First Advisor

William Fish

Date of Award

Summer 8-18-2019

Document Type

Project

Degree Name

Master of Science (M.S.) in Civil & Environmental Engineering

Department

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Language

English

Subjects

Green roofs (Gardening) -- Environmental aspects -- Oregon -- Portland, Urban runoff -- Oregon -- Portland -- Analysis, Stormwater infiltration, Water quality

DOI

10.15760/CCEMP.47

Abstract

Portland, Oregon is internationally recognized for its implementation of sustainable stormwater management technologies. Ecoroof is one of the sustainable solutions to reduce stormwater runoff which also provides multiple environmental benefits. However, very little is known about the impact of ecoroofs on water quality of roof runoff. Stormwater runoff carries a significant amount of pollutants, which, if it directly enters a stream or river, degrades water quality and severely harms aquatic life.

This study evaluates the trends in the long-term water quality data from ecoroofs and conventional roofs in the Portland area. Mann Kendall trend test was used to detect the trends in concentrations of parameters. Concentration levels of metals (copper, lead, zinc) and nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorous) in runoff from ecoroofs were compared with the runoff from conventional roofs using Mann Whitney U test. Results indicated elevated levels of copper and phosphorous in ecoroof runoff. Concentrations of lead and zinc were found to be lower in ecoroof runoff than conventional roof runoff. Monitoring of ecoroof for a longer period is recommended for future studies to quantify the effect of roof age, thickness, and composition of soil media, and plant types on runoff.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Comments

A research project report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/30604

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