlands, bioretention filters, infiltration trenches, and swales using literature that reported on existing SMP sites across the United States. After statistical analysis on historical values of inflation and bond yields, the annual operating and maintenance costs were converted to a present worth based on a 20-year life and added to the construction cost. The total present cost of each SMP with the 67% confidence interval was reported as a function of the water quality design volume or, in the case of swales as a function of the swale top width, again with a 67% confidence interval. Finally, the mass of total suspended solids and total phosphorus removed over the 20-year life was estimated as a function of the water quality volume. The results can be used by planners and designers to estimate both the total cost of installing a stormwater management practice at a given site and the corresponding total suspended solids and phosphorus removal.
The Cost and Effectiveness of Stormwater Management Practices Final Report
(St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, 2005-06) Weiss, Peter T.; Gulliver, John S.; Erickson, Andrew J.
With the implementation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA) National Pollution Discharge Elimination Systems (NPDES) Phase I and II programs, strong interest has developed in the area of water quality treatment of stormwater runoff. While little is known about the cost effectiveness of available stormwater treatment technologies, called Stormwater Management Practices (SMPs) in this report, municipal agencies are now, or soon will be, required to meet certain pollutant removal criteria based on the Phase I and II regulations. Of primary concern are nutrients such as phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N), which are just one of the pollutant categories being targeted for removal from stormwater runoff. Excess nutrients can initiate large algae blooms that generate negative aesthetic and eutrophic conditions in receiving lakes and rivers (USEPA, 1999a). In inland water bodies phosphorus is typically the limiting nutrient (Schindler, 1977) and can be contributed to stormwater from various sources such as fertilizers, leaves, grass clippings, etc. (USEPA, 1999a). Another pollutant of primary concern in stormwater is dirt, sand, and other solid particles which are commonly quantified by measuring the Total Suspended Solids (TSS) of a water sample. TSS can severely and negatively impact an aquatic environment. The solids increase turbidity, inhibit plant growth and diversity, affect river biota and reduce the number of aquatic species (Shammaa et al., 2002). Also, organic suspended solids can be biologically degraded by microorganisms in a process which consumes oxygen, which is important to the aquatic biota.
Enhanced Filter Media for Removal of Dissolved Contaminants from Stormwater
(St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, 2014-09) Erickson, Andrew J.; Gulliver, John S.; Weiss, Peter T.; Arnold, William A.
This report is the culmination of a 3-year research project titled, "Aqueous pollutant capture by enhanced filter media," which was funded by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency through its Federal Clean Water Act Section 319 (Section 319) grant program, with Gregory Johnson as project manager. The purpose of this project was to research materials that could be used in new or renovated sand filters, infiltration systems, rain gardens, and buffer strips to capture significant amounts of dissolved heavy metals, phosphorus, and nitrogen that are typically found in urban and agricultural runoff. This was accomplished with five primary objectives, which have been organized into five representative Chapters that are described below. Chapter 1 consists of an extensive literature review that was used to not only inform and guide the project, but also to satisfy the first objective (Objective 1: Literature review and agent section). Through this literature review, enhancing materials were evaluated and some were selected for testing as part of this project. In addition, this literature prevented duplication of previous research efforts. The review incorporated performance by existing stormwater treatment practices for water quantity reduction and capture of dissolved heavy metals, phosphorous, and nitrogen and also investigated potential enhancements that capture dissolved heavy metals, phosphorus, and nitrogen. Chapter 2 discusses batch studies that were performed on enhancing materials selected in Chapter 1, which satisfies the second objective (Objective 2: Perform batch studies and agent selection). Batch studies involved mixing enhancing materials with synthetic stormwater laden with stormwater pollutants of concern: metals, phosphorus, and nitrogen. By collecting samples and measuring change in concentration, the sorption capacity of the enhancing materials was determined and compared for well-mixed conditions. From this comparison, several materials were selected to further investigation. Chapter 3 discusses column studies that were performed on a few enhancing materials selected from the literature review and batch studies, which satisfies the third objective (Objective 3. Perform column studies and develop descriptive models). Synthetic stormwater was added to these columns while samples were collected samples and flow rate was measured and controlled. Sorption capacity for flow-through conditions was estimated from the data collected. The Thomas model (Thomas 1948) is a well-known model in the chemistry field that describes breakthrough of pollutants in flow-through columns. When fit to the data collected in this project, the Thomas model was found to adequately describe the removal of pollutants by the enhancing materials selected. Chapter 4 discusses field verification studies that were performed on two enhancing materials, which satisfies the fourth objective (Objective 4. Field verification studies). River water was collected in lieu of natural stormwater and passed through a scaled enhanced media filter. The water was tested and supplemented as necessary to represent the target conditions for the experiment. Samples were collected and flow rate was measured to determine the sorption capacity that could be expected of the enhancing materials in a field application. Again, the Thomas model was fit to the data and found to adequately describe the removal of pollutants by the enhancing materials. Chapter 5 provides a summary of the project results and associated conclusions, which in addition to activities throughout the project, satisfies the fifth and final objective (Objective 5. Public Outreach/Public Participation and Deliverables).
Environmental Impacts of Potassium Acetate as a Road Salt Alternative (University of Minnesota evaluation)
(Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2022-07) Gulliver, John S.; Chun, Chan Lan; Weiss, Peter T.; Erickson, Andrew J.; Herb, William; Henneck, Jerry; Cassidy, Kathryn
Road salt (NaCl) is used predominantly across the state for winter road anti-icing (as brine) and de-icing (as a solid) operations. Road salt is used because it is inexpensive and effective, but the thousands of tons used annually have resulted in increasing chloride concentrations of surface water bodies throughout Minnesota. In many cases, chloride concentrations are above regulatory limits, which results in the loss of aquatic biota and the water body being labeled as impaired. Thus, there is a need for one or more road salt alternatives (RSAs) that are effective, relatively inexpensive, and environmentally friendly. This report investigates the environmental impacts of potassium acetate (Kac), which is effective at lower temperatures than most other potential RSAs and is also less corrosive to steel than conventional road salt. Field measurements indicate that current applications of KAc do not have a substantial influence on biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and microbiological water quality in Lake Superior. However, KAc concentrations due to application to 25% of the roads in the Miller Creek watershed are predicted to be above the toxic limit for water fleas. We believe that KAc could be used in the most precarious winter driving safety locations, but not over all watershed roads or for all storms. Acetate could be used as a general organic anti-icer, but in combination with another cation, such as sodium or magnesium.
Infiltrate Rate Assessment for Woodland Cove
(St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, 2010-12) Nielsen, Lars; Ahmed, Farzana; Erickson, Andrew J.; Gulliver, John S.
Woodland Cove is a planned development along the western shore of Lake Minnetonka, within the city of Minnetrista. The pollutant loads of solids and total and dissolved phosphorous from the development entering the lake are to be kept to a minimum in order to meet the requirements from the local regulatory agencies, and therefore the developer is designing a series of infiltration practices for storm water runoff. Within this project, a number of infiltration measurements were performed at several locations clustered at different sites in the area, to predict the efficiency of the planned practices. For this report, a ‘location’ is where an individual infiltration measurement was performed and a ‘site’ is a cluster of several infiltration measurements (locations). A high spatial variation in infiltration rate is normally observed, so a number of measurement locations were needed at each site to get a representative result. This report includes the results for the saturated hydraulic conductivity of the soil, K, measured at 16 different sites within the area. The results are presented in section 5.
Measuring the Effectiveness of Submersed Jets to Minimize Invasive Species Transport
(St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, 2023-11-01) Erickson, Andrew J.; Herb, William R.
Monitoring an Iron-Enhanced Sand Filter for Phosphorus Capture from Agricultural Tile Drainage
(2017-06) Erickson, Andrew J.; Gulliver, John S.; Weiss, Peter T.
Monitoring an Iron-Enhanced Sand Filter Trench for the Capture of Phosphate from Stormwater Runoff
(2015-09) Erickson, Andrew J.; Gulliver, John S.; Weiss, Peter T.
This monitoring project was performed on an iron enhanced sand filtration (IESF) trench in the City of Prior Lake. Water from the pond and IESF trench discharges into a wetland that ultimately drains into Upper Prior Lake. In 2002, Upper Prior Lake was listed on Minnesota’s 303(d) List of Impaired Waters for nutrient/eutrophication biological indicators with aquatic recreation being impaired. Water quality has been reduced due to excessive phosphorus loading. According to the TMDL implementation plan developed for Spring Lake and Upper Prior Lake, the total phosphorus load must be reduced by 83% and 41%, respectively, to meet water quality goals. Overall, for 28 monitored natural rainfall/runoff events from 2013-2015, the IESF trench removed 26% of the phosphate mass load it received, though after non-routine maintenance in August 2014 the performance improved to 45% phosphate mass load reduction. These results indicate the importance of maintenance. A newer installation was previously monitored, and found to retain 71% of the phosphate (Erickson and Gulliver 2010). Most of the overall phosphate load reduction was achieved during larger events that had comparatively high influent phosphate concentrations (32.3 – 125.2 μg/L) and mass loads. Many small events in this investigation with low influent phosphate concentrations (3.8 – 38.4 μg/L) or mass loads exhibited negative removal (i.e., effluent mass load > influent mass load). The high effluent phosphate concentrations are suspected to be caused by the degradation of floating plants (primarily duckweed) that were deposited on the surface of the filter trench. As mentioned above, nonroutine maintenance to remove this material resulted in substantial performance improvement. After this maintenance, positive removal was observed for influent concentrations ranging from 6.3 – 44.1 μg/L. Detailed results, maintenance activities, design and operating & maintenance recommendations, and lessons learned are given within this report.
Performance Assessment of a Rain Garden for Capturing Suspended Sediments and Phosphorus
(St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, 2011-08) Erickson, Andrew J.; Gulliver, John S.
With the implementation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA) national pollution discharge elimination systems (NPDES) Phase I and II programs, much interest has developed in the area of water quality treatment of stormwater runoff. Of primary water quality concern are sediment and nutrients such as phosphorus (P). Dirt, sand, and other solid particles are commonly quantified by measuring the total suspended solids (TSS) of a water sample. TSS can severely and negatively impact an aquatic environment. The solids increase turbidity, inhibit plant growth and diversity, affect river biota, and reduce the number of aquatic species (Shammaa et al., 2002). Excess nutrients such as phosphorus can initiate large algae blooms that generate negative aesthetic and eutrophic conditions in receiving lakes and rivers. In inland water bodies, phosphorus is typically the limiting nutrient (Schindler, 1977) and can be contributed to storm water from various sources such as fertilizers, leaves, grass clippings, etc. (U.S. EPA., 1999). Total suspended solids and phosphorus are primary concerns of most stormwater management plans, and little is known about the cost effectiveness of available stormwater treatment options. While some have studied the cost-effectiveness of available stormwater treatment practices (e.g., Weiss et al., 2007), many municipal and state agencies are now required to meet certain pollutant removal criteria based on the USEPA requirements. To meet these requirements, development or redevelopment of land must include stormwater treatment practices to achieve these pollutant removal criteria. Some stormwater treatment practices were installed at 6400 West 105th street in Bloomington, MN to protect downstream water resources by reducing stormwater runoff volume and improving runoff water quality. This project measured the performance of one such practice, a rain garden, to determine the reduction of stormwater runoff volume and the
Performance Assessment of an Iron-Enhanced Sand Filtration Trench for Capturing Dissolved Phosphorus
(St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, 2010-11) Erickson, Andrew J.; Gulliver, John S.
Nutrients (phosphorus and nitrogen) in excess can cause nuisance algae blooms that generate negative aesthetic and eutrophic conditions in receiving lakes and rivers (U.S. EPA., 1999). In temperate fresh water, dissolved phosphorus is the limiting nutrient (Aldridge and Ganf, 2003; Schindler, 1977) and exists in the form of phosphates (HXPO4, (Stumm and Morgan, 1981)) contributed to urban stormwater from sources such as lawn fertilizers, leaf litter, grass clippings, unfertilized soils, detergents, and rainfall, among others (American Public Health Association, 1998; U.S. EPA., 1999). A recent study of nationwide monitoring data (Pitt et al., 2005) reports that the median values of total and dissolved phosphorus (phosphates) are 0.27 and 0.12 mg P/L, respectively and therefore the fraction of dissolved phosphorus to total phosphorus is approximately 44%. Removing dissolved phosphorus from stormwater at a substantial rate requires capture of both the particulate and dissolved fractions of total phosphorus. While most stormwater treatment practices can capture particulate phosphorus through settling or filtration, very few practices have a mechanism to consistently capture dissolved phosphorus over the life-cycle of a treatment practice. Wet detention basins, in particular, are typically designed to capture greater than 80% total suspended solids and, on average, achieve a ~50% total phosphorus load reduction but do little to remove dissolved contaminants from stormwater. Because dissolved phosphorus has a higher bioavailability factor than particulate forms (Sharpley et al., 1992), removing only particulate fractions from stormwater only minimally reduces phosphorus bioavailability. To capture dissolved phosphorus, a chemical adsorption or precipitation process must be added to stormwater treatment practices. Adding steel wool or elemental iron to a sand filter has been shown to capture a significant amount of dissolved phosphorus (Erickson et al., 2007). As the elemental iron forms iron oxides (rust), dissolved phosphorus binds to these iron oxides by surface adsorption.
Permeable Pavement for Road Salt Reduction
(Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2020-06) Erickson, Andrew J.; Gulliver, John S.; Herb, William R.; Janke, Benjamin D.; Nguyen, Nam K.
Road salt and particularly sodium chloride is used for de-icing roadways during winter months in cold climates but can have a negative impact on the environment. This report describes research that investigated the use of permeable pavements that are not treated with road salt as an alternative to impermeable pavement surfaces that are treated with road salt. Various methods were used to quantify the snow and ice cover on impermeable and permeable pavements under near-identical but various environmental conditions. It must be noted, however, that impermeable pavements including the ones in this study are typically managed with road salt while permeable pavements are not. However, the following conclusions can be drawn from previous research and data collected during this project: 1) permeable pavements and the porous subbase beneath them function as thermal insulators, preventing heat transfer from the surface to below and vice versa; 2) permeable pavements that are clogged due to sediment accumulation or collapsed pores provide no benefit compared to impermeable pavement; 3) more sites with impermeable pavement had more friction than sites with permeable pavement; 4) more sites with impermeable pavement had less snow and/or ice cover than sites with permeable pavements; and 5) more sites with impermeable pavement had pooled water than sites with permeable pavements. This demonstrates the primary winter benefit of permeable pavements: meltwater can infiltrate through permeable pavements and prevent refreezing. Refreezing of meltwater on impermeable pavements creates dangerously slippery conditions which can be avoided with functional permeable pavements.
Stormwater BMP Inspection and Maintenance Resource Guide
(Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2024-06) Erickson, Andrew J.; Gulliver, John S.; Weiss, Peter T.
Stormwater treatment practices, often referred to as stormwater best management practices (BMPs), require a substantial commitment to maintenance, including regular inspections and assessments. Existing regulations require governmental units to develop a systematic approach for ongoing inspection and maintenance to ensure that they are achieving their desired treatment goals. A lack of maintenance will lead to a decrease in BMP performance and will often result in expensive rehabilitation or rebuild. In 2009, SRF Consulting produced a maintenance guide for the Local Road Research Board (LRRB) (Marti, et al. 2009). In 2023, the LRRB commissioned the University of Minnesota St. Anthony Falls Laboratory to update this guide to reflect new best practices. The Stormwater BMP Inspection and Maintenance Resource Guide (the Guide) is a supplement to the Minnesota Stormwater Manual (MPCA 2023) and will help the reader plan for recommended long-term maintenance activities through guidance on visual inspection, testing, and monitoring methods for identifying what maintenance is needed, and when it is needed. The Guide describes inspection and maintenance for constructed stormwater ponds (both dry and wet) and wetlands, underground sedimentation practices, infiltration practices, filtration practices, bioretention practices, permeable pavements, and stormwater harvesting. In addition, the Guide includes a section on Meeting Stormwater Management Objectives, which provides information on achieving reductions for sediment, phosphorus, nitrogen, metals, chloride, pathogens, and organic chemicals. The Guide also includes Field Inspections Resources, which contains inspection checklists and maintenance activity recommendations for all of the practices listed above.
Stormwater Treatment: Assessment and Maintenance
(St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, 2010-06) Erickson, Andrew J.; Weiss, Peter T.; Gulliver, John S.
During the 2005 – 2007 biennium, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) provided funding to the University of Minnesota for “Assessment of Stormwater Management Practices on the Water Quality of Runoff.” One of the primary deliverables of the project was the Manual, “Assessment of Stormwater Best Management Practices,” (Gulliver and Anderson, 2007). Funding for this work was continued in the 2007 – 2009 biennium with Phase II of the project, titled “Assessment and Maintenance of Stormwater Best Management Practices” which culminated in the publication of the on-line manual, “Stormwater Treatment: Assessment and Maintenance” at http://stormwaterbook.safl.umn.edu/ in 2010.
Total Daily Maximum Daily Load Demonstration Study
(St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, 2011-08) Weiss, Peter T.; Gulliver, John S.; Erickson, Andrew J.
The P8 watershed water quality model was used to model performance of stormwater best management practices (BMPs) in the Lake Como watershed. Lake Como has a draft TMDL that will require 60% retention of the phosphorus that is currently discharging into the lake. The model indicates that current stormwater BMPs are retaining 32% of phosphorus discharge, if properly maintained. This will fall to 21% if sufficient maintenance is not performed. The ponds in the Lake Como watershed do not have as much of a decrease in performance if maintenance is not performed, but also do not remove as high a percent of the incoming phosphorus. To achieve the draft TMDL goals, approximately 20.5 acre-ft of infiltration practices or enhanced sand filters will need to be strategically placed in the watershed.
Transport of Chloride through Silt Loam, Sandy Loam and Sandy Loam with Compost
(2019-12) Erickson, Andrew J.; Gulliver, John S.; Weiss, Peter T.

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